| O’Sullivan must reassess his
options after Irish French farce  Facing
their worst Gallic trouncing since the 2003 World Cup quarter-final in
Melbourne four late Irish tries appear to have temporarily saved Ireland
manager Eddie O’Sullivan his job.
However the Ireland boss refused to accept any responsibility for one
of the worst first-half displays by an Irish team in recent times after
they trailed 29-3 at the break.
Not surprisingly the post-match comment was dominated by the question
of whether it was another gallant loss or a missed opportunity.
Certainly the post-match statistics heavily favoured Ireland but at the
end of the day the statistic that mattered — the final scoreline
— favoured the French by 12 points.
Analysing the statistics closer it is hard to imagine how Ireland could
have lost having dominated position and possession. The French carried
the ball for a mere 27 minutes in total to Ireland’s 42. The game
was played for 29 minutes in Ireland’s half with over an hour spent
deep inside French territory.
Not surprisingly the French did four times as much tackling as the Irish.
These are extraordinary statistics by any standard but particularly so
given this was Ireland who were dictating the terms on French soil.
However the real question that remains is how much of Ireland’s
spell-binding finale was due to French complacency after adding a further
14 points early in the third quarter?
Several arguments have been put forward for Ireland’s jittery inept
first-half performance from applying the wrong game-plan to being over-coached.
Certainly the body-language of the Ireland side that took the field bore
no resemblance to a side about to hit the ground running. In fact the
concession of an early try looked inevitable long before Tommy Bowe’s
stumble — and unforced errors are usually due to a lack of confidence
and assertiveness.
Ireland manager O’Sullivan has since been contradicted for claiming
that Ireland played all the rugby in the opening half. But the fact is
that scores came so easily for the hosts they did not need to play particularly
well but credit must also be given to Bernard Laporte’s side for
pressurising the Irish side into making the four errors that effectively
decided the game.
For the opening leg of the Triple Crown against Wales on Sunday, February
26 at Lansdowne Road Eddie O’Sullivan will have much to ponder on
the direction of his side.
Assuming they can gain revenge over the Grand Slam title holders they
then face a another home time against a rejuvenated Scotland side before
the St. Patrick’s weekend finale against England at Twickenham on
March 18.
|
