The Ireland camp will go into full Six Nations mode next week, and there will be little time to think about World Cup elimination.
So, for the sake of the fans above all, and for the first time since head coach Andy Farrell and his backroom team reflected on last Monday’s quarter-final loss to New Zealand, the management addressed the media, questions were asked. T: Why did Ireland lose to the All Blacks?
“We were very good at taking chances and making the team pay for the chances they gave us,” defense coach Simon Easterby said on RTÉ when asked about the four-goal loss in Paris. He told Sport.
“We probably didn’t shoot enough in that game and didn’t make the most of our chances. We were also strong defensively, and we were strong throughout the World Cup, but we conceded three tries a game.”
“And New Zealand are a team that has the ability to score from anywhere.
“They did that, but they probably didn’t have to work as hard to score as we would have liked.
“There are many other things, including individual efforts.
“But like any game, you have to reflect, and sometimes you lose, but we gave it our all. I think we were close to it, and we weren’t far.”
“We were one step away from scoring at the end, and it was a close one.
“The maul was really effective. We destroyed them at times in that area. We were on the wrong side of some referee calls, but in the end it was 28-24, not much of a difference. Ta.”
“We can always look back and think about what we could have done better on both sides of the ball.
“So there are certainly things from my hometown that we think could hinder New Zealand’s momentum.
“They were always able to get ahead of us. We had to make sure we stopped them from scoring so we could get ahead when the opportunity came.”
Later in the same press conference, the former Ireland flanker was asked if he could pinpoint why he wasn’t shooting enough.
He said, “I don’t want to say ‘shoot the gun.’ Maybe that wasn’t the right term, but it’s clearer than it was this week with Fuzz and going over it.” [Andy Farrell] and cats [attack coach Mike Catt] And we had an opportunity to punish New Zealand further and we didn’t do it.
“Yes, we definitely got the points and I still think if we hadn’t conceded one more try, obviously we would have won.
“But I think we scored a little too easily.
“In terms of winning the ball to the opponent’s attack, there were some chances that I felt like if we had been in a little bit better position and worked a little bit more to get into position, we would have taken those chances. ” to score.
“That’s what I was trying to do, not take shots. We did that and chased New Zealand. We were down 13-0, but we came back and chased them. We continued, but we just put them ahead again. That was the difference.
“There’s always going to be opportunities that we feel like we missed. That’s what we reflected on this week. I wouldn’t say we didn’t make shots.”
Ireland are currently in Quita do Lago, Portugal, preparing for Friday night’s Guinness Six Nations opener in Marseille (8pm).
The training panel consisted of 37 players in total, with Leinster out-half Sam Prendergast and Munster prop Oli Jaeger joining for the first time.
“They came in and fit really well,” Easterby said.
“Sam is obviously a player that has been well known to us since he was in his 20s and we have been training with him a bit over the last few years when Richie has joined us in training, but this week he was fantastic. Ta.
“He’s adapted really well, has a great skill set, has a great way of doing things. He’s just desperately trying to learn.
“Oli is a little older than Sam and on the opposite end of the spectrum, but he’s a great human being, a great person and he’s keen to learn.
“He’s grown up in an environment where he had great success starting over at the Crusaders and he’s built some really good habits in himself, not just in his all-round game but also in his set-piece work. I can see that it is excellent.”
“I think the fact that Munster were able to sign a player like him is outstanding because he adds another dimension to the position and adds real quality depth.
“At this point, they’ve got experience, they know what we’re doing and we want to know a little bit more about them. That’s always been our initial look.
“However, as always, the players came out in those circumstances and really impressed and persevered. So we know there will be injuries during the Championship and we will be looking into the next squad. We know we need to dig deeper than just the 23 people selected.”Over the weekend, we’ll need to dig deeper than just the numbers we originally picked.
“Especially Sam, Ori, and Cyan. [Prendergast] All the players who took part this week have trained really well and we know them more now and that’s exactly why we did this. ”
The 48-year-old also gave a positive update on captain Peter O’Mahony, who entered camp with bruises and bruises.
He said: “Peter O’Mahony has been training very well, is in great form and has no worries today.
“We trained, it wasn’t full contact, but it was fast, we had some scrums and maul rings and everything was over. As far as I know, he’s doing great and he’s doing well. is good.”
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