Stockdale joy
Ireland spoil Gatland’s final home match
Such are the vagaries of World Rugby’s ranking system that despite their annus horribilis, culminating in last weekend’s 57-15 shellacking at Twickenham, Ireland would have replaced Wales as the No1 team in the world had they won by more than 15 points.
They almost did it, too. At one point in the second half Joe Schmidt’s team were 22-3 up and cruising, albeit against Wales’s reserves.
The two late tries they conceded as Wales finally came to life in a farewell match Warren Gatland described as “emotional” are unlikely to bother Schmidt unduly. He will just be relieved that a vastly improved showing; has breathed a bit of life into their stuttering World Cup campaign.
There is only so much you can read into warm-up games, of course. Neither team were close to full strength. And the game was played in front of a strangely subdued crowd. But after Twickenham, it was a hugely welcome win from an Irish perspective, with a number of fringe players putting their hands up for World Cup selection.
Dave Kilcoyne was monstrous in the first half, making eight tackles, winning two scrum penalties, carrying for 31 metres and beating five defenders including Josh Navidi and Samson Lee in the build-up to Jacob Stockdale’s first try. Will Addison and Andrew Conway had fine games, while James Ryan made a difference in the engine room. Even those who might have been mentally scarred from last weekend looked sharper.
Perhaps that was just Stockdale’s haircut. Like Samson in reverse, the Ulster wing was a man reborn without the flowing mane that adorned his bonce last weekend.
Schmidt will also have been delighted with Jack Carty at fly-half. With Joey Carbery still injured and Jonathan Sexton soon to emerge from his bubble-wrap, Schmidt desperately needed another fly-half to step up. Carty, on his fourth cap, was man of the match.
Schmidt as good as admitted the Connacht man had earnt his plane ticket to Japan, although he did note that Ross Byrne, the other name in the frame, had been “incredibly unlucky” to have played behind a flimsy pack at Twickenham.
Gatland, who names his squad today, probably learnt less. Rhys Patchell and Tomos Williams made a difference in the second half, with Patchell – whose try five minutes from time got Wales back to within five points – likely to get the nod over Jarrod Evans on this showing. But it was, as Gatland admitted, a different game by then. “It was harder for Jarrod in the first half when we were messier,” he said.
It certainly was. Ireland were the better team for an hour. And perhaps Gatland had himself to blame. In classic fashion, he had lobbed a snarky grenade into the Irish camp in the build-up, suggesting Schmidt was unsure of his best line-up, that his players might be “too old”, that Wales could “derail” Ireland’s World Cup train.
His barbs would have rankled with Schmidt but they also had the effect of awakening Irish pride. The visitors were sharper, snappier, Stockdale’s excellent early turnover after a tackle on Owen Lane setting the tone.
Evans, auditioning for his role as back-up to Dan Biggar, turned in a mixed bag. The Blues fly-half did well to clear his lines after collecting an Addison grubber and eluding Andrew Conway. He also produced one peach of a crossfield kick to Lane. But he also missed an easy penalty when Wales were trailing 10-3.
Ireland scored with their first attempt at goal, Carty making no mistake after Josh Navidi had strayed offside. And although Wales drew level when Peter O’Mahony was pinged for failing to release, Ireland were looking far more threatening.
Stockdale’s first try was a beauty, Kilcoyne making the initial break, and Carty offloading to Conway who stepped inside a couple of tacklers before spinning the ball out to Stockdale.
Wales only had themselves to blame for Stockdale’s second, though. Aaron Shingler’s attempted pass out the back of his hand landed behind all of his team-mates. Stockdale fly-hacked the loose ball before collecting his own kick and touching down in the corner.
The start of the second half continued in the same vein. Wales’s replacement tighthead Leon Brown lasted 10 minutes against Ireland’s replacement loosehead Andrew Porter before he got himself sent to the bin for persistent scrum infringements, Romain Poite awarding Ireland a penalty try.
It took an Owen Lane score in the corner to awaken the crowd, before Patchell bagged another late try.
Next weekend’s return in Dublin will see Gatland try to turn the tables and ruin Schmidt’s final home game in charge. But Ireland will go into it more confidently. “I know we created a bit of angst for people outside the squad last week but I think we restored a bit of selfconfidence here,” said Schmidt.