This week, Johnny talks about a disappointing defeat to Edinburgh, Ireland’s less than memorable clash with Argentina and the weather-affected preparations for Aironi this weekend.
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It was another disappointing loss for us against Edinburgh on Friday night. We started really well and throughout the whole game we played most of the rugby to be honest. I wouldn’t even say they had a purple patch; it was just that a couple of lapses in defence cost us dearly. At the same time, we played all the rugby, we didn’t get a win, but we got a bonus point out of a hard place to go, but I suppose we need to start closing those sorts of games out. We were camped on their line for the last five minutes and we just didn’t manage to get over. At some stage, we are going to get that win and that will make a big difference.
The performance was encouraging, but we need to start putting points on the board. I think we are playing well, we’ve adapted well to the new rules, we’re throwing the ball around and we’re running at teams and surprising them. We got two quick tries the last day and I don’t think they expected that from us. At times there was maybe a pass a bit behind and a guy might have had to stall on his feet and there was the odd dropped ball, but we’re holding onto the ball a bit longer, we’re creating plenty of opportunities and it’s a really enjoyable team to play in at the moment.
Snore-fest
I was watching Ireland v Argentina on Sunday and yeah, it wasn’t a particularly enjoyable game to watch but that’s what we were expecting. I was saying last week that it was going to be awkward and a bit all over the place and that was the case. Argentina didn’t help matters at all. There was no real shape to their attack; it was just straight out runners. I don’t know how many times Felipe Contepomi carried the ball into contact, but it seemed as if he had to a lot of the time because there was no one else offering themselves. I don’t know if it was a case that the Argentinean lads were tired or whether it was because it was a cold day in Ireland and they just wanted to get out of there.
In fairness, our facilities at Connacht are second to none…they really are as good as you’re going to get anywhere.
Looking back at the November internationals as a whole, I thought the Irish defence was outstanding, particularly in the last couple of matches; teams just weren’t able to get through us. Obviously it’s a bit different with New Zealand, when they create half a chance, they will score. But in general, the defence was really, really good, very solid. It’s very encouraging when you have that base of solid defence so you can start concentrating on other aspects of the game, which will come to you in the end.
The southern hemisphere teams did dominate and I suppose they are ahead of the northern hemisphere in terms of skill, they have a very high skill set. That’s the nature of things down there, especially in New Zealand, it’s their first sport. My brother lives down there and he tells me that kids have a ball in their hand from a very young age, everybody plays it and there’s a distinct advantage there. Ireland are improving, though. Physically we’re up there with them now, but maybe on the skill side of things there’s a bit of catch up to be done.
Options all over the pitch
We do have a very good squad and there are options in pretty much every position. For example, we have two world class out-halves; Jonathan Sexton played well, his distribution was excellent, but so is O’Gara’s and I think ROG made a big difference every time he came on. Both players should be judged on their own merits rather than pitting them against one another.
O’Gara and Sexton: Two world-class options at out-half
Elsewhere, we’ve great back up at scrum half and plenty of options in the back row as well; there are loads of great back row players that aren’t even making the squad. The performances of the front row have also been very encouraging, especially at the weekend. That was a very good Argentinean scrum and for most of the match, we looked very comfortable against them, which is great going forward.
We’re up against Aironi in the Magners League this weekend and with the weather, preparation hasn’t been ideal; we’ve been making a few snow angels at training! We haven’t been able to do a lot on the pitch, but we’ve trained in the gym in NUIG, we were able to do lineouts in there and we’ve been doing some skills in the hall in Renmore as well. In fairness, our facilities at Connacht are second to none. We have a proper sized gym and a 60 metre indoor track and we also have an artificial surface we can train on when the ground is like it is at the moment; the facilities really are as good as you’re going to get anywhere.
At the moment, I have no idea whether the game is under threat or not, but I really hope it goes ahead because I feel that we are playing well and when you have that momentum it’s good to be playing every weekend.
Aironi must be respected
As for Aironi, they’re new on the scene but we know they’ve got a massive pack. We messed up a bit in Prato earlier in the season, so we know we need to respect these lads. We need a win, we’re at home and we desperately want to get some points on the board and move up the table. It’s a good opportunity for us to do it, but it’s going to be tough. It’s going to be physical, but we need to win this game and we need to have the approach that we’re not going to get anything easy. Sometimes you get an impression that people are always waiting for an easy game, but there’s no such thing anymore, you’re not going to hockey a team by 40 or 50 points and even if you did, it’s still really physical.
If you look at the table, they’re bottom and they see us just above them, so this is probably the biggest game of their season. They’re probably seeing it as an opportunity to get a win and kick their season off. We hope to stop them and move on and let them target someone else. At some stage, someone’s going to lose to them, but we’re determined that it’s not going to be us.
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