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Ulster veterans Rob Herring and Iain Henderson have more experience playing together during their careers at both club and international level.<\/p>\n
Kelleher and Ryan have had minimal time together at both Leinster and Ireland compared to the above pairing and will need time to nurture such a bond.<\/p>\n
O\u2019Donnell believes that it takes time to build the relationships that are needed to work together to win high-level lineouts.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen things are going badly, [people] love jumping on the bandwagon and saying that the lineout has been terrible for years.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also cites the revolving doors that are the second row, flanker, and number eight spots as reasons for the side\u2019s shortcomings last year, as they never had as settled a pack as their competition.<\/p>\n
The squads that have been selected have forced Ireland to use inexperienced combinations to complete their forward line-up in numerous games under Andy Farrell.<\/p>\n
CJ Stander has improved his jumping game, but Caelan Doris and Will Connors are not experienced jumpers which puts stress on whatever second-row combination of Tadhg Beirne, Quinn Roux, Henderson, or Ryan; to over-perform to cover.<\/p>\n
Regardless, the former national women\u2019s team coach does welcome the inclusion of Paul O\u2019Connell in the backroom staff from this year onwards.<\/p>\n
He believes that Paul O\u2019Connell\u2019s presence will prove valuable to the Irish setup, even with a supposed lack of coaching experience, noting that there was positive discussion about the announcement among other coaches of the game.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s got a lot of value to the Irish setup \u2013 I think you can see the fruits of that already. Some of the movements we\u2019ve been doing in our lineout are movements we\u2019ve been doing anyway, in the last year, but I think he\u2019s tidied it up.\u201d<\/p>\n The Limerick native has opted to keep things simple so far, making only minor changes to the maul and trying out some interesting lineout moves \u2013 like Henderson turning around to lift Rhys Ruddock against France.<\/p>\n The result has been a successful transition from the Easterby era to the O\u2019Connell era.<\/p>\n However, O\u2019Donnell does not feel that the improvements are as drastic as people are making them out to be.<\/p>\n The Lineout Lab\u2019s founder makes an example out of a maul against Wales in the Autumn Nations Cup last year.<\/p>\n Taulupe Faletau could have been penalised for his actions while attempting to stop the Irish maul, and had the officials on the evening noticed this foul play; they would have been inclined to award Ireland a penalty try and, in doing so, perhaps altering the public perception of Easterby\u2019s work at that time.<\/p>\n Mr O\u2019Donnell feels that Ireland\u2019s problems with set-pieces have been accentuated by the lack of quality ball being played when looking to attack.<\/p>\n The fly-half berth that Johnny Sexton has held for years needs substantial and effective depth, but the options available have struggled to perform.<\/p>\n \u201cThe backline is just not gelling in some respects and I think we need to try something new.\u201d<\/p>\n This is partly down to how Ireland plays the ball \u2013 they mainly play off the no.10.<\/p>\n Our fly-halves can be static when receiving and making passes \u2013 the last passage of play v France is a prime example of this, with Ross Byrne not moving towards the ball and then passing behind him, rather than placing it flat for the inside centre to run onto.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve invited more pressure on Garry Ringrose and Robbie Henshaw by having [our fly-halves] play too deep\u201d<\/p>\n Playing off nine would have been a more suitable approach considering all Ireland needed was to get within range for a drop goal at the weekend.<\/p>\n Mixing both styles would prove beneficial for Irish rugby as \u201c[our play] is too predictable.\u201d<\/p>\n Ireland\u2019s nines and 10s themselves have been at the centre of discussions in recent weeks.<\/p>\n Sexton and Murray will be 38 and 34 by the time the 2023 World Cup begins, and Ireland\u2019s Mr Dependable, Keith Earls, will be turning 36.<\/p>\n Many are pushing for the likes of Harry Byrne and Craig Casey to get a chance.<\/p>\n Peter does not think it will happen but would be willing to give them a go.<\/p>\n He remembers being at Lansdowne Road for a changing of the guard in 2000 against Scotland.<\/p>\n \u201cThat was the next generation. We shipped [50] points against England, and then Warren Gatland comes in, and Peter Stringer starts, Ronan O\u2019Gara starts, Shane Horgan starts, Simon Easterby starts, and John Hayes starts.<\/p>\n \u201c[O\u2019Gara] did pretty well to be fair, but it takes time to develop your skill and your craft.<\/p>\n \u201cI would love to see something a bit different [nowadays in the back line].\u201d<\/p>\n Paul O\u2019Connell has ironed out the creases of Ireland\u2019s lineout (at least initially), but for a lineout to be as effective as it can potentially be, other pieces need to fit into the jigsaw perfectly, whether these pieces change shape or are new pieces entirely is in the future.<\/p>\n Irish rugby is not quite ready to take a second step forward just yet, but the lineout is the least of their worries.<\/p>\n Peter O\u2019 Donnell is the founder of The Lineout Lab, which offers coaching, courses and consulting on all thing concerning lineouts. You can find videos breaking down the way teams play on The Lineout Lab\u2019s Youtube channel as well as on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @lineoutlab.<\/strong><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.anfocal.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/download-63.jpg\")
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