By Kieran Rooney
[caption id="attachment_63703" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Brian O'Driscoll goes in for a try. PHOTO BY INPHO/BILLY STICKLAND"]
YET again, the match officials were the center of attention as Ireland lost out 19-13 to Wales in their penultimate Six Nations rugby encounter at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.
In their previous Six Nations matches, the referee's actions in frequently penalizing Ireland was open to debate. Not this time. Last Saturday there was absolutely no room for debate as the Scottish touch judge Peter Allen and South African referee Jonathan Kaplan combined to allow what proved to be game's crucial score.
Both Kaplan and Allen, himself a full-time referee, were culpable for a shocking decision. The second half try, scored by Welsh scrum-half Mike Phillips and converted by James Hook, should never have been allowed
The law is quite clear, stating: "A quick throw-in is not permitted if another person has touched the ball." Quite clearly, Jonathan Sexton's kick on the full into touch was thrown back from the crowd.
Yet, as this was happening, Allen wrongly allowed Welsh hooker Matthew Rees take a new ball from the ball boy, catching the Irish team, and referee Kaplan, completely unawares. His underarm throw sees Phillips racing down the touchline to dive over in the corner. To compound matters, James Hook landed the difficult conversion to give Wales a 16-13 advantage.
Kaplan responded by asking Allen "is that the correct ball?" Allen twice answered "yes" and Kaplan duly awarded the try.
An angry Brian O'Driscoll asked afterwards why the referee didn't go to his TMO (Television Match Official) for clarification. While the general rule is that you only go to the TMO to rule on matters of the act of scoring the try, an exception, in such unusual circumstances, could have been made.
Instead, Kaplan simply chose to accept Allen's word. It left a bad taste, but maybe Ireland should have won anyway. The wasted a great late chance when substitute Paddy Wallace cut back in instead of going for the corner.
Furthermore, coach Declan Kidney is under pressure for possibly bringing Sexton on too early, in the 53rd minute, as a substitute for Ronan O'Gara. The argument is that Ireland should have used O'Gara's experience in a tight situation for a longer period.
The difficulty for Ireland is that they now appear to be caught between two stools. On the one hand, you have O'Gara's more pragmatic approach which sees him kick for position and use his cool head.
On the other, there is a feeling amongst Leinster supporters that the Irish management should have kept their nerve and stuck with Sexton. His contribution was, after all, absolutely crucial in helping Leinster produce a New Zealand type off-loading game in their successful Heineken Cup campaign.
By omitting him, the Irish management have potentially damaged his confidence. There's no doubt, for example, that he was nervous coming on as a substitute on Saturday, almost immediately kicking that ball directly into touch and then missing a penalty he would normally have landed without any bother.
But the point should also be made that, once he regained his confidence, he set up the position for Ireland's late attacks with a magnificent kick into the corner, and then very nearly engineered a late try with a superb finger tip pass.
The mistake, in my view, is that the Irish management is still uncertain as to what way they want to go. O'Gara, to give him his due, delivered the goods with a man of the match performance in the victory over Scotland.
And, while he probably kicked too much against Wales, it did seem harsh to pull him off just 13 minutes into the second half. Either way, it's very confusing as to what game Ireland are trying to play as the World Cup draws closer.
Hopefully, next Saturday's match against England at the Aviva Stadium will provide some answers. Although England were pretty average in beating Scotland 22-16, they will be favorites to secure the Grand Slam.
For one thing, they have a settled team with a winning mentality. Ireland continue to struggle in a number of areas, notably at full-back where Luke Fitzgerald looks vulnerable.
Apart from an early try from O'Driscoll, after great work by Tommy Bowe, the Irish back division rarely got going. It was a pity as Bowe and Keith Earls, on the other wing, looked potentially very dangerous.
In truth though, Wales weren't particularly good themselves, wasting a couple of overlaps. So, with O'Gara converting O'Driscoll's try and landing two penalties, Ireland were 13-9 in front at half-time.
That's how it remained until Phillip's controversial try. Subsequently, Ireland had their chances but wasted them, as Wales defended desperately and Wallace chose to step inside in those dramatic dying minutes.
Importantly, Ireland are capable of making a significant improvement. "I know we are." insists Kidney. "It's been very frustrating at times, but we will get better." Let's hope he's right.
Dubs lead the way in two codes
REMARKABLY, Dublin now lead Division One in both the National Football and National Hurling Leagues after four games.
Realistically, you would have to say that the footballers have much the better chance of landing the title. The continued their winning run with a 0-13 to 1-9 success over Monaghan at Clones.
But this wasn't Dublin at their best. Then again, to win playing badly is very often the sign of a side that is very strong mentally.
They started well enough, dominating the early exchanges to lead by 0-6 to 0-1 but a Monaghan goal from the fist of Conor McManus changed the situation dramatically. From then on, Monaghan were a different team, and, had they taken their chances, could very easily have ended Dublin's winning run.
Instead, they hit 12 wides and let opponents, who finished with 14 men after the sending off of Diarmuid Connolly on the hour, off the hook. Frustrating, particularly as Monaghan have now lost three on the trot and must face up to a relegation battle.
Dublin manager Pat Gilroy admitted as much, stating that the goal from McManus was a big turning point. "We should have been further ahead, but we weren't clinical enough. Then, when we went down to 14 men, we were really hanging on at the end."
The Monaghan boss Eamonn McEneaney argued: "I think, if we had got ahead of them at any stage of the second half, we would have won."
They didn't, thanks mainly to their capacity to hit wides. Dublin, it has to be said, were considerably helped by the introduction of Alan Brogan as a replacement, while his borther Bernard finished as the top scorer with 0-4, three of which came as frees.
Cork are now in second spot, two points behind the Dubs, following an impressive 3-17 to 0-15 home win over Down in a repeat of the All-Ireland final. The match was won in the final 20 minutes when Cork outscored their rivals 2-4 to 0-1.
It was a top class game at Pairc Ui Rinn. Cork's ability to score goals proved decisive with Pearse O'Neill, Patrick Kelly and Colm O'Neill all finding the net. Down manager James McCaran was impressed, stressing: "Cork are a very strong team with an excellent bench."
Despite the defeat, Down are third, a point behind Cork, and a point ahead of Kerry and Armagh. Kerry were far too strong for Galway, beating them by 0-16 to 0-8 at Killarney.
So, Galway remain pointless at the bottom of the table. They simply had no answer to Colm Cooper who finished with 0-8, five of which came from play.
Further good news for Kerry supporters is that the recently returned Tom O'Sullivan and Declan O'Sullivan came through without any problems.
Armagh had a much tougher game against Mayo before edging past their rivals 2-10 to 1-10 at McHale Park. At one stage, Mayo trailed by eight points but reduced the deficit to just one as the game went into the final 10 minutes.
But it was Armagh who had the better of the closing stages with John Murtagh getting the insurance point. Armagh, by the way, included former Mayo star Billy Joe Padden in their ranks.
Three teams, Laois, Donegal and Derry, are locked together on six points at the top of Division Two. Laois went down to their first defeat to Kildare by 1-13 to 1-11, leaving Donegal the only unbeaten side in the division.
Wexford, Louth and Offaly, are level on six points at the top fo Division Three, while Longford head Division Four from Wicklow and Roscommon.
YET again, the match officials were the center of attention as Ireland lost out 19-13 to Wales in their penultimate Six Nations rugby encounter at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.
In their previous Six Nations matches, the referee's actions in frequently penalizing Ireland was open to debate. Not this time. Last Saturday there was absolutely no room for debate as the Scottish touch judge Peter Allen and South African referee Jonathan Kaplan combined to allow what proved to be game's crucial score.
Both Kaplan and Allen, himself a full-time referee, were culpable for a shocking decision. The second half try, scored by Welsh scrum-half Mike Phillips and converted by James Hook, should never have been allowed
The law is quite clear, stating: "A quick throw-in is not permitted if another person has touched the ball." Quite clearly, Jonathan Sexton's kick on the full into touch was thrown back from the crowd.
Yet, as this was happening, Allen wrongly allowed Welsh hooker Matthew Rees take a new ball from the ball boy, catching the Irish team, and referee Kaplan, completely unawares. His underarm throw sees Phillips racing down the touchline to dive over in the corner. To compound matters, James Hook landed the difficult conversion to give Wales a 16-13 advantage.
Kaplan responded by asking Allen "is that the correct ball?" Allen twice answered "yes" and Kaplan duly awarded the try.
An angry Brian O'Driscoll asked afterwards why the referee didn't go to his TMO (Television Match Official) for clarification. While the general rule is that you only go to the TMO to rule on matters of the act of scoring the try, an exception, in such unusual circumstances, could have been made.
Instead, Kaplan simply chose to accept Allen's word. It left a bad taste, but maybe Ireland should have won anyway. The wasted a great late chance when substitute Paddy Wallace cut back in instead of going for the corner.
Furthermore, coach Declan Kidney is under pressure for possibly bringing Sexton on too early, in the 53rd minute, as a substitute for Ronan O'Gara. The argument is that Ireland should have used O'Gara's experience in a tight situation for a longer period.
The difficulty for Ireland is that they now appear to be caught between two stools. On the one hand, you have O'Gara's more pragmatic approach which sees him kick for position and use his cool head.
On the other, there is a feeling amongst Leinster supporters that the Irish management should have kept their nerve and stuck with Sexton. His contribution was, after all, absolutely crucial in helping Leinster produce a New Zealand type off-loading game in their successful Heineken Cup campaign.
By omitting him, the Irish management have potentially damaged his confidence. There's no doubt, for example, that he was nervous coming on as a substitute on Saturday, almost immediately kicking that ball directly into touch and then missing a penalty he would normally have landed without any bother.
But the point should also be made that, once he regained his confidence, he set up the position for Ireland's late attacks with a magnificent kick into the corner, and then very nearly engineered a late try with a superb finger tip pass.
The mistake, in my view, is that the Irish management is still uncertain as to what way they want to go. O'Gara, to give him his due, delivered the goods with a man of the match performance in the victory over Scotland.
And, while he probably kicked too much against Wales, it did seem harsh to pull him off just 13 minutes into the second half. Either way, it's very confusing as to what game Ireland are trying to play as the World Cup draws closer.
Hopefully, next Saturday's match against England at the Aviva Stadium will provide some answers. Although England were pretty average in beating Scotland 22-16, they will be favorites to secure the Grand Slam.
For one thing, they have a settled team with a winning mentality. Ireland continue to struggle in a number of areas, notably at full-back where Luke Fitzgerald looks vulnerable.
Apart from an early try from O'Driscoll, after great work by Tommy Bowe, the Irish back division rarely got going. It was a pity as Bowe and Keith Earls, on the other wing, looked potentially very dangerous.
In truth though, Wales weren't particularly good themselves, wasting a couple of overlaps. So, with O'Gara converting O'Driscoll's try and landing two penalties, Ireland were 13-9 in front at half-time.
That's how it remained until Phillip's controversial try. Subsequently, Ireland had their chances but wasted them, as Wales defended desperately and Wallace chose to step inside in those dramatic dying minutes.
Importantly, Ireland are capable of making a significant improvement. "I know we are." insists Kidney. "It's been very frustrating at times, but we will get better." Let's hope he's right.
Dubs lead the way in two codes
REMARKABLY, Dublin now lead Division One in both the National Football and National Hurling Leagues after four games.
Realistically, you would have to say that the footballers have much the better chance of landing the title. The continued their winning run with a 0-13 to 1-9 success over Monaghan at Clones.
But this wasn't Dublin at their best. Then again, to win playing badly is very often the sign of a side that is very strong mentally.
They started well enough, dominating the early exchanges to lead by 0-6 to 0-1 but a Monaghan goal from the fist of Conor McManus changed the situation dramatically. From then on, Monaghan were a different team, and, had they taken their chances, could very easily have ended Dublin's winning run.
Instead, they hit 12 wides and let opponents, who finished with 14 men after the sending off of Diarmuid Connolly on the hour, off the hook. Frustrating, particularly as Monaghan have now lost three on the trot and must face up to a relegation battle.
Dublin manager Pat Gilroy admitted as much, stating that the goal from McManus was a big turning point. "We should have been further ahead, but we weren't clinical enough. Then, when we went down to 14 men, we were really hanging on at the end."
The Monaghan boss Eamonn McEneaney argued: "I think, if we had got ahead of them at any stage of the second half, we would have won."
They didn't, thanks mainly to their capacity to hit wides. Dublin, it has to be said, were considerably helped by the introduction of Alan Brogan as a replacement, while his borther Bernard finished as the top scorer with 0-4, three of which came as frees.
Cork are now in second spot, two points behind the Dubs, following an impressive 3-17 to 0-15 home win over Down in a repeat of the All-Ireland final. The match was won in the final 20 minutes when Cork outscored their rivals 2-4 to 0-1.
It was a top class game at Pairc Ui Rinn. Cork's ability to score goals proved decisive with Pearse O'Neill, Patrick Kelly and Colm O'Neill all finding the net. Down manager James McCaran was impressed, stressing: "Cork are a very strong team with an excellent bench."
Despite the defeat, Down are third, a point behind Cork, and a point ahead of Kerry and Armagh. Kerry were far too strong for Galway, beating them by 0-16 to 0-8 at Killarney.
So, Galway remain pointless at the bottom of the table. They simply had no answer to Colm Cooper who finished with 0-8, five of which came from play.
Further good news for Kerry supporters is that the recently returned Tom O'Sullivan and Declan O'Sullivan came through without any problems.
Armagh had a much tougher game against Mayo before edging past their rivals 2-10 to 1-10 at McHale Park. At one stage, Mayo trailed by eight points but reduced the deficit to just one as the game went into the final 10 minutes.
But it was Armagh who had the better of the closing stages with John Murtagh getting the insurance point. Armagh, by the way, included former Mayo star Billy Joe Padden in their ranks.
Three teams, Laois, Donegal and Derry, are locked together on six points at the top of Division Two. Laois went down to their first defeat to Kildare by 1-13 to 1-11, leaving Donegal the only unbeaten side in the division.
Wexford, Louth and Offaly, are level on six points at the top fo Division Three, while Longford head Division Four from Wicklow and Roscommon.
ALTHOUGH Dublin now lead the National Hurling League Division One table, it was Galway who made the biggest statement over the weekend.
To end Kilkenny's winning run with a 4-14 to 3-13 victory in Salhill was a major step forward. All the more so because Galway had seen Kilkenny hit 2-3 without reply in the opening four minutes.
But once they got going, Galway were more than a match for the Cats. Michael Fennelly and Eddie Brennan got the goals as Kilkenny ran riot in those early stages.
"It was the start from hell and you look out and think, how can Galway get back into this game?" asked Galway boss John McIntyre. The answer lay in a huge amount of determination and skill.
Once Joe Gantley scored their opening goal after 11 minutes, Galway were back in business. With the impressive Iarla Tannian scoring a second goal, Galway actually took control to move 2-7 to 2-5 ahead at the interval.
Two further goals from Tannian and Cyril Donnellan following some sloppy Kilkenny defending enabled Galway to move 4-11 to 2-8 clear before Kilkenny got going again. But Galway were well deserving of their victory.
"It's only March and only two points, but psychologically it was very important for us and puts us in with a chance of making the league final." stated McIntyre.
Despite their defeat, Kilkenny are still right there with a chance. They are level on the six-point mark with Galway, just a point behind new leaders Dublin.
Intrestingly, next up for Galway is an away match against the Dubs on March 27. That's going to a fastincating contest, given the way the Dublin team is currently performing.
They comfortably saw off lowly Wexford at Wexford Park 3-21 to 2-15. The victory was achieved without 'flu victim Conal Keaney.
The only drawback was an injury to defender Stephen Hiney. Manager Anthony Daly had reason to feel particulary encouraged by the performance of David O'Callaghan who scored all of Dublin's three goals.
Predictably, the game between Waterford and Cork in Dungarvan was a much closer affair. Waterford shaded a tremendous contest 0-18 to 0-17 but Cork are entitled to feel a bit hard one by not to have come away with a draw.
Defender Kevin Moran got the winner in the 69th minute to deny the Leesiders. Needless to say, Waterford boss Davy Fitzgerald was delighted with the attitude shown by his players.
Waterford are up to fourth spot, a point behind Galway and Kilkenny. If they can beat Kilkenny next time out, they are right in the hunt.
Cork's simply must defeat Tipperary in their next game to have any chance. "Galway beating Kilkenny has opened the league up, and, in those circumstances, it's very disapointing that we didn't come away with something today." reflected Cork boss Denis Walsh.
All-Ireland champions Tipperary are also on the four point mark after beating a disappointing Offaly outfit 1-20 to 0-10 in Nenagh. The only goal of the game came from Gearoid Ryan.
Limerick stay out in front in Division Two following a 1-18 to 0-16 Gaelic Grounds success over Laois. Clare are in second spot having hammered Down 5-22 to 0-6 at Cusack Park.
