JOSH VAN DER Flier knows how quickly the Ireland jersey can slip out of your hands. In 2018 he suffered an ACL injury on the opening weekend of the Six Nations against France, with Dan Leavy replacing him at the Stade de France. Leavy made the jersey his own throughout that milestone season for Ireland before his own ACL injury took him out of the equation for the 2019 Rugby World Cup.

In Japan, a fit and firing Van der Flier was back in the team and started every game bar the win over Russia, and continued at openside for all three Six Nations games before the pandemic put last season’s Six Nations on hold. When Ireland’s season resumed, the emergence of the CJ Stander, Peter O’Mahony and Caelan Doris backrow combination appeared to have pushed him back down the queue again. 

Yet there he was in Cardiff last weekend, stepping up in the absence of the injured Doris and delivering a solid, typically hard-working performance, making key contributions in both defence and attack, missing none of his tackles and producing two strong carries in the lead-up to Tadhg Beirne’s try.

The 27-year-old admits he went into the game feeling under pressure to deliver.

“Yeah, I suppose it was in the back of my mind, definitely,” he says. 

“Every time I go out I have something to prove… I feel that way anyway, especially when there’s so much competition in Leinster and here with Ireland, obviously. I was delighted to get the chance and I knew I had to be performing well to try and keep my spot in the team, it was definitely in my head that I had to turn up and perform.” 

Much of the conversation this week has seen Ireland’s players and coaches talk about the lessons they can take from the defeat to Wales.

For Van der Flier, Peter O’Mahony’s first-half red card was a reminder of the importance of being accurate and careful around the ruck. O’Mahony will now miss three games after being sent-off by referee Wayne Barnes for making contact with the head of Wales’ Tomas Francis.

“It’s a balance, really, because you need to have control over what you’re doing obviously, because the defender is a moving target as well to some extent,” Van der Flier says.

“You have to be very controlled but then if you go in too softly into a ruck, you’re probably not going to be very effective. So it’s definitely a difficult balance and something we work on a lot, obviously, but everyone can get it wrong at some point.

Van der Flier was heavily involved in the defeat to Wales. Laszlo Geczo / INPHO Laszlo Geczo / INPHO / INPHO

“Obviously we do our best to be as controlled as we can but even with the best intentions they can go wrong sometimes.”

The flanker has noticed how the focus around the breakdown has changed in recent years.

“I suppose when I first came into the professional setup in Leinster, it has become more of a focus now where you are hitting when you are cleaning out. But back then, you were trying to hit as hard as you can, trying to clear. 

“If there are people in the way, you want to push the whole lot of them out of the way to clear space for your nine, whereas now you just have to be careful that you are not catching someone’s head or neck.

“You definitely have to be more accurate. I think from my perspective, and it obviously doesn’t always work out because you can be late to the breakdown, but if you’re into the ruck early, you never have to hit someone who is over the ball. 

“But yeah, it is something that you definitely have to focus on. It’s technical, you have to be technical about it. I think people very much are now, with tackling, people know to get their head on the right side.

“I think it’s something that just has to be practiced I guess. There is a bit more to it than what it might have been in the past where you just fly in and make sure you hit people out of the way. 

“A bit of control is definitely needed, but also, I think the easiest thing is to be there early and you solve everything. That’s what I would aim to do anyway.”