Ireland must be extra-smart at the breakdown and show the ref exactly what he wants to see

1. It’s all about painting the correct picture in the eyes of the referee at the breakdown. Teams have become particularly clever in the way that they trap opposition players so that they cannot roll away, but you’ve got to show that you are making a genuine effort to do so. Against Scotland, CJ Stander got himself into a textbook jackal position, with both legs firmly anchored to the ground and supporting his own body weight. However, Jack Conan’s (yellow) failure to roll away cost Ireland a penalty.

2. Josh van der Flier brings a huge amount of energy in and around the breakdown area, and it is imperative that his team-mates recognise that. A ferocious clean-out (yellow) here results in a turnover, but three Ireland players are standing looking at the ruck rather than reacting to van der Flier’s actions. Ireland did end up winning the turnover in this instance but it was scrappy ball, when it should have been clean. 3. Ireland often use twin threats at the breakdown, with Peter O’Mahony and van der Flier working in tandem. That should be no different against Samoa in today’s final pool outing as Tadhg Beirne steps into his Munster team-mates’ shoes. We see O’Mahony (yellow) at his very best here as he gets his body into a superb position to win the turnover while van der Flier (red) provides the support on his left shoulder.

4. Against Russia nine days ago, Ireland often didn’t commit enough bodies to the ruck. Ultimately, this was a tactic that didn’t always pay off for Joe Schmidt’s team. Here we can see how Tagir Gadzhiev is in the poach position and Beirne (yellow) attempts to drive him off the ball, only for his opponent to survive the clear-out and win the penalty. Looking back on it, Rhys Ruddock (red) might have felt like he could have arrived quicker to support Beirne in this instance.