Despite tech developments, teams like progressive Ireland will continue to refine talent for brilliant execution
Ireland’s Dan Sheehan celebrates with Craig Casey ,Calvin Nash and Joe McCarthy after scoring against Italy in the Six Nations game at the Aviva Stadium. Photograph: Ben Brady/Inpho
The stupendous number of variables in rugby constantly wipe out statistical predictions. Ireland’s five-tries-to-one performance in Marseille is the perfect example. Every pre-match statistical analysis had France winning.Napoleon believed that strategy is a commodity, while brilliant execution is an art form. This still holds true as the art of creative coaching remains a significant weapon.
Conversely, AI would have yellow-carded Duhan van der Merwe in the first half when he brought down Gael Fickou on the Scots try line with a high “seat belt” tackle. Van der Merwe immediately regained his feet but was a step offside when he intercepted a pass that likely stopped a French try. All of this happened so quickly that it was humanly impossible for the officials to process all the information, analyse it and come up with the correct decision.
Once again let me defend our referees. It is humanly impossible to adjudicate on the tackle contest, the ruck and watch defensive lines simultaneously. The current system where our assistant referees report offsides to the referee is, and always has been, an abject failure. Glued to the sidelines, like old fashioned touch judges, the ARs are not in the correct physical position to judge the multiple offsides that the millions watching on TV can plainly see.
Having won consecutive victories over both the Springboks and France, astonishingly, Ireland’s creative attack appears to be kryptonite to even the most effective of defensive systems.This art is best described by legendary San Francisco 49ers Super Bowl-winning coach Bill Walsh. He described his offensive philosophy as “designing an offence that asks more questions than the defence can answer”. For E=mc² in physics, see Walsh’s words in attacking strategies across all team sports.
Warren Gatland has kept his promise and moulded this young Welsh team into a collective that is very hard to beatIf you are the Welsh defensive coach, which option do you plan for? Or do you try to cover both? If you cover both, then Ireland have a third.