‘The onus is on all of us to get the lineout right’

JAMES RYAN has defended Ronan Kelleher in the wake of Ireland’s lineout woes in Twickenham last weekend. The Irish set-piece malfunctioned on several occasions during the 18-7 loss to England with Kelleher shouldering much of the blame after one of the rookie Leinster hooker’s throws led directly to Jonny May’s brilliant solo try in the first half. But Ryan — who will captain Ireland again in the Autumn Nations Cup clash with Georgia on Sunday — insisted that Ireland’s issues in the lineout were a collective problem. ‘He’s going to be a big player for us and that’s just a snapshot, it might look like an overthrow to everybody else but unless you’re in here you’ll know that that throw is actually perfect and that we’ve got the movement slightly wrong,’ he said. ‘It’s about two feet further up the line that it

should be. ‘It’s a unit skill, a collective thing as opposed to any one person because he (Kelleher) is another guy I thought played really well and really fronted up and it’s definitely certainly not on him. ‘It’s on all of us to get the lineout right and to get the set-piece right.’ Despite a raft of possession and territory, Andy Farrell’s men struggled to break down a relentless English defence. Former Ireland captain Brian O’Driscoll suggested that Ireland have regressed in several areas — including the breakdown — since Joe Schmidt left his post as Ireland head coach after last year’s World Cup. ‘I thought it was really strong against Wales and it probably wasn’t where it needed to be against England,’ Ryan added. ‘So we’re looking at that... one thing is being urgent, getting there early and seeing threats. And in terms of the set piece — I don’t think things have slipped.’