By Tadhg Peavoy at Carton House
Ireland full-back Rob Kearney has highlighted his team’s slow start, lack of discipline and line-outs as the key reasons behind their 23-16 Six Nations defeat to Wales last Saturday.
The Irish side were on the back foot for almost the entirety of the opening 13 minutes and Kearney acknowledged that they gave themselves a mountain to climb by being so slow out of the blocks at the Millennium Stadium.
“I think the start had a huge play in it. Huge Test matches, when you go 12-0 down it’s very difficult to claw your way back into it,” said Kearney.
“From their perspective I think they played exceptionally well. I think our discipline was poor, we got beaten in the air and we lost a few key line-outs. They were probably the three big areas that changed the force of the game.”
Ireland had been clinical in their opening three matches in the championship, but that deserted them on Saturday, another key aspect to the chastening defeat.
“These games, the margins are so small that you only get a couple of opportunities. When you win games you talk about being very clinical. We lacked a clinical edge when we got into their 22, and we were building phase after phase, and not getting any reward for it,” said Kearney.
"The important thing is there is no pessimism within the team"
The irony is that the very areas that let Ireland down on Saturday had been their strengths previously and something that will be addressed this week. Kearney feels that credit must be given to Wales for their performance and the pressure they exerted on Ireland.
“The things that we got wrong are probably the things we pride ourselves on,” said Kearney.
“We were beaten in the air. That’s something we pride ourselves on. Our discipline was poor. Our discipline in the campaign so far has been exemplary. The things that went wrong were the things that normally go right for us.
“They came out of the blocks really well. They had a huge amount of possession and were in our half.
“They put us under pressure. At the start of the game referees are very quick to lay down the marker and give some penalties away and I think that this time we got caught on the wrong side of three or four very kickable penalties.”
Ireland’s seven minutes of pressure
Ireland had seven minutes of ferocious pressure on the Wales line in the second half that failed to yield a single point, before the Welsh went up the other end and got a crucial try for an 11-point lead.
No doubt there will be much discussion on how Ireland can attack more effectively against Scotland, but Kearney revealed little about that, instead focusing on just how good the Welsh were in defence.
“The Welsh defended superbly. They had 14 up in their line. It looked a little bit [like] the longer we had the ball the more energy they got from that and they pushed us back a couple of metres every time,” said Kearney.
“We need to be a little bit more explosive in those areas [in attack] to make a little more ground.
“You have to give a huge amount of credit the way the Welsh defended over those 42 phases.
“I think if you looked at the championship as a whole in the first week, you would say Wales away was going to be a very tough week. They’ve just come off the back of beating the French away so I don’t think we can undermine the quality of that Welsh side in any way.
“We’re disappointed, we didn’t play to or fulfill our potential on the day, but by no means will our confidence be affected.
“There’s no pessimism within the squad. We’re very much aware of moods within our own camp and the important thing is there is no pessimism within the team.
“We have a huge Test match in five days time and we’re still in with a chance of winning the championship, so we’ll look at a few things at the weekend and how we can improve and do better at some of the things we are not satisfied with.”
Attention now turns to Scotland away in round five on Saturday. Ireland must beat Scotland and hope that Wales and England do not surpass their points difference if they beat Italy and France respectively.
However, Leinster man Kearney was quick to point out that Ireland will go into the tie with Scotland focusing on a win first and foremost and that points difference cannot be their primary concern. He highlights that Scotland are a very dangerous side and that victory is no foregone conclusion.
“Scotland have been unlucky this year. Three games in a row they were leading,” he said.
“They lost them all by one score. They were leading at Twickenham at half-time and well within the game and I think second half they will look back at themselves and be a little bit disappointed by their performance.
“It’s something out of our control. We won’t be focusing on points difference or anything like that. We have to be really professional and treat this as a one-off game.
“As soon as you start talking points difference you start disrespecting the Scottish. A - we don’t want to do that. B – if we do you’ll be punished for it.
“We cannot under any circumstance get caught thinking about points difference.”
“We cannot under any circumstance get caught thinking about points difference”
Next week will be about righting the wrongs of Cardiff and ensuring that big players have a big game. And Kearney openly admitted that that was not the case on Saturday.
“I think you could say that the majority of the team [didn’t perform on the day]. I think every single player will pick a few instances or moments where they could have contributed better to the team,” he said.
“Guys are generally fearful of keeping their places, but after defeats they are even more fearful. So, we’ll have the team picked over the next couple of days and in some ways this can be shackles released for us and we can really go out and play."
Ireland will be at full strength for Saturday's decisive game after it was announced no new injuries had been picked up against Wales.
