Italy V Ireland Match thread

Crash

To be fair, when Ringrose does it he doesn't really create a dog leg, he basically leaves the defensive line entirely, the line reorganizes to minimize the gap and move space further out wide - but in doing so he's aggressively shutting down the opportunity to move it wide, at speed.

Ringrose himself seems to have a great read on when it's worth trying, and where his cover is, but the reset of the line also seems to have a very good sense of when he's going to do it. Neither of which happened with Aki at the weekend.

ulsteru20s

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120292787#Comment_120292787

We didn’t see them play but expecting either of them to be ringrose defensively is also a tough ask.

You do have a good point tho. I thought there was a distinct lack of pace across 10, 12, and 13.

Sangre

It hasn’t been mentioned much but Henshaw is also a huge loss on defending front. He sets an insane line speed when defending which puts other side under pressure. Also a great reader of game like GR.

stephen_n

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120292647#Comment_120292647

If Byrne had received the ball. He would have got Bruno with it, behind the gainline. Aki should have been aware of that and changed the option. No matter what, the pass wasn’t on and shouldn’t have been given.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120294705#Comment_120294705

Yeah, any other time in recent times when Ringrose can't go, Henshaw slots in at thirteen (which is arguably his best position).

I feel a little with Henshaw that he's missed so much time this season it's almost kind of forgotten how good a player and how impactful he's been for us in recent years. He's a genuinely world class player when at his best, and a huge addition to get back at this crucial point in a Championship.

ersatz

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120294780#Comment_120294780

I agree with this entirely. Henshaw is an incredibly good defender and has a really synced up connection with Ringrose which makes our defensive midfield a destroyer of many opposition attacks. It's up there defensively with Bod And Darcy in terms of how easily they read each other and fill in for one another's shooting. As an attacking player he is really top 3 or 4 at 12/13 in the world. De Allende, Am, Fikou, Ringrose, and a couple of others on the list but Henshaw is fantastic in both positions.