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Things for Joe Schmidt to think about

Roar Guru
15th June, 2018
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Marika Koroibete on the run against Ireland. (Photo by Jono Searle/Getty Images)
Roar Guru
15th June, 2018
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1571 Reads

Well it had to happen eventually.

Australia, led by the senior leadership group, shelved the run-at-all-costs, ball-in-hand ideology and deliver a varied and disciplined game plan that not only took Ireland (and most of us) completely by surprise but it was a true 80-minute performance and more importantly, it really held together in the Championship minutes.

Great news for the Wallabies, maybe not so much for their opponents for the remainder of 2018.

So, the master analyst Schmidt will no doubt have retreated to his bunker to search for the reasons why.

Almost counterintuitively given the Wallaby tactics of the day he will find that many of things widely forecast before the game, did come to pass, but his side could not find a way to take advantage.

So firstly, what we expected to happen did happen. Australia’s lineout wobbled on their own ball and applied no pressure to the Irish lineout.

There were no run metres from the Gold loosies or remaining forwards.

The Wallabies made all their run metres in the outside channels against a very predictable Farrell-compressed defence.

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The first two items were countered by the Wallabies’ ability to maintain the tackling rage for the full 80 (a few structural defensive blips aside) and they did for 183 tackles and at 90 per cent – that’s a huge effort.

In addition the Wallabies read the Irish wraparounds easier than anything Dr Seuss has produced and made a bunch of really solid tackles on the Irish side of the gain-line (always a good thing).

Add in an excellent kick chase and therein lay the building blocks for a good win. The last item saw Ireland generate opportunities from Australian offensive rucks that they really shouldn’t have had.

Adam Coleman

Adam Coleman of Australia (Photo by Albert Perez/Getty Images)

So where will Mr Schmidt focus his efforts in game 2?

We all remember the Furlong sleight of hand that not only saw Ireland score against England but which also sent Owen Farrell on a wild goose chase after Sexton that saw him only just pull up empty handed just before the carpark

Well researched and well coached defence from the Wallabies closed so much of this early but I expect a move or two from the bowels of the Ireland coaching manual to be on display this week.

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Ireland are unlikely to be as wasteful or uninventive as they were in the first Test nor will they kick away quite so many attacking ball in opportunities. Stockdale had a real mare in this regard.

Did not recall Ireland wasting so much pill during the first watching of the match.

For all the standout work Australia/Pocock did at the defensive breakdown, their first half ruck work going forward wasn’t great, and appears to have been somewhat overlooked.

Mike Hooper ran something of a lonesome furrow here with his outside backs. The Wallabies will need to get there faster, or improved work from the backs needed if they are to maximise the opportunities they are creating, or this will be an area of potential counterattack with Ireland likely to pick greater pace across the park.

No doubt we will all remember the big hits from Marika Koribete and Kurt Beale but the gain-line tacking in front of the advantage line by Coleman and Hooper really set the standard.

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I could watch this kind of dedicated tackling effort all day.

Mr Schmidt is going to need to find a consistent way over the gain-line or some Irish ribs are going to be in serious trouble. Expect Ireland to be a lot narrower early this week.

If the Irish have a building block to their game it is their ability to control the pill and continually build pressure on their opposition.

Against France and England they conceded possession 7 and 13 times respectively, in this game against Australia the number was 21.

No-one is building pressure with that many turnovers, again Wallaby tackling and defensive ruck work were the catalyst for a number this large, but Schmidt will be looking for that stat to plummet in Melbourne if Ireland are to have any kind of shot.

Cheika’s Australian side set the Irish a puzzle that their on-field leadership couldn’t solve on the run, but a week can be a long time in international rugby. This Saturday in Melbourne will give us a really good indication of how significant the Wallaby improvement is, and just how good this Irish side really is now they have named what must be close to their best available team.

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I will stick my head out and say if the Wallabies can keep both their tackling discipline and game plan intact for another full 80 they will narrowly lock up a series win.

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