'Their first option was to attack every time'
Ireland were deserved winners at Croke Park and taught us a valuable lesson in where we need to improve. It was certainly a bit of a wake-up call and one we need before the France game.
We just didn’t get any parity up front and that’s where the game was lost. Ireland dominated our pack and the set piece ball wasn’t great which meant that we were kicking on the back foot and couldn’t generate any momentum. The one time we did at the start of the second half, when Strettle scored in the left hand corner, we got three or four phases of play together but that was pretty much it.
But full credit to Ireland. They defended exceptionally well and put the heat on us from the word go. They kicked very well, only missed one ball to O’Driscoll and he would either have a go or kick it down field. Their first option was to attack every time and Ronan O’Gara tactically controlled the game extremely well. Simon Easterby was also phenomenal and Paul O’Connell put in a man of the match performance.
I don’t think the atmosphere was even a factor. It was a special but not intimidating. The French defeat at Croke Park taught them so much just like England before the 2003 World Cup. The Grand Slams we lost against Ireland, Wales and Scotland taught us as a squad and a coaching unit what mistakes you can’t make again and Ireland have done the same thing.
Of course, going down to 14 men before half time cost us dear but Danny Grewcock’s yellow card was extremely harsh in my opinion. He just literally slightly stepped over the ruck and Peter Stringer then whacked him in the face! Why Danny deserved a yellow for that is beyond me but things just didn’t go our way on Saturday.
Ireland were good in the contact area - I wouldn’t say they were brilliant but they did the basics very well. There was no individual O’Driscoll flair that they sometimes rely on and Horgan was great on the switch play.
There have been people calling for Andy Farrell to be dropped but I think that rather than look at individuals you have to look at what type of ball the backs got against Ireland from phase plays. We were dominated up front and if you’re on the back foot, no matter how good you are, you’re not going to have the chance to show off your skills. Irrespective of who they had at twelve, it would have been very hard for anybody to create anything because of the type of ball that Jonny and Farrell were getting.
'Ronan O’Gara tactically controlled the game extremely well'
Farrell has only played two or three internationals and everybody has built him up to be this ‘man of steel’ but the guy is going to take time to adjust to everything and he has a hell of a lot to learn irrespective of his glittering rugby league career. And he has learnt incredibly quickly. Too many people have been too quick to build him up then knock him down at the first opportunity but that’s simply what the press are going to do.
On the positive side for England, I though David Strettle has a good debut and Tait played well when he came on, pulling off a brilliant tackle to stop Horgan. I played with Strettle in the A team and he is very quick, has good feet and an air of arrogance about him. He’s only a slight guy but he puts himself about a bit. If we give him the ball with space, his speed and quick feet are incredible so it’s a case of getting him better quality ball. And for him to score a try in Ireland on your debut is very impressive. I’d like to see him stay even if Jason is fit. He deserves another go after that debut.
Next up, it’s going to be an incredibly tough game against France. We need to improve our set-pieces and get better ball and win in the collision area. Against Ireland, we seemed to get turned over or hold on every time our runners got the ball, so there needs to be quicker support in the contact area. What we also have to stop doing is these silly little chips over the top which absolutely killed us. It’s okay to drill the ball fifty metres down the park but kicking it straight into their hands from a few yards is ludicrous. Conversely, O’Gara would drill it right back down the park 10 metres from our try line and put us back under pressure.
We don’t particularly want France winning a Grand Slam and Brian Ashton has promised some changes although I don’t know what they’re going to be yet! I had a very good game against Bath and I’m happy with my form so if I continue playing the way I am, hopefully I can get back in the reckoning. The French game is going to be massively tough and they are big, physical guys who are on a bit of a roll.
I got it slightly wrong with my prediction for the Ireland game but I do think it will be close at Twickenham and I’ll take England by five.
Mike Catt.
25th February 2007
