IAlthough it wasn’t the result the Irish had dreamed of after collecting the most points in the first three rounds, back-to-back wins put the Irish team in the elite ranks of Six Nations champions. They become the sixth team to achieve this feat and, interestingly, the third team to win the title after a Grand Slam, following Wales in 2012-13 and England in 2016-2017. . When you’re a Grand Slam champion, it’s like the team really wants to beat you.
Peter O’Mahony had the air of a contented man. It has been 12 years since his debut for Ireland and this is his first full season as captain. It was perhaps harshly pointed out that in his 15 years as captain (of Munster and intermittently Ireland) he had never won a game, but now he has won twice in 10 months (Munster (Won the United Rugby Championship in 2019).
“It’s definitely hard to win,” he said. “There are days like today that you never dream of.” We have lost enough times in Munster. [Six Nations] The final round away match against France for the championship [in 2020]. I think that game served us well for a long time. It hurt more than ever, but have we learned many lessons from it? We’ve done it at scale, and it’s probably going to be noticeable. ”
Ireland’s dominance after the third round (15 of 15 match points, 6 clearances from the field) made the final two rounds seem somewhat anti-climactic. The defeat against England at Twickenham was a shock. They weren’t at their best, but it’s still useful to remember that they only lost on a drop goal on the final play.
That reaction was expected in the home game against Scotland, but Ireland never quite regained the form of the first half. They were grateful to escape whatever the result was, as Andy Farrell described it as a “proper Test match”. Sadly, in this era of breathtaking rugby, the term ‘proper Test match’ is too often used as a slightly disappointing euphemism.
A key development is the intensity of competition. The quality of rugby in the Six Nations is in a league of its own compared to just 10 years ago. Farrell alluded to this when asked to assess the Irish Championship as a whole. “The first game [a bonus-point win against France in Marseille] That’s obviously going to be something people are talking about.
“Everyone knew it was a great start for this tournament. But when you actually watched Italy’s game… [a 36-0 win at home]. Let’s take a look at what has happened since the Italy game. History of personnel changes and bonus point acquisition. That says a lot about the group. ”
Ireland face fellow world champions South Africa in two Tests in July. There is so much noise in the Southern Hemisphere that many are hailing the Irish team as the best in the world. Farrell is too quick to try to break that notion down. “There is nothing more difficult and exciting than this. What you want is the opportunity to expose yourself against the best teams and South Africa are 100 per cent the best.”
The age-old question of whether Team A played poorly or whether Team B just let Team B play well is always relevant, and it was no different against Scotland. All too often in recent times in Dublin, Scotland has been defeated before Irish invasion, but in this case Ireland looked, or was forced to, look rather mediocre for long periods of time.
Unsurprisingly, both teams’ coaches gave credit to the Scottish defence. Their 233 tackles are a Championship record and place them in the top ten for tackles in Six Nations history (seventh to be exact), nine of which came against Ireland.
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Scotland finished in 4th place with 2 wins from 5 matches. But they could have easily shot for a grand slam. “Frustration is going to be the No. 1 emotion,” head coach Gregor Townsend said.
“We didn’t win against France, but that was partially the problem.” [TMO] Although we were partially behind in the final minutes, we were all frustrated with our performance against Italy in the third quarter. We play five games and either win or get within one point. I was disappointed that I couldn’t play aiming for the title. ”
Far from the dizzying heights of facing the world champions, Scotland next head to the Americas for tests against the USA, Canada, Chile and Uruguay.
