Despite a slightly nervous first half against Romania last week, Scotland’s Pool B opponents Ireland have now put down two statement wins in their opening games of the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
The huge scoreline that the world number one put past the Oaks in the pool B curtain-raiser doesn’t seem to have caused Ireland to sweep their errors under the rug. Between that game and their one against Tonga, Ireland have shown a scary ability to improve what few problem areas they had.
After the first weekend, Ireland had the lowest lineout success of any team in the World Cup, at a measly 66.7%. This is a full 10% lower than even Scotland’s notoriously inaccurate darts. Whatever ungodly punishment Paul O’Connell put them through during the week worked wonders though, as it saw their success rate soar.
They were far more clinical too against Tonga. Gone were the unnecessary offloads that too often failed to make it to hand against Romania, replaced with the deadly phase play and razor-sharp strike moves that define Andy Farrell’s Ireland.
The relentless and calculated structure that has brought them to the top of the world has been immensely successful in both of Ireland’s games so far. But where last week they looked to force the pass as soon as they were on the front foot and show off their individual skill, against Tonga they were far more willing to trust the structure for the extra phase needed to break the defence open.
Ireland is probably the most cohesive team in in the tournament. 15 bodies sharing a consciousness, working together in perfect unity. Their first try against Tonga is a great example of this.
A fantastic two-phase move off a lineout that began with the ball being played off the top, going to Ringrose carrying hard into the centre of the pitch. Sexton wrapped around fast and wide, the backs pushing out to the wing dragging the defence out to follow them. The Irish forwards beat their opposite men folding around the ruck, and the quick ball went out to Sexton who floated it inside to Doris to run through a gap close to the ruck. An offload to Beirne gave the lock an easy canter over the line.
Their second try came from the lineout. Tongan indiscipline during a kicking duel gave Ireland a penalty on the 22, from which Sexton kicked to the corner. A strong maul resulted in Doris dotting down at the back.
The next try came from a multi-phase attack that Tonga initially seemed to have done a decent job slowing down, until the ball was spun wide to Hansen on the right wing. The entire defensive line rushed to push him into touch, making it easy for him to step inside and beat them all. Some more beautiful footwork saw the maestro with the moustache dance past another couple of defenders to finish a superb solo score.
Ireland’s next maul was successfully defended, with Kelleher’s break-off attempt held up. From the resulting drop-out, Tonga kicked long to Doris, who ran it back over the half-way. Aki was the first man to the breakdown, and he played 9 to ensure fast ball. Murray showed great awareness to drift wide before taking the pass, allowing him to use the referee as a blocker and pass inside to Ringrose running a hard angle. Sexton’s support line was perfect to let him score the try that put him ahead of O’Gara as Ireland’s top points scorer.
Sexton celebrated this achievement by giving away a penalty for a seatbelt tackle, giving Tonga an attacking maul that was successfully sacked, but a couple of phases later Ireland was penalised for kicking the ball through the ruck. Tonga chose to scrum 5m out and won a penalty, before O’Mahoney saw yellow for cynically killing the attack. A laboured Tongan attack ended in another penalty that they scrummed from, with Vaea Fifita carrying hard from the base and scoring on first phase to end the half.
Other than one scrum penalty early on, the second forty was all Ireland. Lowe got Ireland’s first try of the half by running a tight line inside an illegally collapsed maul 5m out to scythe through the defence. Their next was a strike move from a lineout, with Aki thundering off 10 and over the line untouched.
It was clear by this point that the first half had exhausted Tonga, and the floodgates had begun to open, but Ireland wrung the changes early, hindering cohesion. Despite not playing particularly badly, Ross Byrne showed why Sexton is still Ireland’s best stand-off, and Casey was guilty of trying to overplay at times.
Aki’s second try came as a result of ruthless forwards phase play, as Ireland sent forward after forward against Tonga’s goal-line stand, drawing the defence narrow, before Casey ran out the boot of a forwards pod and put the Connacht centre under the sticks.
The match ended with a Tongan lineout on their own try line overthrown to Herring who flopped over the line, ending a very impressive Ireland performance.
That’s not to say that Ireland didn’t show any weaknesses that Gregor Townsend might look to exploit. In the first half especially, Tonga did a phenomenal job of being an absolute nuisance at the ruck. A trove of turnovers, as well as some great work slowing the ball down, blunted the Irish attack in a way that Romania the week before were utterly incapable of. But by the second half, the Irish fitness shone through, and Tonga lost a lot of the impact they had had in this area. If Scotland want any chance of beating Ireland, they will need to slow the ball on every phase for the entire 80, while shutting down the endless box of strike moves Ireland can pull from.
However, one aspect of the Irish game that should set alarm bells ringing in the Scottish coaching team is the defensive lineout work of James Ryan. He has turned himself into possibly the best player in the world at getting away with contact in the air with the jumper. He has a beautiful subtlety with his disruption that is just enough to prevent the opposition from catching the ball, while never going far enough to catch the referee’s attention. Against a set piece as wobbly as Scotland’s, this could cause chaos.