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Narrow defence, a lack of penetration and a shaky lineout were the theme of the day for Ireland.
The most glaringly obvious and disappointing aspect of this Ireland performance was the narrow defence. Like Argentina, Scotland played a brand of rugby thsat exposed the lack of pace and power in the Irish back three.
There were times in the first half when Scotland had huge overlaps but didn’t utilise them. When Scotland look back at the highlights they will be pretty disappointed to not have capitalised on the overlaps they created. Garry Ringrose, a hugely talented player I rate highly, has to take some of the blame on this account – Scotland got around the 13 channel with ease. Ringrose wasn’t helped by Rob Kearney either, whose positioning was very questionable.
Ireland’s back three were pedestrian in comparison with their Scottish counterparts. It was incredible how many times Rob Kearney ran straight, predictable lines from Scottish kicks. In contrast, Stuart Hogg varied his kick returns with good passes and footwork.
Ireland will remain at the same level if they keep playing the same players, but they could take their game to the next level if they had a truly threatening back three. Adam Byrne and Jacob Stockdale would add to the Ireland’s attacking game without detracting from the kick-chase game.
It’s very hard to win a game without a functioning lineout – and given the sheer height of Devin Toner, it is amazing how many times he gets beaten. Rory Best won’t have done himself any favours with regards to Lions selection with that lineout performance. The Irish lineout desperately needs another option in the back row, and for this reason it is likely that one of either Jamie Heaslip or CJ Stander will be dropped for Peter O’Mahony.
This Irish team did not become a bad team overnight; however, it does need an injection of pace and power to rectify these issues. Taking into account the squad named by Joe Schmidt, I would name the following team for Italy.
1. Jack McGrath
2. Rory Best
3. Tadhg Furlong
4. Donnacha Ryan
5. Iain Henderson
6. Peter O’Mahony
7. Sean O’Brien
8. CJ Stander
9. Conor Murray
10. Paddy Jackson
11. Simon Zebo
12. Robbie Henshaw
13. Luke Marshall
14. Keith Earls
15. Tiernan O’Halloran
16. Niall Scannell
17. Cian Healy
18. John Ryan
19. Ultan Dillane
20. Jack Conan
21. Kieran Marmion
22. Ian Keatley/Jonathan Sexton
23. Garry Ringrose
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.