Replacements, finishers, the bench – the title is a matter of taste, as it’s all about the impact when it comes to those who wear jerseys number 16 to 23 in modern rugby. The wishlist for head coaches is that the players summoned from the stand have a tangible influence on the outcome of a match.
That comes in the form of two primary metrics, contributing points, or helping to shape a victory. Ireland head coach Andy Farrell will be hoping that his bench at Murrayfield on Sunday can have the desired impact when and if called upon, replicating what they have managed in several matches.
He can do so with reasonable optimism, even when examining relatively narrow parameters, using Ireland’s tour to New Zealand last summer as a starting point to the team’s most recent victory, against Italy in the Stadio Olimpico. During that nine-match run in which the Irish team won eight Tests, the replacements as a collective chipped in with a modest 38 points.
The breakdown is four tries, two for Bundee Aki and one each for Rob Herring and Cian Healy, with Ross Byrne contributing 10 points while Jack Crowley and Joey Carbery were responsible for four points apiece. Ireland scored 241 points in those nine matches with the bench weighing in with 15.76 per cent of that total or if you prefer an average of 4.22 points per game.
It’s a very narrow measurement tool and slightly misleading when trying to discern the impact of the replacements not least because in the matches listed below the window of opportunity was quite limited.
In the three Tests against the All Blacks, only three players cumulatively were introduced – two were injured and required replacement – prior to the 60-minute mark. Against South Africa all three, Stuart McCloskey, Conor Murray and Tadhg Furlong were replaced because of injury ahead of the aforementioned time frame, while in the Australia win only two were summoned before the final quarter of the game.
In marked contrast Farrell made seven of eight changes by the 60th minute of Ireland’s win over Fiji. The most seismic impact from the bench in points terms during the nine games was in the win over the Wallabies, where Bundee Aki’s try and Ross Byrne’s late, match-winning penalty, provided eight of the team’s 13 points.
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In Ireland’s two most recent games in the Six Nations, they were forced to lean heavily on replacements. Against France Rob Herring replaced Ronan Kelleher after just 25-minutes while in a two-minute period in the second half (45-47), Farrell’s team saw Tadhg Beirne and captain Johnny Sexton invalided out of the game. Their replacements deputised very capably in all cases.
In Rome, Ryan Baird – a stolen lineout and a penalty turnover at the breakdown – Conor Murray, Tom O’Toole, Dan Sheehan and Peter O’Mahony were key figures in navigating Ireland through a fraught end game in a match that was a little too delicately poised with the Italians trailing 27-20 and burning a gilt-edged opportunity.
Farrell would prefer not to be forced into the “break glass in case of emergency” scenario on Sunday but with the returning players and the track record of those who’ve made a difference before, he knows that he has plenty in reserve in every respect.
Ireland’s points scoring from the bench since the summer
(Match, Score, Bench, points)
New Zealand v Ireland, 42-19, 9 (B Aki try, J Carbery 2 conversions)
New Zealand v Ireland, 12-23, 0
New Zealand v Ireland, 22-32, 5 (R Herring try)
Ireland v South Africa, 19-16, 0
Ireland v Fiji, 35-17, 9 (C Healy try, J Crowley 2 conversions)
Ireland v Australia, 13-10, 8 (B Aki try, R Byrne penalty)
Wales v Ireland, 10-34, 2 (R Byrne conversion)
Ireland v France, 32-19, 5 (R Byrne penalty, conversion)
Italy v Ireland, 20-34, 0
