{"id":591710,"date":"2026-07-18T06:55:34","date_gmt":"2026-07-18T06:55:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/591710\/"},"modified":"2026-07-18T06:55:34","modified_gmt":"2026-07-18T06:55:34","slug":"rob-kearney-on-ireland-v-new-zealand-this-backline-is-the-best-we-have-available-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/591710\/","title":{"rendered":"Rob Kearney on Ireland v New Zealand: \u2018This backline is the best we have available\u2019 \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Is Ireland<\/a>\u2019s backline most effective as the sum of the parts playing to pattern or is there enough instinctive, individual flair to colour outside the lines, to seize the moment on any given Saturday? The jury\u2019s out.<\/p>\n

That wasn\u2019t the question that former Leinster, Ireland and Lions fullback Rob Kearney<\/a> was asked but he effectively addressed it while giving a comprehensive response to a mundane inquiry as to whether he liked the composition of the backline<\/a> for Saturday\u2019s Test against New Zealand<\/a> in Eden Park.<\/p>\n

He paused, replying \u201cit\u2019s the best we have\u201d before going into a deeper dive on the personnel. \u201cI think Jamison [Gibson-Park] is by far Ireland\u2019s most important player. That\u2019s not new. Sam [Prendergast] has had a really good finish to the season, but we all know there are areas, flaws of his game, that he desperately needs to continue to work on.<\/p>\n

\"\"Underdog Ireland gear up for All Blacks test<\/p>\n

\u201cYou just hope they\u2019re not exposed too much in the big games. The centre partnership. Stu\u2019s [McCloskey] had a wonderful season, the best of his career. I\u2019d like to see Garry [Ringrose] get on the ball a little bit more. Not that he\u2019s turning into a crash-ball centre, but he\u2019s taken a fair bit of ball into traffic.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s not necessarily his fault. He\u2019s not getting the opportunities to have a gallop in open space. I think that\u2019s something I\u2019d like to see a little bit more. And then the back three. Hugo\u2019s [Keenan] Hugo. You\u2019re always going to get exceptional performances from him.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s good to see Rob Baloucoune<\/a> back. He\u2019s the one true bit of X-factor in the back line. It\u2019s important to have a player in your backline who can change a game. We see how important it is to the likes of France, South Africa, New Zealand. They have those players in abundance, and they can be match winners. It\u2019s important he\u2019s back on the field.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ireland head coach Andy Farrell<\/a> preferred Jimmy O\u2019Brien to Jamie Osborne for the number 11 jersey that Jacob Stockdale wore against Japan. Osborne started the game at fullback and switched to the left wing. O\u2019Brien played the 80 minutes on the right wing. <\/p>\n

Kearney said: \u201cJamie probably didn\u2019t have his best game against Australia [on the left wing]. It\u2019s hard for him playing a new position defensively. The wing is a difficult defensive position to play, particularly under Andy\u2019s system and how he likes to play. I\u2019m not sure where his [Osborne\u2019s] favourite position is; I\u2019m not [even] sure where his best position is.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut you would hope he will get consistent opportunities to play in one position because it\u2019s very, very difficult to try to be an international-level [player] at three positions. Overall, I think [the backline selected] is the best [available] we have. I know they can do damage to the opposition. You\u2019d probably just like to see them get a few more opportunities to show what they can do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"NewNew Zealand scrumhalf Cam Roigard in action against Italy last weekend. Photograph: Phil Walter\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

Ireland\u2019s defence, which excelled against Japan for the most part, is going to have to level up on Saturday. New Zealand look to shift the ball immediately from quick ruck possession and don\u2019t wait around for scrumhalf Cam Roigard to do so. There is no getting into shape first. The All Blacks have a run-and-gun philosophy.<\/p>\n

France have a similar philosophy. There have been times when Ireland have struggled against teams that adopt the fast approach. So how do you negate it? Kearney said: \u201cHonestly, it all starts at the breakdown.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe breakdown is the heartbeat of the rugby game, both sides of the ball. If you get a quick ball, it means you can play on top of the opposition and they\u2019re under pressure to get set, to get their spacing. It starts with the tackle.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got to slow the New Zealand ball down. If it means two guys on the tackle trying to hold them up. It\u2019s difficult against the French because they\u2019re so good at winning collisions. Same with South Africa. They don\u2019t rely as much on that real quick tempo to play on top of [teams] because they know they can create a quick ruck speed whenever they want. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt all starts with defence, wrestling with the New Zealand guys. You\u2019re trying to choke tackle. Slower ruck ball can have a big impact on defensive line speed and your ability to make good decisions thereafter.\u201d<\/p>\n

And what of nullifying or mitigating Roigard\u2019s influence? \u201cIt goes back to the ruck and the tackle. If you can slow the ball, he has less options and less time. He\u2019s a triple threat. He\u2019s got a great kicking game. He can take the line on. He\u2019s strong, fast with good footwork. He has it all. I\u2019m sure Ireland will have some sort of plan in place.\u201d<\/p>\n

That last sentiment will apply to the attacking side of things too.<\/p>\n

Catch all the action live on Virgin Media Play and Virgin Media One<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Is Ireland\u2019s backline most effective as the sum of the parts playing to pattern or is there enough…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":591711,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[76],"tags":[34133,70904,18,19,17,34132,104350,103112,107514,87199,40692,132],"class_list":["post-591710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-all-blacks","tag-andy-farrell","tag-eire","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-ireland-rugby","tag-jamie-osborne","tag-jamison-gibson-park","tag-nations-championship","tag-rob-kearney","tag-sam-prendergast","tag-sports"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116939675351407156","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/591710","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=591710"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/591710\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/591711"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=591710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=591710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=591710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}