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Analysis: Wales' win over Ireland- Brilliant Tactics, Structure and Defence

Kate Wiliams of Wales, centre, celebrates after the TikTok Women's Six Nations Rugby Championship match between Wales and Ireland at Cardiff Arms Park in Cardiff, Wales. (Photo By Mark Lewis/Sportsfile via Getty Images)Cardiff , United Kingdom - 25 March 2023

What a fantastic occasion Saturday was for Wales fans. A huge win in front of a record crowd, all done in the silkiest style imaginable. With captain Hannah Jones wrapping up the bonus point before half-time, Welsh fans couldn’t have asked for any more at the 40 minute mark.

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The most satisfying thing, however, was Wales’ ability to iron out errors that have left them in some sticky situations in games gone by. This time last year, Wales had to be at their absolute best to close out their game in Dublin. This weekend, Wales massively took their foot off the gas in the second half and didn’t look overly threatened.

Much of that is down to the fact they’re a year further down the line of professionalism than Ireland, and have much stronger athletes – but you have to credit Wales’ tactics throughout the game. Let’s have a look at how they managed to not give Ireland an ‘in’.

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In the Rugby World Cup opener against Scotland, Wales often found it difficult to secure kickoffs cleanly, recycle possession and exit. In the interim, this is clearly an area Ioan Cunningham has worked on with his players. Here’s how Wales responded to each kick-off in the first half:

First kick-off (0-0): Wales play one phase in-field, then Elinor Snowsill clears.
4th minute (5-0): Kerin Lake catches the kick-off and passes to Keira Bevan, who kicks in-field, beyond the halfway line.
13th minute (12-0): Georgia Evans catches and passes to Bevan, who kicks to almost the exact same spot.
24th minute (19-0): Hannah Jones catches and runs up to the 10m line. Wales get quick ball and try to attack for two phases. As soon as the ball slows down, they settle, work to an edge and Bevan box-kicks.
33rd minute (26-0): Sioned Harries catches and carries. Snowsill is charged down, but Wales win a penalty.

It’s evident that Wales have no interest in messing around in their own half, even when they’re three or four tries up. But why is this? Well, it’s because of their much improved defensive shape and fitness.

When Shaun Edwards was defence coach of the Welsh men’s team, they were taught to keep the ball in-field and back their defence. The theory was that if the opposition pack are tired, they’re more likely to be slow into position, slow to a ruck or give a penalty away.

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On the fourth kick-off, Bevan’s kick is carried in by Méabh Deely. Ireland play one phase toward the touchline, which Bethan Lewis contests.

Once Lewis is cleared out, the ball is exposed. Wales, however, don’t compete for the ball or pressurise scrum-half Molly Scuffil-McCabe. They’re probably entitled to, but they would run the risk of getting penalised.

Wales maintain their discipline and apply lots of line speed. For three consecutive phases, they catch Ireland behind the gain-line. Alex Callender contests one breakdown, then immediately works into a wider position once she knows she isn’t going to win the ball.

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Ireland try playing wide, but with no luck. Courtney Keight makes an excellent tackle on Aoife Doyle on the wing, wrapping up the ball. She waits until the referee calls “release” before letting go of Doyle, buying Wales an extra second to set their defence. Carys Williams-Morris counter-rucks, but doesn’t contest for the ball whatsoever. This ruck takes a grand total of nine seconds before Scuffil-McCabe gets her hands on it!

The Welsh defence is so far on top, and Ireland are already 10 metres behind where they started. Callender constantly swivels her head between the breakdown and Sam Monoghan in front of her.

Callender makes a lovely, low chop-tackle on Monoghan. She immediately pops back to her feet and rejoins the defensive line before Scuffil-McCabe has her hands on the ball. This means she can take the “guard” position and every Welsh player can slide out one position – they have one woman more in the defensive line than Ireland do in their attack.

After another phase, Ireland call it quits. They’ve been pushed back from near the halfway line to near their own 22. Wales could have happily kept defending until Ireland were on their own line. Cronin kicks the ball just shy of the half-way line, meaning Wales gain possession in line with where Ireland first launched their attack.

This patient defence is a real asset for Wales. The likes of Callender and Lewis are both known jackal threats, but Wales instead prioritise getting 15 women on their feet to send Ireland backwards. This is one of many outstanding defensive sets from Wales.

Let’s look at one more Welsh defensive set, just to show this isn’t a one-off.

Ireland play wide off a scrum, and Wales happily concede ground on first phase, knowing their pack will be in position quicker than Ireland’s. Bethan Lewis has already worked to the “bodyguard” position, two players away from the tackle.

Lisa Neumann in 14 is the tackle-assist, so Ireland clear her out beyond the ball. Neumann is fine with this, as they drive her to the exact position she wants to be in, behind the defensive line. Wales divide their pack into units: 8 and 6 (Harries and Lewis) are nearest the breakdown, 4, 5 and 7 (Fleming, Evans and Callender) are marking Ireland’s first carrying pod, while the front-row are all marking the pod at the top of the above screenshot.

After Ireland’s next carry, Wales still have 15 women on their feet. Scuffil-McCabe picks the ball up and looks blindside, only to see Evans and Lewis have it covered. This allows the next group of Welsh forwards (including Callender on the far left) lots of time to fly up and smash the next set of carriers.

Kelsey Jones identifies Linda Djougang as Ireland’s strongest ball carrier, so she rushes up and puts a huge shot on her. If Enya Breen (12) passed to either of her other forwards they probably still wouldn’t have gone forward – that’s how well-connected Wales’ line is.

Ireland, once again, started on the 10m line, and by the time Cronin kicks it away, she’s inside her own 22. Cronin’s kick is fantastic and crosses the Welsh 10m line. Wales recover brilliantly and Keira Bevan, once she’s finished scrapping with two Irish forwards, nails a 50/22.

The World Cup was somewhat frustrating for Wales fans, as you could see how talented the players are and what they were trying to build, but they seemed so far from the finished product. Saturday’s win in Cardiff was proof that Wales are a clear step up from their last campaign, as the grittier parts of their game were tightened up. It’s still a big ask to see if they can compete with England or France, but their newfound defensive focus will surely do no harm in shrinking the gap.

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H
Hellhound 20 minutes ago
Springboks' No.1 status in world rankings coming under increased threat

I disagree. A fair system would include points for EVERY MATCH you play, top guns or dregs. The WC should not influence the points table. No tournament should. It should be simple. This much for a home or away win. The problem with that is that Top Tier nations can point stay by arranging a lot of games against those nations to bring up their points tally, which wouldn't work. At least not on the points table. It would however give Tier 2 nations more game time against the Top Tier nations, which in itself is a good thing. However, that being said, it would dilute the quality of teams as they don't face tough enough opposition to handle the real tough teams, so come WC time, they would suffer for those consequences. There is no points system that currently can be used that would be fair to all, so the best is to try and be as fair as possible. We may not like the current system, but it's the best we have. Some suggested the Soccer system, but it won't work in rugby. No one has come up with a better points system and if they did, WR isn't sharing that. They would rather keep an eye on Dr Rassie with pen in hand ready to declare everything he does as illegal and against the spirit of the game. The SA men are too big, we can't stop them. Maybe we should ban the big men from SA as illegal but keep the big men of other countries? Oh wait, now the SA backs are too fast and slippery. That isn't good for WR so let's declare fast SA backs as illegal too. Yeah, that's how it works in WR isn't it? WR and all other countries hate the Boks. Never give them the respect they deserve, then are shocked completely finding out that no South African care what the world of rugby or its fans or other nations think about us. We don't care about the points system. It's as rotten as World Rugby and it's socialistic communistic rule of laws. The Boks will keep leading the brand of rugby. Keep innovating. Keep pushing boundaries. Keep the game interesting. We respect the AB's because they respect us. They may not like us, but the respect has always been crystal clear. Over 100 years of the biggest rivalry in rugby’s history can't be thrown away just like that. No points system can do that. Between WC's, we care about the AB's, the rest is just preparation for the next WC.

95 Go to comments
J
Jfp123 23 minutes ago
New Zealanders may not understand, but in France Test rugby is the 'B movie'

It would be interesting to see how the financial deal and viewing figures for these last 3 matches compare with those for previous tours by leading NH nations. I imagine that broadcasting rights are negotiated a fair way in advance, so did the broadcasters realise France would send a B team when they signed on the dotted line? And to what extent were viewing figures affected? I’d have thought die hard fans would tune in anyway, and more casual fans wouldn’t know much about French players, except perhaps Dupont, and wouldn’t care who played on the French side - wouldn’t it be which ABs played that would matter to them? Although the big ‘disrespect’ furore might have had an effect, but whether to increase or decrease viewing figures I couldn’t say.

It’s not only the French national team that sends out B teams, many of their clubs do too, both in away matches in the Top14 and in Champions Cup. But these B teams often play in front of sell out crowds, and the value of the broadcasting rights for the Top 14 have gone up and up.

Of course, home advantage is real, and matches against the Saffas and ABs where they play best is I guess at the current time the hardest test of all. However, it doesn’t look like we’ll actually see France A in NZ or SA for the foreseeable future - the Top14 really is a fabulous competition, almost year round brilliant rugby, with big stars from around the world, madly enthusiastic fans, and a big money earner, I can’t see the French making major alterations (I’m not French, but I’m a big fan too and the only alteration I’d make is a limit on individual playing time for player welfare).

Considering their home record against NZ and away against Ireland, I think that’s enough to acknowledge that the top French players have a very high degree of skill, but if SH fans don’t see things that way, that’s up to them. My point was, if NZ fans don’t think much of them, why are they so bothered they’re not there. Anyway come 2027, France A will travel to the SH, if not NZ or SA, and we’ll see what happens!

100 Go to comments
S
Soliloquin 43 minutes ago
All Blacks squeeze past France to sweep July series in Hamilton

Big question!

I think they would get outsmarted by the A team, outpacked forward and depending on the form of the A team, the score would be more or less 15-20 points a higher or lower victory.

The only issue is that France has a lot of 13s, and they were all in NZ.

This weekend’s team was gassed out, so it’s also very much linked to fitness level.

Just like the ABs were tired at the end of November, while the French were rusty after just one game against Japan.

I fear they will get smashed in Paris without Dupont (confirmed to be still out) by the Springboks as it will be their first game of the international season (a nonsense to me - the biggest game will be the first)


The squad for this France A would be:

Gros-Mauvaka-Tatafu

Flament-Meafou

Cros-Ollivon-Alldritt

Dupont-Ntamack

Moefana-?(all 13s were in NZ) Costes ?

Bielle-Biarrey-Penaud

Ramos


(But if you can take players from the NZ, then Guillard and Barassi or Fickou could be in)


Against the C team:

Erdocio-Bourgarit-Slimani

Auradou-Halagahu

Fischer-Guillard-Brennan

Le Garrec-Hastoy

Fickou-Depoortere

Attissogbe-Villière

Barré


And a B team would be:

Baille-Marchand-Atonio

Cazeaux-Vergé

Jegou-Jelonch-Gazzotti

Lucu-Jalibert

Danty-Frisch

Lebel-Dréan

Buros


———

France A-France C at full fitness: 38-12

France A-France B: 28-17

France B-France C: 32-20


It seems a bit like Toulouse is kind of France A at full power last year, UBB is France B at full power last year and Racing92 is France C at full power this year.

112 Go to comments
LONG READ
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