David Corkery on rugby: Don't get carried away, Ireland will have to be far better to beat South Africa
Jack Crowley of Ireland kicks a conversion against Australia at the Aviva Stadium. Picture: Seb Daly/Sportsfile
Better? Yes, but still nowhere good enough to beat South Africa next Saturday.
After the loss against New Zealand and the less-than-convincing victory against Japan, Andy Farrell and co found themselves under a level of pressure facing Australia that could only be described as alien to them.
Up to now, Farrell and his players were deservingly riding on the crest of a wave. Irish rugby was being glorified as the perfect role model for other nations. However, when high-performance levels dip, the pressure comes on.
I guess you could say that Ireland have become victims of their own success and everyone is now anticipating that every time the men in green take to the field, they will get better and better.
This week, Ireland were confronted by a very humiliated Australian side that were beaten by Italy seven days ago, so anything other than a compelling victory on Saturday evening was going to heap another pile of pressure on this group.
Steered by a top-notch supply of first-phase ball from both scrum and line-out, the Irish players go to the style of play that propelled them to the summit of the sport over the last few seasons. Despite a damp and murky surface, Ireland helped themselves to six tries and offered the sell-out gathering a much-improved display
Man of the Match Mack Hansen crossed the whitewash three times and while two of them just required him to be in the right place at the right time, his third came about from his relentless appetite for work.
Unquestionably, Hansen, with his flamboyant style and unpredictability, offers Farrell something very different in attack. I truly believe that if the Irish rugby team are going to replicate what the soccer lads did against Portugal, Hansen will once again be wearing the number 15 jersey next weekend.
Thankfully, Paul O’Connell seems to have sorted out the Irish lineout. In complete contrast to last week, all the players seemed to know exactly what they had to do. Winning 100% of your own ball against any level of international opposition is something that is not that easy to do and O’Connell must be applauded for sorting this out.
The big debate as to who will wear the number 10 jersey against the immensely powerful Springboks seems to be at another crossroads after Sam Prendergast was in good form.
I would find it hard to see how Farrell won’t stick with him over Jack Crowley.
Judging from what I’ve seen of South Africa over their last few games, Ireland will find it very hard to punch any kind of worthwhile holes in their brutally orchestrated first line of defence, so we can expect to see a lot of kicking from the men in green, just as we did on Saturday night.
The majority of Prendergast’s kicks from hand were nearly all pin-point perfect and it allowed Ireland's chasers the textbook amount of time to challenge in the air.
Up front, the two players who would normally be radiating brightest in victories like this were very quiet which is slightly concerning. Tadgh Beirne and Dan Sheenan were not their normal industrial selves.
Despite playing most of his rugby as a tight head prop, Leinster’s Paddy McCarthy did all that was asked of him in the loose head birth. He may not have been as effective as a ball carrier as Andrew Porter, but his main job is to scrummage which he did with flying colours.
Captain Fantastic Caelan Doris played really well and the long-term effects of the injury that cost him a Lions tour thankfully seem to be a thing of the past.
This well-worked victory against a reasonably good Australian outfit was much needed and it should do wonders for confidence ahead of next week’s gargantuan tussle against the World Cup holders.
There's real tension between Ireland and South Africa at the moment so I think it is fair to predict fireworks next weekend.
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