Despite Andy Farrell’s optimism yesterday, it’s hard to know if Ireland should actually be taking any positives from their comprehensive defeat to England. The scoreboard didn’t reflect England’s dominance, and although the two sides are at much different points in their respective trajectories, there wasn’t much in the way of inspiration. Ireland didn’t lack for … Continue reading Playback Loop
The Hurt Arena
When you suffer consecutive bad losses against the same opponent in any sport, the biggest mistake you can make is refusing to acknowledge your shortcomings because of the pain that comes with doing so. When this happens, players and teams stop striving to improve and it leads to a vicious cycle of performance levels that … Continue reading The Hurt Arena
Short-Changed
A resounding win over Wales would normally send Ireland fans into overdrive, but their victory last night was actually quite underwhelming. That was largely down to the form of the current Welsh team; it was their sixth loss on the bounce, and if the rumours of the discontent from the players being the reason behind … Continue reading Short-Changed
Round 2
Wales’ performances in the Six Nations (the Italy trouncing aside) reminded me a lot of Ireland’s hammering at the hands of Australia in November of 2013. The error count and lack of intensity from Ireland that day were symptomatic of a team who were trying to process a high volume of information from their new … Continue reading Round 2
