Kicking game a vital weapon now in Ireland’s armoury

So Steve Hansen believes we should be scoring more tries up here in the Six Nations. I have some sympathy for the All Black World Cup- winning coach. For instance when New Zealand beat Australia in the final Bledisloe Test match 18th October 2014, they scored four tries to Australia's three; a total of 7 tries in one top class match versus the paltry three he witnessed in the two games he attended last weekend; France v Wales; two tries and Ireland v England one try.

The Bledisloe was an amazing match with the winning conversion on the 81st minute.

Digging deeper into both games before we introduce a third (England v New Zealand) we can see that in that Bledisloe match the combined kicks were 23 (9 Australia and 14 New Zealand) opposed to a total of 61 in the Aviva (38 Ireland and 23 England). Add that to the try differential and Hanson has a point. If Australia and New Zealand can do it why can’t we?

But of course it’s not that simple as when New Zealand came to Twickenham three weeks later they adapted their game to the English circumstances and added 11 kicks to their effort in Brisbane.

This may not sound huge but it was just one kick less than England that day (26) and two more than England last Sunday. However five tries were scored in Twickenham. Interestingly, not one of that starting English backline started in the Aviva.

Kicking game

Australia always had the balance. Long considered the thinking man’s team; full of invention and creativity chiselled from the necessity of competing with the All Blacks especially off a much smaller playing base. But Australia’s

World Cup

wins have been built on an extremely strong kicking game where they had no issue doing exactly what Ireland did last Sunday.

In essence the games are different either side of the equator where we have strengths far exceeding theirs that we hold dear. Think of the Stephen Ferris tackle on Will Genia as the Australian scrumhalf carried around the corner of a demolished scrum courtesy of Irish scrummaging. Genia put the ball in at 38 minutes and 20 seconds with the score at6-6. Cian Healy dipped under his tight head Ben Alexander, shifted his feet out and powered under Alexander's chest while Paul O'Connell and Donncha O'Callaghan rotated the scrum clockwise placing Genia in harm's way.

Ferris had the easiest job, did what you’d expect and carried Genia 15 metres back over the Australian 22; a scrum foundation for victory.

Dying minutes

I recall too the second Test in Christchurch (2011) when Ireland’s scrum should have pushed them into the lead but for referee Nigel Owens’s interpretation in those dying minutes. The score ended 22-19 with Ireland cruelly robbed of their first All Black win. Cian Healy, Rory Best and Mike Ross were the constant around those Australia, New Zealand and England scrums.

I tire of those from the Southern Hemisphere who wish to minimise the scrum in a manner of corralling 16 ‘fatties’ to afford the backs a chance of playing. Do they not grasp the beastly beauty of what occurs in those all too seldom scrums? Due to enhanced skill sets the number of scrums are dying out with just nine in the Australia-New Zealand game; seven in the England-New Zealand game and 10 in the Ireland-England game.

Happily it was England’s poor handling that created the extra scrums in the latter game. Still that’s just one every eight minutes, where the odd reset is hardly overly impinging on the game.

Beyond the scrum, the metres-run-with-the-ball figures are instructive. New Zealand typically run high numbers but Australia outran them and lost and England outran us on Sunday and lost.

Kicking stats hinge on possession stakes. The more ball you have the more you have to do with it!

Here’s Hansen’s challenge. Ireland have found a brilliant use of the ball through supreme understanding of themselves and their opposition. England shuffled their deck last Sunday partly due to Mike Brown’s absence but also due to Ireland’s kicking game and they still managed to cough up unforced errors.

This is a genuine attacking ploy. While numbers are one thing try-scoring relies on many facets (counterattack, offloads, mauling etc) but to me it’s all about the breakdown and the five second rule.

Crucially the Southern Hemisphere breakdown is far more fluid partly because of the ball carrier’s ability to dictate the terms of contact but especially because the referees make it thus.

Can the Six Nations encourage more tries; hopefully not to the detriment of our game but bonus points could help and true policing of the defensive line as a start while putting it back a few yards would be even better.

Leading to Robbie Henshaw's wonder try Tommy Bowe fielded a massive punt from George Ford and gained the scrum. Ireland eked a penalty from their eight-man shove. Conor Murray box kicked the ball off the subsequent lineout onto Jack Nowell's wing; the man credited with better football skills than Jonny May made a mess of it knocking it forward.

Ireland regained and Johnny Sexton kicked crossfield behind Anthony Watson as Alex Goode scampered across. Warhorse O’Connell arrived with Peter O’Mahony and turned over the ball. Six phases later Murray was at the base of a ruck spotting the referee’s penalty advantage from the high hit on Rob Kearney.

What unbelievable composure from Murray to spot the opportunity, signal a team-mate and execute with perfect precision. Henshaw then busts a gut to cover twice the distance Goode had to in getting to the ball for his team’s try. That’s rugby.

It's different from the Southern Hemisphere and never the twain shall meet until RWC 15. liamtoland@yahoo.com