It has only happened twice in the last 20 months – against England last Saturday and against New Zealand in last year’s World Cup quarter-final when both opponents scored three tries. Those also happen to be the only games Ireland have lost in that timeframe.
Conceding an early try is always a major psychological setback for any team, usually meaning they are quickly into the position of chasing, and Ireland were hit as early as the fourth minute on Saturday. Watch below how Ireland scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park looks at Earl, then feints to pass before he actually does. Scrum-halves aren’t supposed to do this but it’s subtle.
There is still good length on Lowe’s kick, which skids up into the English half but it’s on a low trajectory and doesn’t hang in the air for long, so Ireland don’t have optimal to get a convincing chase on as England show immediate intent on kick return. Given that Lowe is kicking, Ireland don’t have a left wing to chase up that touchline. Ireland sometimes relocate Keenan to that position to chase kicks on that side but that’s not the case here.
This group in red above are the players who will get closest to the tackle over on Ireland’s right and as we’ll see, they’re unable to get one defender across to the other side of the breakdown, which proves costly. It’s the right decision from Nash. If he is successful here, he lands a massive tackle on Freeman and prevents the ball from being moved wider. He also hopes to give his team-mates a chance to target the ball on the ground or at least get well set for the next phase.It’s excellent strength from Freeman to ride the collision and get moving forward straight away. With Nash immediately falling to the ground, it’s Keenan who has to make the tackle low on Freeman coming from the inside.
Watch below as Martin dips in low and hammers into van der Flier, bouncing him off balance and upwards, then dragging him away to the side. Furlong seemingly wants Beirne to fold over to that side but Beirne initially appears to be concerned by the possibility of England scrum-half Alex Mitchell sniping to Ireland’s left side of the breakdown and briefly pauses in that spot.
Doris is seemingly hoping to snaffle Mitchell with the ball or dislodge it from his grasp, but as we see below the English scrum-half is able to slip his pass away and Doris is out of the game.
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