Brian O'Driscoll highlights 'worrying' Ireland stat against Argentina
Yesterday at 06:17 PM
Brian O’Driscoll joined TNT Sports’ punditry team at the Aviva Stadium on Friday night, offering sharp insights into a concerning trend emerging from Ireland’s recent games.
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Bouncing Back, But Just About
After their first home loss in over three years to New Zealand, Ireland scraped a 22-19 win over Argentina, despite being reduced to 14 men twice. The hosts hit the ground running, bagging two tries in the opening five minutes and three in the first half.
Albornoz's Kicks Keep Argentina in the Mix
Argentina's Tomas Albornoz kept the Pumas in touch with three penalties before halftime, and Juan Cruz Mallia's brilliant second-half try added pressure. But despite their best efforts, the visitors never took the lead, with a costly knock-on sealing their fate in the final moments.
Cian Healy Hits Milestone Amidst Chaos
Cian Healy tied Brian O’Driscoll's Irish cap record from the bench, but the spotlight on his achievement was dimmed by Ireland's mounting penalty issues.
Farrell's “Desperate” Irish: A Penalty Problem
Ireland racked up a staggering 13 penalties—more than twice Argentina's six—prompting coach Andy Farrell to admit there were some “desperate” elements to the performance. O’Driscoll wasn't having it and highlighted the depth of Ireland's discipline struggles.
"It's Clearly an Issue!"
O’Driscoll didn't mince words: "It’s clearly an issue. It’s the third game in a row that they’ve lost the penalty count, the exact same as last week. They would have been talking about reducing it."
He added: "In an ideal world, you want to keep it under 10 but you have to probably be pushing the boundaries enough to test the referee to give away a few penalties. There’s good penalties and bad penalties to give away, but today there were too many offsides."
Yellow Cards: Not a Badge of Honour
O’Driscoll also dug into the lack of discipline in defence: "In defence, you’re obviously squeezing pressure on the referee to produce a yellow card like he did with Joe McCarthy," he said.
Ruck Ruck Ruin
The pundit pinpointed a lack of accuracy at the ruck as a key issue: "And then [there was] just a lack of accuracy at ruck time, which has been a real costly place in the last few weeks as well, where you’ve got all the momentum going forward and then suddenly the opposition shows up. It’s like it takes the air out of your tyres, momentum, possession, territory all gone 50 metres down the end of the field. It just pumps the tyres of the opposition."
Penalty Woes: Momentum Killers
O’Driscoll concluded with a sharp analysis: "On both sides of the ball, when you’re giving penalties away, it takes away your impetus and gives it to the opposition."
Ireland player ratings vs Argentina:
15. Hugo Keenan – 6.5
Keenan had a better showing than last week, with some really good moments in attack. Some great fielding and running in the first half gave Ireland some real go forward ball, but Keenan’s influence slowed in the second half. No frills or thrills from the Leinster man.
14. Mack Hansen – 6
Hansen crossed for Ireland’s second try early on but again found himself on the peripheries. Ireland attacked the edges a lot more, with great success, however a second half of imprecision saw Hansen become a passenger.
13. Garry Ringrose – 7.5
The first half saw Ringrose and his Leinster centre partner, Robbie Henshaw play together really well. Ringrose was his usual reliant self in both attack and defence offering dominant tackles and some great running lines leading to line breaks. Ringrose was one of Ireland’s best performers.
12. Robbie Henshaw – 7
Henshaw found himself back in the Irish team, and seized his opportunity well in the first half hour. Alike Ringrose, his all rounded game saw him as one of Ireland’s standout players while they were energetic in the first half. Overall, as the Irish attack started to falter so did Henshaw and he found himself replaced with 20 to go.
11. James Lowe – 6
Lowe as always was well involved. Ireland tried using him as a first receiver at times, with little reward. His big boot Ireland thrive off was inaccurate today, however he showed some good hands and running lines.
10. Jack Crowley – 7
Crowley was arguably Ireland’s best player overall. In the first half he crossed for a try after a silky sidestep off his right foot and showed great game management to knock a drop goal over. However, as Ireland’s performance faded so did the Munster mans and he had a poor final 15 minutes before being withdrawn with 20 to go.
9. Jamison Gibson-Park – 6
So much of Ireland’s attack relies on their scrum-half. The attacking structure is based off precision and Gibson Park struggled to find this in his own game today. The Kiwi seemed tired and a bit lethargic overall. More positively, one of his almost trademark sweeping long passes to a touchline, led to Ireland’s second try.
8. Caelan Doris (c) – 6
Doris seemed to constantly be heard today rather than seen. Every break in play you could hear the Irish captain at the referee, and although this is good in a captain, he seemed more focused on this than his own performance. A typical reliant game in defence and attack, but not to his expected standard.
7. Josh van der Flier – 6.5
The Irish flanker was easily one of Ireland’s best forward performers bringing his usual speed, power, and aggression to the game. With Argentina bringing a physically imposing game, Josh van Der Flier met this well.
6. Tadhg Beirne – 6
Alike Doris, Beirne didn’t impose his usual dogged self upon the game. Impressed at some crucial moments, holding the Argentine’s up over his own try line just before half time, and was unlucky not to score a try after a knock on. Beirne will want more from himself next week.
5. James Ryan – 5
Ryan struggled today. With a knock-on from a relatively straightforward pass in the first few minutes he struggled to effect the game from here. Again, the Irish lineout faltered and Ryan found himself on the edges of the game today.
4. Joe McCarthy – 7
Irish media awarded Joe with man of the match, and with good reason. The youngster took his try superbly well, however his discipline let him down and he saw yellow. A really good performance from the Leinster man but his over eagerness will need to be tamed as Ireland saw a penalty count of 13.
3. Finlay Bealham – 5
Bealham found himself the first of four today to be sin binned, the Irish scrum was not dominant, and he struggled to effect open play. Thomas Clarkson replaced him after 10 minutes of the second half, deservedly so.
2. Rónan Kelleher – 5
Kelleher showed some good lines and carries in attack, but once again the Irish line out faltered while the scrum was average. Overall, a poor performance from the Irish hooker who needs to brush up on his set piece plays.
1. Andrew Porter – 6
Porter alike the rest of the front row, had a quiet game. Brought his usual determination to the game but did not star. An average performance from the Irish loose-head.
Replacements:
16. Rob Herring – 6
Herring came on with 15 minutes left to play and did all the basics well.
17. Cian Healy – 6
Didn’t have much to do coming on quite late, however deserves a rating after equalling the all time Irish cap record.
18. Thomas Clarkson – 7
The 24 year old Leinster prop made his Irish debut today bringing a real excitement and energy. Against a powerful Pumas scrum he fronted up well, and showed some really good hits in defence.
19. Ryan Baird – N/A
20. Peter O’Mahony – N/A
21. Craig Casey – N/A
22. Sam Prendergast – 7
After Crowley’s performance started to fade Pendergast entered the fray for his debut. He brought a real confidence, taking the ball to the line with delayed passes and a few show and go’s. Overall, for a young man he showed enthusiasm but also authority while marshalling the Irish attack.
23. Jamie Osborne – 7
Both his Leinster centre teammates played really well today, but Osborne undoubtedly deserves a starting spot next week. He came on and brought spark with some powerful running and multiple line breaks.
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