The big three are back together, and they can smell French blood.
We haven’t seen the Peter O’Mahony – Sean O’Brien – Jamie Heaslip combination in action together since Ireland’s defeat to New Zealand 2013, but our ability to churn out backrows by the barrel load means we’ve got by just fine with the likes of Rhys Ruddock, Jordi Murphy and Tommy O’Donnell filling in.
However, on their day, these guys can really sing.
There’s an incredible balance to the trio’s play, between the hard yards in attack, the tackle count in close games, and sticking their heads where most wouldn’t put their fingers at the breakdown.
While O’Brien is off the back of such a long layoff, and playing his first game for Ireland since that defeat to the All-Blacks in 2013, he looked incredibly sharp at the breakdown during the Wolfhounds’ meeting with the Saxons two weeks ago.
In the opening minutes, he had won a penalty after this superb piece of rucking.
Shortly after, he showed off an even more impressive spring, assisting Richardt Strauss in the tackle, before proving he’s as nimble as ever, bouncing back up to win another penalty.
The backrow will have a big job on their hands in defence this weekend. While France may have had just four clean breaks last Saturday, they beat 21 defenders, and I’m expecting high tackle counts from both O’Brien and Heaslip this weekend.
In the meeting with New Zealand in 2013, the pair combined for 37 tackles, missing just one (Heaslip 21, O’Brien 16).
But O’Brien is most beneficial to Ireland as a ball-carrier, and he and Heaslip can both take advantage of a French defence that gave up six clean line breaks and missed 12 tackles against the Scots in Paris last week.
In their last outing together for Ireland against New Zealand, Heaslip and O’Brien linked up superbly to lay the foundation for Rory Best’s try.
The offloads may now be outlawed under Schmidt, but this type of direct running and quick rucking is something that both bring in abundance.
While Jordi Murphy and Tommy O’Donnell both performed well last Saturday, the extra power brought by getting Heaslip and O’Brien on the ball will seriously test the French, and if they don’t break the line themselves, they’ll certainly create space for the backs to attack.
The French defence showed its pores against Scotland, and the lines of carrying will be crucial to stretching their defence further on Saturday.
Peter O’Mahony ran with the ball in hand for 26 meters last week, beating three defenders in the process, but expect him to take a more supportive role to Heaslip and O’Brien this weekend, with the destructive pair being ball-carrying specialists.
As we previously mentioned this week, the Irish scrum will be up against it this Saturday, but if they come out of that set-piece battle looking relatively healthy, they will have an ideal platform to win from.
And then there’s the lineout.
Ireland’s was steady against Italy, winning 12 of their 14 throws, and stealing three Italian throws, but the French excelled in a game with as many as 33 lineouts.
They retained 18 of their 20 throws, but only managed to steal one of 13 Scottish throw ins.
Ireland will be confident that their various options at the lineout can secure the ball they need on their own throw. Disrupt the French on their own ball, and that could be key.
