O'Driscoll delivers decisive points
Victory cannot hide feeling of sheer relief, says John O'Brien
Toby Flood (R) watches as Ireland's Captain and Centre Brian O'Driscoll (C) gains possesion. Photo: Carl de Souza, Getty Images
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AS an occasion it promised nothing of the explosive drama we witnessed here two years ago and, in no way did it ever come close to delivering it.
There was no comparable sense of intrigue about yesterday. No novel historical context, no questions about anthems or security arrangements to heighten the tension. Nor had Ireland any call on long-standing emotional grievances to push them closer to the line. To win they had to do it the hard way.
In a way they had so much more to play for and you could be kind to Ireland by suggesting that the pressure they were under diminished them aesthetically. In 2007 they'd come off the back of a heart-rending defeat against France and, on the day, the mood of the England game was unique and positively surreal. The thing about one-off sporting occasions is that they can't be recreated on demand, though. Yesterday the dynamics had altered appreciably.
As much as Ireland's players feign a casual disregard when the subject of championships or Grand Slams arises, Wales' defeat in Paris on Friday night would have brought it into sharper focus. Ireland are the only team left in the competition with the ability to scoop the lot and, as history tells us, they tend to struggle when the eyes of the rugby world are fixed upon them. Even in victory they seemed a little hesitant and ponderous.
The saunter of two years ago was replaced by a stuttering stride. If England's primary strategy was to prevent Ireland from enjoying quick ruck ball, they pulled it off quite impressively. Ireland struggled to find alternative ways past them. They seemed fearful of all-out enterprise and Ronan O'Gara's kicking, so often a platform for victory on attritional days like this, was a let down. In short, they made life extraordinarily difficult for themselves.
They would have anticipated the thread of the game, of course. If they weathered the brute physicality of England's game-plan for 40 or 50 minutes, they would have reasoned, and had managed to assemble a lead by stealth then it would have afforded them the license to go for England's throat late on. The unforeseeable factor was O'Gara missing three of his first four penalties, all from eminently kickable range. That made life tougher than it should have been.
It was a day they badly needed Brian O'Driscoll's leadership qualities and again the captain delivered in spades. There was something especially poignant about the sweetness of his drop-goal that put Ireland 6-3 in front shortly after the interval. Ireland were already guaranteed a penalty but, given O'Gara's earlier misses, there was no guarantee he would have nailed it. O'Driscoll's strike was crisp and true: a quick look at the posts, bang, three crucial points.
O'Driscoll was immense but if you excluded his drop-goal and his breakthrough try, the stand-out memories he left were defensive ones and that told you something about the nature of Ireland's evening. Defensively Ireland were sound until the lapse that let Delon Armitage in for a late try. England would feel aggrieved that they shipped two more yellow cards (10 in four games now). But, truthfully, they were lucky not to pick up another when Armitage cynically blocked O'Driscoll with 30 minutes remaining. Frustration, as much as anything, was their undoing.
As a spectacle it all made for harsh viewing. It was interesting to note that when O'Driscoll instructed O'Gara to shoot for goal rather than touch with 10 minutes remaining, a sizeable chorus of jeers rang around the stadium. Does the modern rugby audience expect entertainment on top of victory? At that stage Ireland were pressing but the lead was a mere five points. Not taking the handy three points would have been madness. O'Gara nailed the kick and Ireland had a cushion they would badly need.
That isn't to say, though, that a little more enterprise wouldn't go astray. One of the early exchanges involved as many as seven back-and-forward kicks, each one as aimless as the next, and during those interminable moments you yearned for someone to bury the ball under their armpit and set sail for glory. Tommy Bowe looked alert and sharp yesterday and, with more opportunities, could have been a threat to England. Luke Fitzgerald and Rob Kearney, disappointingly, rarely featured as attacking presences.
In defeat those questions would have risen to the surface. As it was it was a salient point that the game's finest moment, its most sumptuous piece of creativity, came from England. It was set up by a searing run from Mike Tindall through the heart of Ireland's tiring defence and finished when Armitage ran on to Andy Goode's well-placed grubber and easily out-paced Marcus Horan. Goode's conversion left Ireland clinging to a one-point lead.
It was too late for England by then. O'Driscoll's prescience in taking the earlier three points was underlined. As they trooped off after the whistle the Ireland players embraced and sported wide grins. Underneath you could sense their relief, though. It was a game they knew they could have let slip away. Veterans like O'Driscoll and Horan will know that they will have played much better against England sides in the past and still shipped heavy defeats.
Yesterday they got away with it. The talk will move on to Scotland now and to the ending of their Championship famine and the breaking of their even longer-standing Grand Slam hoodoo. If this was anything to go by, there will be a long and nervous road ahead.
- John O'Brien
