Ireland legends highlight what Andy Farrell’s ‘very one-dimensional’ team is missing and the ‘breadcrumbs’ Wales left for Scotland to follow
Tommy Bowe and Donncha O'Callaghan, inset, have been talking about this season's impact of Stuart McCloskey and co. with Andy Farrell's Ireland
Former Ireland Grand Slam winners Tommy Bowe and Donncha O’Callaghan have expressed their fears about Andy Farrell’s ‘very one-dimensional’ side and the ‘breadcrumbs’ Wales left for Scotland to follow this weekend.
The Irish kept alive their Six Nations title chances with a hard-fought 27-17 win over the Welsh in Dublin last Friday. However, the manner of the victory wasn’t as convincing as it could have been, leaving Bowe and O’Callaghan concerned that the Scots have been shown how to frustrate Farrell’s team.
Gregor Townsend’s Scotland arrive in Dublin also in the title hunt, while Saturday’s match is a straight shootout as well for the Triple Crown, the trophy awarded to a team if it beats all three of its Home Nations opposition in the same year.
Whereas Ireland are used to collecting silverware, winning the Triple Crown in 2025 after enjoying a Six Nations title double in 2023 and 2024, Scotland have been starved of this type of success.
History is on Ireland’s side…
They last won the championship title in 1999, when it was the old Five Nations before Italy’s admission, while their most recent Triple Crown happened in 1990 in their Grand Slam year.
Having flamboyantly picked off France last weekend in Murrayfield 50-40 to add to their wins over England and Wales, the Scots are looking to win in Dublin for the first time since 2010 and also put an end to Ireland’s current 11-match winning run against them, a success that includes victory in matches at the 2019 and 2023 Rugby World Cups.
History is on Ireland’s side, but Bowe and O’Callaghan, the ex-British and Irish Lions tourists who won the 2009 Grand Slam with the Irish, are giving Scotland a chance based on last weekend’s respective performances of the teams.
Speaking on The Offload, the weekly podcast he hosts with O’Callaghan, Bowe reflected in Round Four: “It was a wonderful performance in terms of getting the win, a 10-point win over Wales with a bonus point was good.
“I know Jack Conan was player of the match and (Stuart) McCloskey was getting over the gain line, but we don’t have an enforcer. I just think we were very same, we were very one-dimensional. Like, no crossfield kicks, no dinks over the top.
“(Jamison) Gibson-Park is trying to snipe, but your big ball carriers weren’t getting over the line… When the chips are down, and you’re kind of on the back foot, you need somebody to steamroller over somebody. I just think we are missing that at the minute, and you look at the likes of France or Scotland who are playing with such tempo at the minute.”
O’Callaghan replied: “I would tend to agree, but I’d purely credit Wales with that. I couldn’t believe their lack of numbers at rucks, they just filled the pitch, and Scotland will see that as well, leave them have it and we are going to bang them. So, there is breadcrumbs left of how to D us and we need to probably bring a little bit more to it.
“I do think we need stuff off launch. If you look at Scotland’s try off the back of the lineout, (Kyle) Steyn goes in, we used to have plays like that under Joe (Schmidt), like a launch one out. Honestly, it’s chess. Players implementing brilliant coaching detail.”
Bowe said: “I scored one against England similar over at Twickenham. Remember off Tomas (O’Leary) and he broke off the lineout and isolated (Jonny) Wilkinson on his inside shoulder (in 2010). It’s very rare you see the gap open up like it was there with Steyn. They normally have that so well engineered.”
O’Callaghan reckoned: “It’s always the homework and you know those plays will come off. Look at the Grand Slam game on St Patrick’s Day (in 2018) where Tadhg Furlong made that, remember it was on the outside and he then gave the ball back in and he put CJ (Stander) under the posts.”
Bowe agreed: “We haven’t seen those. and Scotland have done a couple. Even off the scrum on the left-hand side as well (against France). It was just a simple nine, 12, wrap around the back and then they just hit the 13 straight underneath the posts.”
With the Six Nations now in its final week, O’Callaghan described it as a massive test for the respective coaches as nothing is still hidden. “I have always felt this is a massive week for the coaches in terms of detail because now you have the library of everything.
“No one is going to grow a new leg. You have all the plays, all their lineouts, you know what they are about. This is actually where coaching and coming up with plans and detail is vital.
“I’d agree with you. Because of last week, you are now going to see a full pitch against us. Scotland will do that as well. They will be efficient on their own breakdown, but they won’t fight lost causes on ours and they will fill the pitch.”
Bowe wondered: “Will that be then for Ireland to pick and go through the middle and try and such their defenders in?” O’Callaghan replied: “Yeah, but it’s also gain line for me and I think you’re right, Bundee (Aki) will get you gain line, won’t he, Joe Mc (McCarthy) will get you gain line.”
Issues in the midfield…
It was here that Bowe expressed a criticism of McCloskey’s contribution at inside centre. “Stuart McCloskey does too but the thing is that he gets you over the gain line but then as opposed to really powering on, he is looking for the offload and if the offload isn’t given, which there was a few times in the game we didn’t quite get it or it got a bit erratic, whereas sometimes just having someone head down, just get me five yards and have the opposition on the back foot, then quick ball.
“Like, our ball was a bit slow at the breakdown and they [Wales] just spread out with numbers. I also think the fact that we didn’t test them in the back field, they were all able to stay up high, their defensive line was up.
“They were up flat, so we were just running round the corners straight into it. If you put in a few contestables, a few chips over the top. Like, all our kicks were very much long, long not to contest as opposed to attacking kicks like (Finn) Russell’s kicking. Even France, they still scored 40 points.”
O’Callaghan agreed with Bowe’s kicking observation. “I do think we overplayed a little bit, especially in parts of the pitch. I’d be a fan, like you, of maybe ‘long and on’ and just making them keep a back three because watching it live, there were times where there was one in the back field, 14 in the line smacking us. We need to have something showing them a different picture or at least make them respect it.”
Reflecting on a season that started with a worrying hammering in France and then a very uncomfortable home win over Italy, O’Callaghan said: “A Triple Crown would be amazing, the way the year has started. I was so proud on Friday; I love that team. I love how they go out. It doesn’t all go our way, but they find a way to just lift you. Identifying with them is quite easy; they find a way.”
Bowe concluded: “Listen, good to get the job, but we are still a long way off.”