Paul O’Connell will have been disappointed with some costly losses during the tournament.
Murray Kinsella Reports from Paris HAD JORDIE BARRETT been unable to prevent Rónan Kelleher from grounding the ball in the 72nd minute last weekend in Paris, then Ireland’s lineout and maul would have been hailed as one of the key reasons Andy Farrell’s side reached the semi-finals.Ireland had already scored a thunderous maul try seven minutes before Kelleher was held up.
That’s how these things work. Barrett held the ball up and the reality now is that O’Connell’s work as Ireland’s forwards coach is being questioned after they lost three of their 14 throws into the lineout last weekend. That was a continuation of Ireland’s defensive strength in the Six Nations, when they picked off a higher percentage of opposition throws than anyone else at 18.6% .44.6% of all tries scored at this World Cup have started at the lineout, according to Opta.
Still, when you have a lineout in a position like this, you want to be able to execute the plans you’ve been working on. It’s clearly an excellent steal from Frizell here as he decides to jump even before Ireland have moved in their own lineout. There’s obviously a few important pieces in between the lineout loss and Ardie Savea dotting down in the right corner, but that’s how costly these moments can be at set-piece time.“There was two or three lineouts that went astray, but we know that they’re a good lineout D team,” said lineout caller Henderson.
The Kiwis ran at 100% lineout on their eight throws, meaning they’re now at an impressive 98.1% success rate during the World Cup, the best in the tournament. Ireland’s lineout losses against South Africa didn’t end up being the deciding of that game, but they easily could have been in a tense, tight battle in Paris.
Even more frustratingly, the loss above came just after O’Mahony had forced a turnover from the Springboks lineout.
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