A lack of killer instinct is the cause of Ireland’s poor start to the Six Nations, according to former manager Donal Lenihan.
The back-to-back champions have drawn with Wales and lost to France and, despite a mathematical possibility of finishing top of the table, are realistically looking to salvage some pride in the remaining three games, starting with the clash against unbeaten England on Saturday in Twickenham (4.50pm).
Ex-Munster second row Lenihan has identified a couple of issues for Joe Schmidt’s men.
“The hallmark of Ireland under Joe Schmidt when we won the two championships was designing a game plan that generated field position, and once you got into the opposition 22, they were absolutely clinical in turning that possession into points,” he told RTÉ’s Against the Head.
Territory stats against France
“That hasn’t happened this year. Execution has been poor, a lot of unforced errors.
“The other side of it is an injury crisis you just can’t ignore. We can’t afford to be down eight or nine players.
“That impacts hugely on the quality of your bench and I think that has had a significant input on the results in the championship.”
Despite these observations, Lenihan says that some of the commentary has been off the mark.
He added: “They’ve shipped a lot of criticism. I think the analysis has been over the top to some degree in the opening two games.
“Bear in mind we drew with Wales, who are my favourites to win the championship, and lost by a point in Paris, where we’ve won four times since 1952.”
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