Ireland attack coach Andrew Goodman has hit out at Joe McCarthy’s actions that proved costly in the 42-27 defeat to France in the Six Nations at the Aviva Stadium.
The defending champions started the clash brightly, dominating possession and territory but failed to make the pressure pay.
Tough review
Goodman rued the inability of Ireland to capitalise on the opportunities in the opening quarter, a period of the game the coaching team zoned in on during their review.
“The things that we reviewed and had a good look at was the first 20 minutes because if you look at the first 20 minutes, we had possession, territory, and we had five entries into the 22. For a number of reasons, we weren’t good enough to finish those entries,” he told reporters on Tuesday.
“It was disappointing to watch back on because I think if we get across the line one or two times there or maybe get some points on the board, it could have been a very different game.
“Then a lot of the collision work, post going up after halftime. We started well, there was a nice passage of play that led to the penalty to go to the corner and we go ahead.
“But then we lose a few collisions which leads to a yellow card, then a try and a lot of momentum that goes France’s way. It’s tough enough to defend a French team like that with 15 players on the field, but to have 14, the energy that takes away from you later in the game. It was big, and discipline, with two yellow cards and being at 14 men for 20 minutes.”
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Goodman admits that it was ‘tough to watch’ the match and was ‘even tougher to watch back’ in the review.
This led to an honest review when the coaches ran through the game with the players after Ireland’s Six Nations Grand Slam bid came crashing down.
“Destiny was in our hands but now that’s been taken away from us, so it’s been a tough couple of days but post that process as with anything, energy levels get built back up and we have to come back bouncing as the most most important thing now is a response from the group,” he added.
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“We can’t be having that”
After a brutal review with the players, who were just as disappointed about the result, Goodman highlighted the big issues in Ireland’s performances and provided details to some of the honest conversations.
“The conversations were really honest and the players were disappointed but they’re excited about a response that we can go and put out now,” Goodman said.
“It’s the nature of Test rugby, there’s another Test match this week, and you just got to get back on the horse and go again.”
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After failing to open the scoring in the first quarter, Ireland found themselves trailing soon after as Louis Bielle-Biarrey touched down for the first try.
The five-pointer came off the back of a silly penalty by lock McCarthy, who tugged on the collar of Thomas Ramos after France sliced through a gap in the defence. The second-rower was yellow carded for his actions and France pounced immediately afterwards.
Asked what was said to McCarthy, Goodman replied: “That was a stupid penalty, we can’t be having that.
“He knows he let down the team there and he was the first to put his hand up. Those kinds of errors in a game can prove costly, which it did in terms of a little bit of momentum they got after us being on attack for a long period of time.
“They [yellow cards] have been a big issue, I think 35 points have been scored in the last two games when we’ve had them… something close to it anyway. So it’s definitely something we’ve addressed as a team around those avoidable penalties.
“Obviously Joe’s one, but Nashy [Calvin Nash], we have to be better around dropping our height into collisions so we’ve got 15 men on the field.”
Nash’s yellow card period also proved costly for Ireland with Paul Boudehent crossing almost immediately after he was issued his sin-binning.
Further scores from Bielle-Biarrey, Oscar Jegou and Damian Penaud put France in an unassailable lead despite two late tries from Cian Healy and Jack Conan.
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