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
Category: Ireland
Crash Landing
In the aftermath of Ireland’s defeat to France, a lot has been made of their decision-making when they were awarded penalties. Maybe it had something to do with the result of the England-Italy game changing what they needed to do in order to win the Championship, but Ireland seemed to fall between two stools with … Continue reading Crash Landing
Tall Order
There have been several false dawns in French rugby throughout the past decade, but there is something different about the clear-out that Fabien Galthié has done since RWC 2019. France gave a good account of themselves in that tournament, and were a moment of ill-discipline away from reaching the semi-finals, but Galthié decided that personnel … Continue reading Tall Order
Back With A Bang
The biggest question mark hanging over Ireland going into this match was whether or not they would heed the lessons of their hammering from England and uninspiring win over Scotland and adjust their game plan accordingly. That’s no disrespect to Italy; there were glimpses of what they are capable of back in the spring, but … Continue reading Back With A Bang
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