Rugby pundits from around Ireland and the home nations all made a very similar point about Ireland’s Six Nations loss to France.
It centred around the fact that Ireland’s pack is essentially the Leinster pack plus Tadhg Beirne, with Cian Healy and Dan Sheehan also on the bench.
France's Six Nations Power Game
Speaking on The Times’ The Ruck podcast, former Saracens CEO Mark Evans pointed out that the issues Ireland faced against France up front are the same ones Leinster have faced in Champions Cup knockout games.
“I think it’s fair enough to say that if you’re going to beat what I think is a very very good Irish team. I think they can play a lot of different ways, and I think their offensive set up has got Andy Farrell rugby league all over it, and it’s at a level that not many.
“Other teams can match them, but if you are going to match them you take them on up front, you really go for them in the scrummage and in the physical sense.
“Because when do Leinster get beaten? You might remember that time Saracens went to Dublin and did a right number on them up front.
“La Rochelle beat Leinster in a big game with a huge pack, and they just took them on up front.”
12 February 2022; Josh van der Flier of Ireland is tackled by Julien Marchand, left, and Uini Atonio of France during the Guinness Six Nations Rugby Championship match between France and Ireland at Stade de France in Paris, France. Photo by Seb Daly/Sportsfile
Speaking on BBC’s Rugby Union Daily after the match, Chris Jones and Tommy Bowe had similar thoughts.
“We’ve seen La Rochelle do it to Leinster, we’ve seen Sarries do it to Leinster, we’ve seen a big England team do it a year or two ago to Ireland,” Jones said.
Ex-Ireland winger Tommy Bowe echoed these words.
“Leinster is the spine of this side. And we’ve seen Leinster have not made it to the final of the European Cup because they come up against a big La Rochelle side, a Saracens side like you mentioned.
“We know the way to beat this side is physically fronting up and not giving them the fast front-foot ball that they need.”
Despite all of these pundits basically repeating each other, none of them offered a solution to this problem that Ireland will likely continue to face.
However, the positive that they can take from the match is that despite being dominated up front in the first half of their Six Nations clash, on the whole they will feel they should have been able to win the game, but self-imposed mistakes cost them that chance.
The match being played in the Stade de France would also have played a part in the French intensity, although Farrell will surely be looking at ways of countering this problem.
He will not want a repeat of the final days of Joe Schmidt’s reign where it appeared teams had ‘figured out’ Ireland.
An improved kicking game will certainly help Ireland alleviate some of the pressure of playing against powerful forwards, as will the addition of a fit Iain Henderson and a fit again Robbie Henshaw.
See Also: Andy Farrell Was Proven Right With Joey Carbery Decision Despite French Loss
