One Positive. One Negative

First topic message reminder :

One Positive.  One Negative
Only One of each, not tons.

Your team.  One positive to take from the Championship.  One negative.

For me -

Positive:
More emphasis on attack very welcome.  Whether is was deigned as necessary because of bonus points or whether Joe Schmidt is finally being coaxed along to the idea that attack is a much easier form of defence, we have been seeing a much more aggressive stance from Ireland defensively - with the ball and without it.  
We didn't just hold onto possession in the end stages of games when often we were under the usual last session assault by the opposition.  When in possession we often chose to actively push forward and sustain attacking aggression even though it might be said that possession at that point was more technically defensive and used to count down the clock.

So I liked that defensive possession was being used as a much more genuine 'attacking' threat than Ireland might have been known for to this point in recent years.  Sustaining this attitude through all games, even ones without bonus point requirements, will make us a tougher prospect still.
You can't have any opposition being dead certain Ireland will not attack in the last minutes as they cling to leads.  That lets the oppostion off the hook and allows them to fully concentrate on their waves and waves of attack.  We have to scare teams into being as cautious about their own defence in the last quarter of games as they are intent on attacking ours.  I think a real big improvement in Ireland's philosophy through this campaign on that score.

Negative:
I'm not sure it's a negative really.  Maybe it's simply more an inevitable gap that appears due to our overall defensive shape - ie. - maybe we know that we sacrifice certainty and resolutness in one area to better resource other areas that have more priority in our over all game style.  Being good in one area does tend to weaken other areas.
So yep, the bloody fringe gaps that keep appearing with frustrating regularity all through this contest is my negative.  

I can in a way understand why they appear given our determination to be dominant in breakdown collisions but we've still got a lot of work to do in trying formulate a better system that gives us more security when we need it during end games, when other sides have nothing to lose and so release the attacking hounds full blast - or indeed during earlier very apparent 'purple patch' activity from opposition mid game when they come at us in timed waves to put those fringes in a lot of trouble.
I don't think we yet fully adapt to these under-the-cosh periods.  I think we've done bloody well and there has been some truly heroic defensive shifts from players - but on a strategy and tactics level, I think we have to find ways of solidifying those periods to wait out the storms in a less seemingly nervous way.

That not-pass could be the difference between setting a points record that will be very hard to beat and one that will be equalled several times.

OTOH it gives Ireland a target to beat for next year.

ScarletSpiderman wrote:

munkian wrote:Positive - Patchell

Negative - Patchell

Priestlan....I mean Patchell is still probably our best option mind.



Positive: Style of play when the big names were missing
Negative: Style of play when the big names returned.

How much of Wales early form was down to the best players playing and then as the regulars came back they went backwards as less form players came in. Gats only seems to put form players in the team when the current player in that position gets injured. I might be wrong but isn't that how all those players got into the team before the WC in 2011

Plus - So many tight games that weren't over till the very end
Minus - 10.5 months to discuss where we all are and who is going to win next year and how team A is better than team B etc

A team is always better than B team.

They have the Advantage of Avarice, Attention attributes, Athleticism, Ability, Attitude and Aptitude + Awesome Acorns.

Unbeatable.

Ah, but B Team has brains and brawn. And big b*llocks.

Hmmm. True. They also have Boots and mostly have the Ball so..........................



The dice is stacked against A team.

Scotland

Positive: The tournament should show just who has the ability and perhaps more importantly, the mental fortitude, to be part of a good team at intentional level. Players like Horne and Harris just don't cut the mustard at international level while McInally and to an extent (due to lack of gametime only) Kinghorn showed they should fit in nicely.

Negative: We're far too heavily reliant on Finn Russell's inconstant form. If he's on, he's really on, but when he's off (which seems to be in 1/3 of the games he plays) he's really really off.

tiger - Horne at 12. For some reason he seems to add something to Scotland when he plays despite not being the most gifted player. Against Wales no Horne and a thumping loss.

TJ wrote:tiger -  Horne at 12.  For some reason he seems to add something to Scotland when he plays despite not being the most gifted player.  Against Wales no Horne and a thumping loss.

Ahhh come on now TJ, that's like saying against Wales we didn't have Sean Lamont playing so we got skleped!

The wales game we were skelped because the gameplan was off and nearly every player under performed woefully. We played a 13 at 12 and a useless headless chicken at 13.

In my opinion Horne has cost us more points/games than he has earned us. And that goes back a fair amount of time and I'm not just taking the Ireland game into isolation.

My view tho is that the guys around him play better when he is in the team. Its a conundrum 'cos I agree with you that in isolation Horne is not a hugely talented player but he seems to add more to the team when he plays. I think its he is a thinking player so a good foil for Russells instinctive play