Ireland stars back O’Shea in Jones row

IRELAND will be sending messages of thanks to Conor O’Shea if they come out on the right side of a points difference decider at the end of the Championship, and they largely backed the Italy coach in his war of words with Eddie Jones.

The former Ireland full-back has come under fire from the England coach and some ex-internationals for instructing his players not to engage in the ruck during Sunday’s Six Nations clash, a tactic that bamboozled Jones and his players and led to a more even game.

Ultimately, the champions won the game comfortably, but not before they had gone in at half-time behind and had to send two senior players to find out what was going on from referee Romain Poite.

After the game, Jones blasted the Italians and called for paying fans to demand their money back, while O’Shea refuted his criticism.

With reports indicating that World Rugby will review their laws on the back of the tumultuous Twickenham afternoon, the Irish players and management who spoke after yesterday’s training session at the Aviva Stadium saw little wrong with what Italy did.

“Look, it’s a tactic that is there to be used,” flanker Peter O’Mahony said. “I thought they put England under pressure. Obviously it wasn’t the greatest game to watch, but that’s a tactic that they used very efficiently.

“That’s the rule as it stands. There’s plenty of teams that have used it, maybe not as many times as Italy, but it worked very well for them.

“They put England under pressure. That’s the rule, that’s the end of it. You can shout and roar all you want about it, ex-players and stuff, it doesn’t really matter. That’s the law.”

With Ireland likely to require points difference to reclaim their title on the final weekend, O’Shea and his side have done his old team a favour.

England lead Ireland at the head of the Six Nations table by three points with a points differential of +29 compared to Joe Schmidt’s side’s +58. Scotland are a point behind Ireland on nine with a points differential of +15, and they take on England and Italy in their remaining games.

If Ireland can overcome Wales at the Millennium Stadium, they are likely to carry a points advantage into the final round unless Eddie Jones’ side hammer the in-form Scots, and if Joe Schmidt’s men come out on top as a result of O’Shea’s masterplan, scrum coach Greg Feek says they’ll be grateful.

“There will be a few messages going his way if it works out like that,” he said. “He (Jones) is obviously frustrated. On the flip side, Conor, Brendan Venter and Mike Catt will probably be pretty happy with themselves.

“We’re just sitting back watching it and thinking ‘fair play to them’.

“England obviously worked on it in the break, came out with a plan. In some ways I can see what Eddie’s saying, because people want to come and watch England do their thing and score tries.

“I just think it’s great for rugby. Playing the rules in a different way creates interest and it’s good for the game.”

VICTIM

Feek recalled seeing South African side the Cheetahs using the tactic as far back as 2010, while Ireland almost fell victim to it when Conor Murray passed the ball to an onside David Pocock in November.

And they are now fully briefed on the what to do if it was to happen to them again.

“Absolutely, up the jumpers stuff,” Sean O’Brien said.

“I certainly would have known the rules around it anyway; England dealt with it in the end but the Italians were very clever in the way they went about their game-plan.

“You have to hand it to hand it to them, but you have to adapt to those situations if they arise.”

Although five players sat out training yesterday, Rob Kearney remains the biggest doubt for the Wales clash as he awaits results of a scan on his injured groin.

O’Brien is expected to be fit despite needing a Head Injury Assessment when he came off during Saturday’s win over France, while Conor Murray, Andrew Trimble and Cian Healy’s absence was precautionary.

The 18 other players from the match-day 23 were joined in training by Munster’s Andrew Conway and Leinster’s Dan Leavy before the squad broke for four days’ rest before reconvening at Carton House on Saturday to begin preparation for Wales.

Schmidt is expected to name a squad of around 35 players for the final rounds in the next 48 hours.