As we do after a major tournament, we look at the state of affairs in each of the competing nations. Next up, Ireland.
Ireland opened the 2013 Six Nations with such promise after 43 minutes against Wales that many considered them contenders for the title. Unfortunately, that opening period was as good as it got.
The fixture list appeared in their favour - hosting France and England in Dublin - and yet Ireland were unable to capitalise due to a plethora of major injuries.
What was so alarming about Ireland along with their growing treatment room was the number of simple errors they continued to make the longer the championship wore on. Errors not just through poor handling or execution, but costly indiscipline.
Brian O'Driscoll's reckless stamp in Rome illustrated the frustration at how their prospects had unravelled - a first ever loss to Italy in the Six Nations signalling the end of one noteworthy team record.
Problems with the set-piece meant that creating a solid platform was a painful task, with Rory Best's inaccurate throwing denting his prospects of a spot in the Lions XV.
Injuries have created opportunities and Luke Marshall and Paddy Jackson appear to have potential at Test level, but for Ireland to be throwing in uncapped youngsters highlights a lack of long-term planning.
That being said, no amount of foresight could have predicted that Peter O'Mahony would have ended up playing on the left wing in Rome.
There is no denying that Ireland are in a time of change. The 'Golden Generation' cannot go on forever, although Ronan O'Gara's unceremonious dropping could have been handled with better taste.
O'Driscoll is another who nobody wishes to retire, but for whom the clock is rapidly ticking. Paul O'Connell is one more racing against time. Ireland are trying to look forward and the process has begun with handing the captaincy to Jamie Heaslip, but it will not be without some growing pains.
It has not however been a tournament shorn of positives. Sean O'Brien has been one of the top carriers with 69 and confirmed he must travel with the Lions, whilst Jackson after a wobbly start has begun to look at home. Ian Madigan has been another to catch the eye.
What matters now is who will take Ireland forward. Declan Kidney's future will be confirmed in the coming weeks, but his time feels as though it is nearing the end. Kidney will always be remembered and praised for taking Ireland to that elusive Grand Slam in 2009, but too little success has followed considering the excellence of the Irish provincial sides in Europe.
Jake White, Ewen McKenzie and Conor O'Shea are all waiting in the wings to guide Ireland forwards, and there will be no better time for change than now.
Rather than a stellar championship that went from strength to strength after such an excellent start, Ireland's Six Nations instead has ended miserably. There is no better time than now to return to the drawing board and start again.
By Ben Coles
@bencoles_
Comments
carpelone says...
From what I see from club rugby, Ireland are not short of talents. The pendulum swung from Leinster / Munster to Ulster and Kidney did not realise it. With a good coach, they will bounce back sooner than later.
Posted 13:38 21st March 2013
5Lock4ward says...
@Norm, Of course England and France have more imports. They have about 3 times as many club teams. I think proportionally, esp. in vital positions the Irish have had more SH imports. Toulon being the obvious exception.
Posted 12:12 21st March 2013
colvin says...
Swiwi
Ouch. I posted an oxymoran. I meant to say '' who supports the WBs as a second team"
I mentioned that as even though I do support the WBs I was still able to admire the way Ireland played that day.
Posted 10:47 21st March 2013
Norm says...
5Lockforward
All things being relative, look at the premiership and French clubs and in many cases they have as many if not more imports, so on a relative basis the irish provinces have performed well with a comparative proportion and in many cases less imports. Therefore Have to disagree with your point.
Posted 16:44 20th March 2013
5Lock4ward says...
@99 Call, I was unaware that the IRFU had such a rule coming into place. I've heard rumblings of the French placing a similar limit on their own club teams for the last few years but it has yet to come to fruition. I think this will be a massive help to the Irish national team. The Irish were also in a tough position when it comes to looking to the future when it came to fly half, center and lock with the longevity shown by ROG, BOD and POC. They don't really have depth in those positions b/c of how well those guys have played for so long. But what were they going to do? It's not like they could just bench 3 superstars in their prime with an eye to the future.
Posted 12:11 20th March 2013
99call says...
5Lock4ward
I fully agree that those players youve mentioned have had a massive impact on provincial rugby but if you look at the side over the years they havent all been there at the same time so there is plenty of room for the young irish lads to get game time.
Looking at Ulster at the moment the first choice team would have Muller, Pienaar, Williams and Payne who will qualify for ireland next year so thats 11 or 12 players next year that are irish qualified, with the new rules that start at the end of this season the will be even less foreigners in the provincial sides as on any given weekend out of the 45 starting players for Ulster, Munster and Leinster 30 of them will be irish qualified with only one foreigner allowed to play in any given position across all the teams so every weekend we'll have 2 full teams of players out on the pitch with all benches being irish qualified players only so I think the IRFU are doing the right thing to ensure irish boys are playing at the top level each week
Posted 08:57 20th March 2013
colvin says...
Oz,
I do understand your point because the occasion itself wasn't that great. But the game was. On that day I thought Ireland could have beaten anyone, they were that good.
The other point is that while it was always a rule, the idea of holding a player up for a turnover, wasn't done that much. But Ireland introduced to NZ as a specific legitimate tactic and now everyone is doing it.
In my mind it was somewhat of a game changer.
Posted 01:44 20th March 2013
ruckingkiwi says...
Despite beating Wales this tournament and patches of success over the years, Ireland must look back and wonder how and why they let Gatland get away.
Posted 01:03 20th March 2013
Greyprop says...
Some interesting names being bandied around for the new national coach. However I don't see the likes of Conor O'Shea, Jake White being tempted. These guys are at the top of their profession, they work in a well honed professional setup. They expect decisions re team and tactics to be theirs and theirs alone, decisions on which they either succeed or fail. I really don't see these names being enamoured with the prospect of having to sit down on the evening before every match and discuss the following days game plan with the, "National Team Review Group", manned by such worthies as, Martin O'Sullivan, Pat Whelan, Tom Grace and Eddie Wigglesworth.
Would you?
The IRFU is infected with that most Irish of diseases, "Hibernicis paroecialis congerrae". (Irish parochial cronyism).
Posted 22:26 19th March 2013
swiwi says...
@Colvin: a one-eyed ABs supporter who also supports the WBs is an oxymoron ;)
Posted 21:37 19th March 2013
5Lock4ward says...
The article mentions Ireland's success at the club level as opposed to the international level. I would suggest that this is in direct proportion to the number of imported SH players on their clubs which obviously cannot represent Ireland. One cannot fail to acknowledge the impact of Isa Nacewa, Rocky Elsom, CJ Van Der Linde, Lefemi Mafi, John Afoa, Ruan Piennar...shall I continue? They only have 4 club teams to draw from for the national squad and using imports at the club level prevents an Irish lad from gaining experience in vital positions; a problem which is clearly being exposed and will hopefully cause the IRFU to act quickly.
Posted 20:28 19th March 2013
melkdave says...
A good article,which hioghlights alot of Irelands problems.The most alarming is Kidneys lack of forsight,in blooding the good young talant much earlier,like from 2010.Irelands management,have also made some very bad mistakes,in other areas.While i feel Kidney should go,mostly for his just looking to the next game ,rather than the future.I think the IRFU will keep him on at least till the RWC.I just dont believe a new coach has enough time to completely rebuild the team ,and get it playing a new style / gameplan .Considering the lions tour will take away Irelands best ,and the rest period after,will be prolonged so the aurtum tests may not see them either.
Posted 20:14 19th March 2013
liam2me says...
I often criticize PR for their one-eyed pieces but this is bang on the mark.
Posted 17:39 19th March 2013
DaveJ says...
This is Ireland lowest point of the professional Era. now piss off Kidney you are destroying this team.
Posted 15:12 19th March 2013
Irishzimbabwean says...
highschool - I remember reading a superb article which talked about why Ireland must use New Zealand coaches. It highlighted that the English, French and South African teams will always (in general) outweigh the Irish teams through sheer numbers playing the game. Therefore Ireland must adopt a New Zealand type of play as New Zealand are in the same boat as us in having smaller numbers and, therefore, smaller size. Since it is working for the Irish provinces (give Rod Penney time), it makes sense to also have a NZ coach at the top.
That was also do away with the provincialism which has bedevilled Kidney's selections.
Posted 15:07 19th March 2013
OzinLondon says...
colvin
I understand your point about the Irish win over the Wallabies... but I certainly hope that Irish players and fans don't consider "one of their greatest days" to be a pool win against the Wallabies despite going on to be knocked out in the 1/4 finals. If it is then perhaps that has to be one of the attitudes that changes.
Posted 14:51 19th March 2013
99call says...
We've all got admit that Kidneys luck in this 6n was not so much bad but diabolical, to have the number of injuries he did would make any coaches job near on impossible. But what it did show was his lack of team management as he did not have a succession plan as shown by the number of new caps or players with 1 or 2 caps that have played this year.
Had DK had his full squad with the likes of Bowe, Ferris, POC in there and if the injuries to Sexton, Darcy, Zebo, Gilroy etc not happened then I think DK would be getting an extension at least until the next RWC but he didnt have them and injuries did happen so with his poor win rate since 2009 then its time to go
Who we get is the big question, Id take any of the people mentioned on here the likes of Jake White, O'Shea or McKenzie would bring something special to the team but do I think we'll get one of those?????? probably not being that its so close to the RWC, maybe if you offer a 6 year contract so they know there isnt that much expectation for RWC2015 then you might tempt one of them but to be honest I see Mike Ruddock being given the job because the IRFU already know what hes like and I dont think theyll want anyone coming in who might question their methods
Anyway the state of the nation is very low but there is light on the horizon demonstrated by some of the new boys this year Gilroy, Zebo, Marshall, Jackson and for me especially Henderson who has a massive future so my hope is they offer Jake White a 6 year deal and we can focus on the RWC2019 by which time we should have a good crop of players at the peak of their powers
Posted 14:12 19th March 2013
Norm says...
Highschool
Has to be someone outside the current set up. Woodward? Interesting but no. Personally interested in O'Shea, objective (provincial wise) and will be passionate.
What is key for me is complete absence of history with the provinces. The Leinster Munster rivalry has become a destructive force, and I would say moreso off the pitch than on it. We cannot allow that BS parochialism to continue.
Interesting slip you made there with IFRU or did you actually mean it? It fits:
I
F'ed
Rugby
Up!
It is here that the biggest change is needed. These clowns hands are all over the problems and the squandering of a wealth of talent. We can lay superlatives til the cows come home about POC, BOD etc but 1 6N with the talent we have enjoyed since the 5 became 6 is a shocking return and screams mismanagement at the highest level, particularly when youlook at what the provinces have achieved in that time.
Myopic people on these pages rant about Kidney etc, but you know what, he plays the game he thinks is right and I for one have no doubt about his commitment. Who the vitriol should be directed at are those who have not had the foresight to assess whether he was right for the job earlier than now. he had a contract extension prior to the WC, unprecedented! Oh thats right there was a precedent Eddie O Sullivan. By this rationale whoever takes the job will know he is in for a bumber pay day January 2015!
So back to your initial suggestion of Woodward, absolutely yes, as head of the IRFU!
Posted 13:38 19th March 2013
Noshonmescrote says...
'Ronan O'Gara's unceremonious dropping could have been handled with better taste'...
i.e. 5 years ago? How exactly has Madigan caught the eye in this campaign?- he's a huge talent and will be test level- but he got his minutes in every position but his own. Jackson and Marshall did very well.... but the fact is Kidney didn't blood the young talent, and the only changes he made were forced either through his provincial bias, through ridicule, or, for the vast majority, through injury. If injury is our best selector, why is he getting a salary. Said it then, will say it now... he needed shipping off in 2010. It shouldn't be harder to get out of the irish team than to get into it... yet we've had about 14 years of this shite now. Sly, incompetent bog-trotters.
Posted 12:54 19th March 2013
highschool says...
One must assume Kidney is gone. Now for a replacment, I have been a fan of Jack White for years, develops young players so my no. 1 choice. I would like to throw a few names out there and gauge reaction: Clive Woodward, Robbie Deans, Mike Ruddock. If this 6nations has proved nothing else it has shown we MUST delevop young players on a ongoing basis. IFRU must back their coach for the long term, next World Cup lets have a plan. 2 players for each position, everyone fighting for their place, strong Captain and leadership. Some new plays, lets have plan ABCDEF... Ireland will never be number one but we are good enough to be a Top 4 Team. Lets get it right this time
Posted 12:23 19th March 2013