Lion kings?
Has the Lions representation from Ireland been reduced over the last couple of months? Is England’s Ben Curry in a better place now to be the Lions openside flanker than he was back in January and have we seen enough of Tadhg Furlong to give him a ticket to Australia this summer. Ireland started the championship as the favourites and highest ranked team. Last updated on March 10th, Ireland were ranked third in the world with France in four, England sixth, Scotland seventh and Wales 12th. Ireland scored just one try more than Scotland (17 to 16) and had the same number of tries, 14, go in against them. With Simon Easterby’s side finishing in third place and producing patchy performances throughout, Irish players have not platformed individual abilities as much as they could have done with a better campaign. That ought to give Ireland and Lions coach Andy Farrell food for thought.
No 10 still up for debate
The Irish outhalf position remains undecided. That contest is set to run and run. At the beginning of the championship Sam Prendergast was installed as the first-choice number 10. He was selected to start against England in Dublin and played for 58 minutes before Jack Crowley came in from the bench. Prendergast was again the starting 10 when Ireland went to Murrayfield for the second game and again for the third match against Wales in the Principality Stadium. In what was then the biggest match of the series against France in Dublin, the Leinster player was the starting pivot before Simon Easterby decided to go with Crowley in the final game against Italy in Rome on Saturday. Crowley did come into the matches in various positions throughout the series as a fullback and centre, making him more of a utility player than Prendergast, who then picked up the inaugural 2025 Rising Player award.
The whistleblowers
Refereeing across the board was again called into question on the final day of the championship. A simple miss when James Lowe was penalised for being in touch when he clearly wasn’t was followed in the evening match by what looked like a lunge and headbutt from French hooker Peato Mauvaka on the Scotland scrumhalf Ben White. Mauvaka was given a yellow card when many observers saw a straight red card. Once more the act was deliberate. Mauvaka got off the ground and suddenly lunged forward as Thomas Ramos was lifting the ball. So not only was the ball in the hands of one of Mauvaka’s team-mates but leading with the head into another player seemed like the easiest red card a referee could give. The yellow remained a yellow and was not upgraded to a red, even though officials had plenty of time to do so. Decisions like that create confusion instead of generating confidence.
Close, but no cigar
Ireland getting ‘close, but no cigar’ has been a feature of the five matches in this year’s championship. According to RTÉ’s Neil Treacy, who back-checked the four matches before the game against Italy, Ireland had got over the opposition tryline five times but were held up. That was reprised on Saturday. As Finlay Bealham lunged for the line with Jack Conan helping him along with all his body weight, the prop was stopped just short before a double movement got the ball over the line. The try was disallowed after review. James Ryan also had the line begging from a few feet out and again he was repelled with the ball spilling forward. Going forward Ireland might learn to be more ruthless when the opportunities arise and when players find themselves in scoring positions learn to take advantage and keep the scoreboard moving. Otherwise there will be more periods like the first 20 scoreless minutes against France.
43 years of rugby IQ is a huge loss
Much has been made of the retirements of Peter O’Mahony, Cian Healy and Conor Murray from international rugby. What Ireland now have to absorb is the disappearance of almost 43 years of rugby intelligence from the Ireland radar. Healy, with his 137 caps, made his debut in Croke Park against Australia in 2009, while Conor Murray played his first senior game for Ireland against France in August 2011. O’Mahony started his international career where he finished – playing against Italy, his last match on Saturday and his first in February 2012. Healy, who lined up with the team in Stadio Olimpico but did not play, is in his 16th year as an international. Murray, who came on for Jamison Gibson-Park after 66 minutes, is in his 14th year and O’Mahony, who also came off the bench on Saturday, is in his 13th. Collectively that’s about 43 years of service between the three, leaving Ireland with more than just a physical hole to fill in the team.
