Had it not been for a pesky knee injury, Ben Youngs would have been England’s starting scrumhalf.
However, the England star has been forced to watch his country fall short in their bid to win three Six Nations tournaments in a row. Instead, Ireland have won the championship and will be looking to secure the Grand Slam in Twickenham on Paddy’s Day.
During a recent appearance on The Matt Dawson Rugby Show on 5 Live, Youngs highlighted two areas of Irish dominance that left him ‘in awe’.
Is this the team to win the Grand Slam? https://t.co/nBCYoLnzaD
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) March 15, 2018
Some men under a high ball
“One thing I’ve been in awe with the Irish in terms of watching them over this campaign is just the aerial skills they’ve possessed within the whole of the backline. Everyone’s ability to get in the air, to compete and win that ball.”
“Often, you find yourself that you haven’t done a lot wrong, but Ireland are in your 22 or they’re 30 metres out because you haven’t been able to deal with the high ball or you’ve dropped it or they’ve won it. They’re extremely good at that.”
We all remember Keith Earls’ claiming a stunning cross-field kick high over his head during that thrilling end-game against France, in Paris. A week later, Earls repeated the dose against Italy. Rob Kearney has been another that has done well in aerial combat – winning more than his fair share of high balls and forcing mistakes and penalties from the opposition.
High praise indeed https://t.co/h55HO2aoEC
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) March 15, 2018
On the ground
“On the back of that, they just revert to keeping hold of the ball. They’re just really good at patience around the corner and it’s very direct. They’re able to just break you down that way. So, I think it’s very important that England have a huge focus on that aerial contest and not allowing them to get in there cheaply. And also, they’re disciplined, because once they’re in there, although it does look direct, it’s actually very, very efficient and they keep hold of the ball extremely well.”
“That is where Ireland are absolutely phenomenal now. I played Munster in the Champions Cup. We got absolutely punished in the breakdown area and in the aerial battle again. That is something I would really hang my hat on if I was involved and that’s something I’ll be speaking to the boys about and trying to get the eight forwards really on the front foot and get them sort of chomping at the bit pre-game to really sort of go at them.”
Ireland have conceded the least amount of breakdown penalties [14] all championship. Compare that to England [30] and it is a huge disparity. Ireland have won 557 of their own rucks at a 97% success rate
