There’s more disappointment in the Irish camp after the defeat to the New Zealand Maoris, but the test against Australia offers the perfect chance of redemption writes Jerry Flannery in his latest exclusive JOE column.
At the start of this week, I think everyone was still pretty depressed after the All-Blacks game. It was a long way off where it should be and we didn’t perform near as well as we are capable of. I think a lot of people just wanted to get on the field and try and make amends for it. For the lads that didn’t start against the All-Blacks especially, the Maori game was a good chance for them to put their hand up for selection for the Australian test.
For myself personally, I’ve been getting treatment on my calf injury all week. Early on in the week, things were slow but it’s come around quite well since. If you’re not fully involved in training and matches, it can be very easy to go ‘off tour’ but in my own case, I’ve had something to aim for. I’m trying to focus on getting back for the Australia game so the prospect of going ‘off tour’ hasn’t really been an issue for me.
Maori welcome
Ahead of the Maori game, we got a really good welcome in Rotorua; they made us very aware of Maori tradition and culture and how much the game meant to them in their centenary year. The day before the game, I met up with Rua Tipoki, a former team-mate of mine with Munster.
Rua was capped for the Maoris and he was commentating on the game for Sky Sports. I had a coffee with Rua and he was telling me about the importance of the centenary year to the Maoris, he said there was huge pressure on them to win the game.
If ever we needed to bounce back, it was after the All-Black defeat, which was hugely disappointing for us.
In the game itself, it was very worrying at the start because the Maoris came out of the blocks flying. In fairness to our lads, there were a few new combinations in the side and we gave them a couple of soft scores, which was disappointing, but I think the lads deserve a lot of credit for the way they responded.
They played with a lot of poise and they really worked their way back into the game. They didn’t get any easy scores, they played a lot of controlled rugby and played the patterns that had been drilled into them by the coaches during the week and came back into the game very well.
It wasn’t to be in the end and the lads were deeply disappointed after the game. You’re always looking to bounce back after a defeat and if ever we needed to bounce back, it was after the All-Black defeat which was hugely disappointing for us.
There were a lot of lads thinking, especially after last week, that if they played well and if we got a win against the Maoris, then they would have a great chance of starting in the Australia match. So the lads were pretty down after the game because they had worked so hard and played so much rugby to get back into it and they were very close to the win, but the margins are so fine between winning and losing.
Positives to take
Saying that, there were plenty of positives to take from the game and some big individual performances. If you look at the game as a whole, our set piece functioned well again which bodes well for the forwards. Individually, I thought Niall Ronan had a very good game; he had some big moments and was very good in the loose. Marcus Horan also got his hands on a lot of ball and in the backs, Geordan Murphy was excellent, he played some class rugby.
The game against Australia next weekend is massive. We came down to the southern hemisphere with the aim of getting results against the best teams on their own patch, it’s something we identified as a big step forward for this side and so far we’re zero from two.
In my own position, I thought John Fogarty and Damien Varley did pretty well, I suppose it would be easier for me if they both had an absolute shocker! No, that’s not really fair, from experience it’s always better to be part of a squad that’s winning and you just have to put the pressure on yourself to play to the best of your ability and force your way into to the team.
It’s a lot better to force yourself into a team that’s winning rather than one that’s losing all the time. The higher the bar is the better. Damien and John doing well puts more pressure on me but that‘s the way you want it. After the way some of the lads played it‘s going to be interesting to see the way we’ll line out next week.
Wallaby test
The game against Australia next weekend is massive. We came down to the southern hemisphere with the aim of getting results against the best teams on their own patch, it’s something we identified as a big step forward for this side and so far we’re zero from two.
People might say that the odds were stacked against us going out on the tour with so many injuries but you can turn things whatever way you want to. If we play the regular, established starters all the time, people will say we’re not broadening our player base and then if we try new players, people will say that we haven’t got a hope because we’re going out with an inexperienced side. You just play with the hands you’re dealt.
I think we have had good cohesiveness in the front five, in the pack and in the set piece, I think our scrum and our lineout worked reasonably well in both games and that’s obviously something we’re going to try and continue.
A win against Australia would be huge. It’s going to be a massive test because the Aussies are playing well and we’re coming off the back of two losses. There are a lot of injuries in the squad, but there will be excuses there for you no matter what, so you just have to man up, get on the field, play as well as you can and not roll over.
I’ve seen a fair bit of Australia and they’re a good side. They have a very young team and have a lot of dangerous broken field runners, for example, Quade Cooper at 10 causes a lot of problems when he gets the ball in hand because he’s such a good stepper.
From what I saw of the game they played against England, England were stronger in the front five but I know the Wallabies have had injuries. They lost Stephen Moore, who’s a big player for them, but they have Nathan Sharpe back and I think himself and Rocky Elsom are crucial for the pack.
I’ve heard that the scrum has been identified as a weakness, but when we played them during the autumn, they gave us a pretty torrid time in the scrum but I know they’ve different personnel there at the moment.  I was very impressed with Benn Robinson when we played them before; he’s probably the best loose head I’ve ever played against.
I thought Niall Ronan had a very good game; he had some big moments and was very good in the loose. Marcus Horan also got his hands on a lot of ball and in the backs, Geordan Murphy was excellent, he played some class rugby.
As for ourselves, I think we have had good cohesiveness in the front five, in the pack and in the set piece, I think our scrum and our lineout worked reasonably well in both games and that’s obviously something we’re going to try and continue. I think we need to show a bit more patience and control when we have the ball; if the lads were a bit more patient against the Maoris we could probably have built another score but those are things we have to try and work on coming into the test.
Tight call
I still don’t know if I’ll make it or not, it’s still going to be a tight call. I’m just taking it day by day at the moment to give myself every chance of playing against Australia. Hopefully I will take part in a bit of the warm up on Monday and try and train Tuesday, but it just depends on how it responds.
For example, I ran in the captain’s run Thursday and it felt pretty tight, then on the Friday, it had improved an awful lot. I’ve maybe been coming back too soon the last few times but the chance to beat Australia in Australia is as big a carrot as you’re going to get so I think it’s worth taking a chance.
If I can get my calf right, I’ll be putting my hand up for selection. At the moment I’m just hoping to try and be ready for the game and that’s all I can do. If I can do that, it’s out of my hands from there.
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