Ireland are too good to be mere party-poopers
HAVING stopped New Zealand back in November from setting a record for successive wins Ireland did the same to England on Saturday and dashed their hopes of another Grand Slam.
The inclement weather probably favoured the home side but Joe Schmidt’s men put in their best performance of the championship to deny England the win they so desperately wanted.
Late replacement Peter O’Mahony produced a massive 80 minute contribution and was the stand-out player on the park.
He topped the tackle count and was imperious going forward, ably assisted by back row colleagues CJ Stander and Sean O’Brien.
Johnny Sexton also had a huge game although at times you fear for his well being.
The English forwards had a bounty on his head and specifically targeted the number 10.
At least one of them should have seen yellow for late hits but Sexton never shied away from mixing it physically.
Every Ireland supporter was delighted with result but this team are much too good to be just playing the role of party poopers. We should have been going for our own Grand Slam on Saturday.
The start of the Ireland/England game was delayed due to extraordinary scenes in Paris. English referee Stuart Barnes played a full 20 minutes of additional time which allowed France claim victory over Wales with the final play of the game. on us and thoroughly deserved their victory.
They were aggressive right from the off and never allowed us to settle into any sort of rhythm.
We failed to match them in the physical stakes and they grew in confidence as the game progressed buoyed by the two first half goals.
The heavy conditions as usual were not to our advantage and you have to wonder would we be better off at an alternative venue for our home games.
Notwithstanding the conditions, all players in red will be disappointed with their performance. Armagh’s game plan should not have been a surprise to us and lads should have been prepared for their confrontational approach.
It’s something that we need to learn from as other teams will adopt a similar style against us in the future.
Although heads were down at the final whistle we can’t be too disappointed with our lot at this stage of the campaign. Promotion is still well within our grasp and the return of Andy McDonnell will help our cause.
It’s now two teams from three - Tipperary, Armagh and ourselves.
A win in Thurles next week will be difficult but it is not a task that is beyond us. Failing that we need to beat Sligo in our final game and hope that Tipp do us a favour against Armagh. It’s a scenario that we all would have gladly taken back in January.
Last week was a particularly difficult week for Louth manager Colin Kelly with his mother Celine passing away on Friday morning. She was a lovely lady and we pass on our sympathies to Oliver and the family.