Dire defence

[Flash Gordon]

With the exception of Connaught, we have the worst defence in the Celtic League.....difficult to pinpoint why, though my recollection is that we often leave gaps in the center - these gaps seem to occur regardless of who plays there, which would suggest that its the system. Does Knoxy design the defensive systems?

Any other thoughts on why we're so poor in defence?

[Uncle Mort]

1. Read the article from Knox in another thread
2. We're by far and away the highest point scorers
3. We're all agreed that we give away far too many penalties
4. We've the second best +ve points difference
5. We have a singular and strange inability to play well and win in Wales

I don't think that the numebr of points that we've conceded are too much to worry about excepting points 3 and 5 above. If we could win in Wales we'd be top by miles.

[jezzer]

Agree there Mort. Decision-making and clinical execution our achilles heel, not defence. In fact, given the amount of possession we cough up in our 22, our defence has stood up fairly well IMO.

Interesting to hear the change in Cheika's post-match interviews. Earlier in the season, he was saying "I'm trying to get the guys to make decisions on the pitch, if they get 8 out of 10 right I can't criticise them for the other 2". Time is obviously running out as far as his patience goes - I think he's been very generous to the team in some of our earlier defeats, but is the honeymoon over now?

Seems the one thing he won't excuse is a lack of intensity and focus. Proper order too - we've taken 4 points from a possible 10 in the 2 games prior to our QF against the tournament favourites and top seeds. Seems the only guys who really performed in those games are the ones with something personal to prove as far as provincial/intnl selection goes... Girv, Lewis, Kearney, Gleese.

[CM]

Agree there Mort. Decision-making and clinical execution our achilles heel, not defence. In fact, given the amount of possession we cough up in our 22, our defence has stood up fairly well IMO.

Interesting to hear the change in Cheika's post-match interviews. Earlier in the season, he was saying "I'm trying to get the guys to make decisions on the pitch, if they get 8 out of 10 right I can't criticise them for the other 2". Time is obviously running out as far as his patience goes - I think he's been very generous to the team in some of our earlier defeats, but is the honeymoon over now?

Seems the one thing he won't excuse is a lack of intensity and focus. Proper order too - we've taken 4 points from a possible 10 in the 2 games prior to our QF against the tournament favourites and top seeds. Seems the only guys who really performed in those games are the ones with something personal to prove as far as provincial/intnl selection goes... Girv, Lewis, Kearney, Gleese.

Lewis and Kearney performing? Not for me. Kearney has shown in the recent games why he's on the edge of the Irish team and not in it while Lewis has been regressing all season. Every time he gets the ball it's head down time, I'd say he's only looked to pass once or twice in every 10 balls he's got this season. Kearney I'm not worried about but I am worried about Lewis. He's spent too much time on the wing perhaps and only his defence is standing up to scrutiny.

I'm not massively worried about our performance. The guys coming back are all world class and will make a huge difference. O'Kelly really solidifies the pack and made a huge difference when returning from injury in October. It is a problem that he means so much to the pack and that needs to be fixed but we will be much better on his return. And at least Blaney had his worst day at the office yesterday, in a win, rather than in 4 weeks.

[sewa]

We'd happily take Lewis if your not using him. Looks like a top class finisher to me.

[CM]

We'd happily take Lewis if your not using him. Looks like a top class finisher to me.

Yeah, he's a good finisher, has an eye for the gap etc. And really good defence. But he's not currently in brilliant form as a centre. I think a move to Munster and regular games in the centre would be positive for him and Irish rugby especially given Murphy is likely to be out for ages. I'd still prefer to hold onto him though.

[jezzer]

Hmmmm...

Harsh on Lewis if you ask me. He's playing outside a guy that's giving us nothing going forward (albeit JH tackled like a demon yesterday), which puts a lot of pressure on him to gain yardage. His "pass" to Kearney for a certian try wasn't a shining moment, but I think he's been one of our strongest performers. Kearney might not be pushing trimble for the Ire wing spot yet, but doesn't mean his performances have been poor - he's played better than Denis in the last 3 games. He's vying with Lewis for the sub spot for toulouse and I think they're both trying to make an impression on the coaches - even if that means they're both a bit slow to let go of the ball.

In the absence of the intnls, you'd be looking at ever-presents Reggie, Green, Williams, heaslip, Felipe and Hickie to lead from the front - not really happening though

[CM]

Hmmmm...

Harsh on Lewis if you ask me. He's playing outside a guy that's giving us nothing going forward (albeit JH tackled like a demon yesterday), which puts a lot of pressure on him to gain yardage. His "pass" to Kearney for a certian try wasn't a shining moment, but I think he's been one of our strongest performers. Kearney might not be pushing trimble for the Ire wing spot yet, but doesn't mean his performances have been poor - he's played better than Denis in the last 3 games. He's vying with Lewis for the sub spot for toulouse and I think they're both trying to make an impression on the coaches - even if that means they're both a bit slow to let go of the ball.

In the absence of the intnls, you'd be looking at ever-presents Reggie, Green, Williams, heaslip, Felipe and Hickie to lead from the front - not really happening though

Sorry jezzer, Lewis was one of the reasons we nearly lost yesterday. He held onto the ball every time he got it and was isolated at least two or three times giving away a penalty in the process. The one time he does pass and it goes into touch. His footwork is good, his defence ok (he gets a black mark for missing the tackle in the lead up to their try) but his passing was non-existent. I disagree that Hepworth had a bad game. His passing was good and he was sharp in a lot of aspects of the game. I reckon he'll definitely be on the bench for Toulouse. Probably along with Kearney.

As for Kearney, he missed two bad tackles yesterday and his defence has never settled all season. He's going to be a brilliant player but he's not there yet.

[jezzer]

Hepworth is a cert for the bench vs. Toulouse, as we haven't really tried anyone else. Have to disagree with you on him - Felipe ended up skipping him on most of the moves, he lacks pace, didn't take any of the kicking duties from Felipe (Dempsey and Hickie did), couple of nice offloads and a good tackle count but generally strikes me as a square peg in a round hole. Sort of a 6 out of 10 guy in all aspects, but nothing special in any area of his game.

Still don't agree on lewis. If you were going to criticise the runner for getting isolated (rather than the support runners for arriving late) then you'd have to point the finger at half the team. For me, that's why we nearly lost - not cause we made the breaks, but because we don't commit a sinner to support/breakdown.

[CM]

Hepworth is a cert for the bench vs. Toulouse, as we haven't really tried anyone else. Have to disagree with you on him - Felipe ended up skipping him on most of the moves, he lacks pace, didn't take any of the kicking duties from Felipe (Dempsey and Hickie did), couple of nice offloads and a good tackle count but generally strikes me as a square peg in a round hole. Sort of a 6 out of 10 guy in all aspects, but nothing special in any area of his game.

Still don't agree on lewis. If you were going to criticise the runner for getting isolated (rather than the support runners for arriving late) then you'd have to point the finger at half the team. For me, that's why we nearly lost - not cause we made the breaks, but because we don't commit a sinner to support/breakdown.

jezzer, a forward going into contact without support is poor. A centre making a half break but refusing to look to pass is the centres fault as the runners won't be as close to support if he takes contact.