PERFECT TIME TO HIT BACK
Keenan says beaten stars already looking ahead to ‘shot at redemption’
BY MICHAEL SCULLY
England 23 Ireland 22
HUGO Keenan says that Saturday is Ireland’s “shot at redemption” after the agony of their last-gasp defeat to England at Twickenham.
What a strange feeling it must be for Andy Farrell and his players this week.
Having victory snatched from any team in overtime is hard to take.
Sprinkle onto that disappointment that it occurred against England in Twickenham, then add on top the knowledge that a golden chance to do back to back Grand Slams was destroyed, and it will have been a difficult aftermath.
And yet the Ireland camp knows that if they beat Scotland on Saturday evening they will be celebrating only a sixth Six
Nations title success and a 15th championship triumph in history.
Even if Ireland lose then England will need a five-point victory against out of sorts France in Lyon to overtake Farrell’s side.
“The beauty in this one is that we have got a shot at redemption,” said Keenan on Saturday night. “it wasn’t a final today although you are nearly treating it like one.
“We have got an opportunity to bounce back and to do it at home in front of our fans, our families or friends, and our brilliant support.
“That’s a lucky opportunity and a privilege to have and it is one that probably we haven’t had too many opportunities to do in the past.
“It will be a tough week but I think we’ll be ready for it and looking forward to it.”
Keenan continued: “That’s the challenge, that is the beauty of the competition, you lose a game but you can win the tournament still.
“I think you have to, I suppose, take learnings from previous losses, take learnings from this loss and move on quickly.
“I don’t think we can drop our heads, feel too sorry for ourselves because we are in the position that we wanted to come the end of the tournament.
“Obviously not the ideal one but it is still there to be won and that’s exciting for me and for the team.
“We have to look forward to that and relish the opportunity.
“And it is a challenge to me personally, my teammates and the squad as a whole as to how we can regroup and come together tighter and regroup and gather ourselves and go and finish the job properly.”
Keenan was superb as he switched between full-back and wing commitments and was practically unbeatable in the air.
That it was his first game in a month after suffering a knee injury against Wales only enhances his effort.
But he hasn’t time for personal satisfaction on a day like this one. “Not particularly,” he smiled.
“No, like, I’ll be as critical as anyone on myself now, especially after one as hurting as that.
“Yeah it’s not ideal having been out for the last game and whatnot, but you have to step up pretty quick, you can’t have any excuses, you can’t let that affect your performance.
“I’m certainly not looking at my own performance, I’m looking at the team result.”
van der Flier was another who produced a big performance in what was a first defeat in the Six Nations in 12 matches for Ireland, stretching back to the 2022 loss to France in Paris.
“It’s a very disappointed dressing room,” the flanker said.
But he insisted that Ireland must not throw the baby out with the bathwater and make radical changes. Avoiding panic
is vital now, van der Flier cautioned. “What makes it so disappointing is we probably had it in our grasp,” he said.
“Probably just a few errors, ill discipline and a couple of moments we could have done better throughout the games.
“One thing I find is that when you get on a run of winning it’s not easy but you just get used to winning, it becomes a habit aljosh most, you just get on the right side of things and you’re not panicking when you’re down.
“When you finally do lose a game, and it happens eventually, it’s so important not to lose what worked so well.
“Yeah, of course it will be a big test but I think we’re mature enough as a team at this stage that we’ll be able to get ourselves right and realise that it’s very much in our control, winning that game just gone, and putting in a big performance this week.
“One of the worst things in sport is probably when you lose a game and you have to wait a year for it to come back around.
“So definitely it is a positive that I hadn’t really come around to thinking about yet but yeah, it’s so important now that we get rid of our disappointment.”