by Brent Pope
It is an indicator of how far Ireland have come in 10 years that they should have more than enough to beat Scotland this weekend. That is because of what has happened to Scottish rugby over the last decade. We are talking about a once proud rugby union nation that is on its knees and the changing relationship behind these two countries tells its own story.
Scotland dominated this fixture throughout the 1990s but it would now be a huge upset if they were to beat Ireland. They might be able to compete if they play at the top of their ability but chances are they are not going to be able to do that.
They have had drama in their games this season but you have to have results and on that basis this has been a bad year for them. For all their courage, all Scotland have to show is a draw against a dowdy England side. We can acknowledge that they are playing a brave and committed brand of rugby and I have been impressed by their back row, but they have really gone backwards and there is no sign of that slide halting.
Despite one or two setbacks, I still think Ireland are going in the right direction. They still occupy that second tier in behind Australia, New Zealand, France and South Africa, with Argentina possibly alongside and another group of nations below. On a given day could beat one of the sides above them in that top level.
In this weekend's fixture, the unchanged team is slightly unexpected in that a lot of people might have expected Rob Kearney to come back into the side. That he has not done highlights a slight inconsistency in selection policy.
On the one hand, Geordan Murphy deserves to stay and play because he has done well since coming in. On the other, Leo Cullen was dropped from the side having also performed very well when he got the chance. Kidney possibly decided he needed to make changes because Ireland had been beaten by France and as they are now a winning side the emphasis has changed again.
There are a few other problems for Ireland to deal with over the coming months. We have already talked extensively about the scrum but a general problem with penalties and discipline is another issue that that has crept in. Ireland conceded 16 penalties against Wales. Part of the issue last week was obviously the situation at the breakdown, where Craig Joubert’s interpretation was different to what had been happening in other games.
Discipline an issue for Ireland
You presume that coaches and captains from both sides were briefed beforehand but Ireland still had penalty of trouble both with that interpretation and in other areas. In Ireland’s defence, it is very hard to change the mentality of how you approach something like that during a competition, even if you know it is coming.
On the broader topic of the new interpretation, people are talking about it as though it is a conspiracy theory thought up by the southern hemisphere. That is not the case. The reality is that we should not be trying to recreate the game as it was 20 or 30 years ago.
That type of approach will not attract new people to the sport and it will not make for an attractive game. Is that about commercial concerns? In part, of course it is. Once professionalism came into rugby there was always going to have to be a commercial aspect to how you run the game and making it a more attractive spectacle is a part of that.
The game is getting quicker with more players getting touches on the ball. Props never touched the ball 25 years ago but they are now running with the ball, kicking it and scoring tries.
The breakdown had become a mess that was starting to favour defensive sides too much. We were seeing defending structured in the Rugby League style, Teams were letting the tackler slow down the ball and fanning out sideways.
Game needed new ideas to speed up the ruck
In years gone by, players who tried to slow the ball down were taken out of the game by hard rucking but that has gone out of the game. We need another way to speed the game up to give the attacking side more scope to play and that is what this new interpetation is about.
As the Irish coaches said this week, that will have different implications depending on how your team is set up. For example, if a multi-phase game were to come back into fashion, you could suggest that it would not suit a team like South Africa, who rely on big heavy forwards and a kicking game.
On the other hand, it might be right up Ireland’s street. Imagine a situation where a player like Gordon D’Arcy gets over the gainline, the following Irish players sweep over the ball and it is quickly moved on again. That is not at all like what happens in Rugby League and it could really suit a team with fast, ball carrying forwards.
The Rugby League element actually crept in because the ball coming out of the ruck got too slow: this law interpretation is an attempt to address that.
