Filed under: Rugby Union, Six Nations, Ireland Rugby
Perhaps their years are catching up with them, for Ireland certainly cannot use inexperience as an excuse for their indiscipline during their Six Nations campaign.Because being punished by the referees has effectively ended their chances of landing the title.
The Grand Slam may have gone, even if stopping England achieve the whitewash is still very much on their radar.
Yet having been hammered by the officials once again in their narrow win over Scotland last time around, it's now becoming their real cause for concern.
Declan Kidney's side were on the receiving end of a 13-4 penalty count at Murrayfield, yet somehow, despite losing their self-control, they still had enough to sneak home against the Scots.
But a repeat of that statistic and they can forget about beating Wales next up - let alone thinking about spoiling England's party in the final game.
Centre Gordon D'Arcy admits they only have themselves to blame and his country must work on rectifying their problem.
He said: "We can't make excuses for giving away penalties and we've got to be harder on ourselves.
"It's a little bit disappointing the game turned out the way it did because we scored three tries to nil, but penalties kept them in it.
"You have six minutes of build-up play progressing nicely into their 22, then one penalty undoes all that positive play. You get angry with yourself because you're undoing all your good work in a moment with silly penalties.
"It's not rocket science. In previous years we were the most disciplined team in the world but scored just one try, yet won by the same margin."
It's been a mixed back for Ireland so far.
FanHouse UK Picture Galleries: WAGS: Do They Still Matter? | CHEEKY: Things Sport Fans Write
AGELESS: When They Were Young | WTA: Players To Watch | KITS: Best Of The Lot | KITS: And The Worst
AGELESS: When They Were Young | WTA: Players To Watch | KITS: Best Of The Lot | KITS: And The Worst
A stuttering last-gasp victory over Italy followed an agonising late home defeat by France.
But the suicidal display in Scotland must have left coach Kidney tearing his hair out and their penalty county has added up a staggering 34 offences in just three games.
But British Lions three-quarter D'Arcy insists there is plenty left to play for with the Triple Crown still up for grabs before England visit the Aviva Stadium on March 19.
He added: "For us it's about winning two more games and whatever happens elsewhere we can't control what the other teams do.
"It will all come down to the English game.
"It's frustrating as there's nothing we can do about the championship, but there's a Triple Crown on the cards which is still very important."
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Fabio Cannavaro Fabio Quagliarella Feliciano Lopez Fernando Torres Fernando Verdasco
No comments:
Post a Comment