Irish cream will rise to the top

25 November 2014 - 02:04 By © The Daily Telegraph
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Springbok prop Heinke van der Merwe and Mike Ross of Ireland tussle as the Bok maul rolls forward during last Saturday's Test in Dublin. The South African forwards will look to dominate again when they meet Scotland this Saturday Picture: PATRICK BOLGER/GALLO IMAGES
Springbok prop Heinke van der Merwe and Mike Ross of Ireland tussle as the Bok maul rolls forward during last Saturday's Test in Dublin. The South African forwards will look to dominate again when they meet Scotland this Saturday Picture: PATRICK BOLGER/GALLO IMAGES

So, the end of the northern hemisphere's autumn internationals, bar two games, shows us that nothing has changed in the relationship between the northern and southern rivals.

There is only one team that appears capable of mounting a serious challenge to the traditional hegemony of the top three.

The difference from a few weeks ago is that it is Ireland and not England who look best placed to break the stranglehold of the south on global rugby. England may edge into outside contention if they beat Australia on Saturday, but that will also depend on how the win, if it happens, is fashioned.

For the sake of completeness, it is a pity that Ireland did not have the All Blacks on their schedule, but there is sufficient evidence to suggest that they would have got as close to the world champions as did England and possibly more.

Let us not forget that Ireland, too, had to accommodate a number of injuries to frontline players and to deal with the hole left by the retirement of Brian O'Driscoll.

The wins over South Africa and Australia were fashioned with a minority of possession and territory and were achieved by not only passion but shrewd decisions and the ability to execute the appropriate play from those.

In Conor Murray and Jonathan Sexton, Ireland possess a settled pair of half-backs who are at the top of their form and a number of variations in the back row that can focus on creativity or destruction, depending on the day.

More than anything, it is this tactical nexus that is distinct in the Irish performances; the intelligence is writ large and the direction palpable. The coaching input of Joe Schmidt is responsible for much of Ireland's advance, but whatever he and his team put in place, their players have to absorb it and carry it out under pressure.

Both Paul O'Connell and Rory Best have been quick to try to dampen Irish expectations, with the former saying after Saturday's win over Australia: "We've been here before and it didn't serve us well."

In doing this, he was recalling the successful autumn and Six Nations enjoyed by Ireland before the equally unsuccessful World Cup campaign of 2007.

Nobody is advocating bluster but one of Ireland's historic problems is their absolute determination to avoid any suggestion that they might be favourites for any tournament or even match. This is not about preventing overconfidence: it betrays an ultimate lack of faith in the ability of the team to win when they have no stimulus beyond the simple one-versus-one contest.

Further, the assumption of underdog status allows a get-out clause. "Well, we weren't expected to win" allows players to hide. If Schmidt can add confidence to his lessons, there will be good reason to expect Ireland to mount a serious World Cup challenge.

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