Ireland Given Reality Check

After a disappointing performance from Ireland against Australia last Saturday next up for the men in green are the All Blacks at the Aviva stadium on Sunday evening. It is a game that, as history tells us, we have never fared well in, and it seems that that trend will not change come the final whistle.

Ireland slumped to a 32-15 defeat against Australia last weekend and possibly the most worrying aspect of this game was the fact that the score line flattered the Irish in the end. This humbling defeat highlighted the issues and limitations in this Irish team. The most notable of these issues was the scrum.

Australia, for the past three years, has been the weakest outfit out of the southern hemisphere teams, bar Argentina. Their weakness in the forwards was plainly highlighted against the Lions last summer. Despite an array of back line talent such as Will Genia, Israel Folau  and Adam Ashley-Cooper they have struggled to get the necessary platform from the forward pack to give these skilled backs attacking momentum.

Therefore it is clear that to beat the Australians you must be dominant in the scrum as well as in the breakdown. Last Saturday Ireland showed that they do not have the capabilities to dominate an average pack. Ireland allowed Australia to dominate every aspect of the game and Ireland rarely threatened. The Irish were bullied up front and seemed like a team that was short of ideas.

There were some notable themes throughout the game. Garry Owen's up the middle proved ineffective; being collected with ease by, the faultless, Folau. An area that Ireland were expected to dominate was the set piece, but the tone was set by two sloppy drops in the line-out from both Paul O'Connell and Devin Toner. As well as this Ireland were penalised 6 times in the scrum against an average pack, which plainly shows Ireland’s frailty.

Next is the challenge of the All Blacks in the final Autumn test. This is a daunting task for even a team in form but from a team in transition such as Ireland it is the toughest challenge. Dan Carter will not feature for the All Blacks through injury yet despite this fact they still possess and array of world class rugby players. It will be the toughest challenge for the Irish team this calendar year and will take the performance of a lifetime to leave the pitch with a victory.