At first, I thought it was harsh to compare Jamie Heaslip’s weekend performance to that of opposite number Billy Vunipola.
Then I thought, ‘Why not?’
Jamie Heaslip has been a loyal servant for his province and country for the past decade.
He has altered his game from that of marauder and front-foot winner to a patrolling everyman. A little bit of everything. A cog in a wheel.
Those that play with and coach him marvel at his selflessness. The guy who is willing to put the needs of the team over those of himself.
That is commendable but he has long been blunted and his place in the starting Irish line-up should, in my opinion, be under threat. CJ Stander looked the man to challenge for his No 8 jersey until both Peter O’Mahony and Iain Henderson were confirmed as long-term injury casualties.
Heaslip was safe again but now, with the Six Nations title out of sight, there is an argument that Ireland should park the man who refers to himself as ‘The Bus’ in the depot for the next two matches.
Comparing Heaslip to the world’s best No 8’s does not go in his favour – Duane Vermeulen, Sergio Parisse, Kieran Read and Billy Vunipola are all better while some would argue that Toby Faletau is too. David Pocock was asked to play there for the World Cup and excelled – reinventing the wheel and putting another jackal on deck.
Many will mistakenly assume I am asking Heaslip for tries and constant line breaks. While that would help, I’m talking about bringing some serious aggression and meaning to his role.
Look at the World Cup quarter final against Argentina. Heaslip was Ireland’s captain and let the game get away from him. It was a 6/10 performance. Few stand-out moments. 11 tackles, nine carries for 18 metres gained. He did enough but not enough.
Argentina were intent on winning collisions and they were pouring every last piece of themselves into carries and hits. Passion plays.
Heaslip seemed intent on sticking to the process that Joe Schmidt preaches and he follows to the letter. How about one carry where you don’t worry about the perfect presentation and concern yourself, instead, with run through, or over, the guy?
Three moments from Saturday’s loss to England stood out.
Billy Vunipola loved every minute of it out there. He must have lined up half a dozen Irishman – sometimes on their own and sometimes in unison – and bulldozed them. Front-foot ball. Rousing stuff.
Here he is, 54 minutes in, off the back of an England and intent on driving forward. Josh van der Flier and Johnny Sexton were the skittles this time and England surged up-field.
We are not expecting similar road-kill but when is the last time Heaslip truly made a memorable break off the back of a scrum?
In the first half, Vunipola was presented with a one-on-one with Andrew Trimble. He shifted up the trucker gears and flattened the Ulster winger. Only Conor Murray and CJ Stander’s best efforts bundled him out and prevented a try.
As the half came to a close, Heaslip was presented with a similar opportunity. He was one-on-one with the hulking James Haskell and should have been able to out-pace him.
Other options were fending him off or using that Heaslip side-step that stunned France back in 2009.
Instead, jaded from a defensive effort, first thought was to hack the ball on. It was a terrible idea as England had the men back. It was a safety first notion.
As it was the kick went far too long and out of play.
Heaslip took a breath, hopped up and headed off for half-time. He put in a shift after the break but his runs were diagonal, his tackles were rudimentary and his clearing out was merely functional.
It was in keeping with his last 10 outings in the green jersey. An average of 25 metres gained off 11 carries. In defence, 10 tackles per game with a pretty decent success rate [95%].
Good but nothing outstanding. 6 out of 10.
