Ireland’s win over Japan was so comprehensive that, in some ways, it almost defies analysis of any real scrutiny. We dominated literally every single facet of the game when it comes to the important stuff that actually wins you games. Set piece, defensive intensity, transition work – Ireland absolutely mopped the floor with Japan in every regard. As you’d expect in a game where Ireland won by 55 points, our breakdown work was going to be pretty efficient and effective but that is something of an understatement.
Let’s have a look.
Ireland’s Offensive Ruck Work Score vs Japan
- A Dominant Clean is an action that decisively secures possession when the ball carrier takes contact. A Dominant Clean does not have to be the first arrival at the breakdown but it is rewarded in the context of effectiveness. We will assign this action 3 points.
- A Guard Action is where a player plays a role in helping to retain possession after we have “re-won” the ball on the floor. Sometimes this can happen on a carry/ruck point where there is no active contention by the opposition. Let’s assign this action 2 points.
- An Attendance can be anything from standing as a “kick shield” on a ruck to adding a bit of bulk to ward against a counter-ruck. We’re marking this down as being worth 1 point.
- An Ineffective Action is a blown cleanout, a lean, a breakdown penalty or an action that I couldn’t see any direct benefit for. This will be worth -1 points.
If we start applying the points we’ve assigned to each action, we can generate an Offensive Ruck Work Score to get a proper view of Ireland’s offensive breakdown output.
| Dominant Clean | Guard Action | Attendance | Ineffective | Ruck Work Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Porter | 8 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 41 |
| Kelleher | 1 | 20 | 2 | 2 | 43 |
| Furlong | 7 | 15 | 2 | 0 | 53 |
| Beirne | 9 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 44 |
| Ryan | 4 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 33 |
| Doris | 17 | 14 | 3 | 0 | 82 |
| Van Der Flier | 2 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 31 |
| Conan | 4 | 16 | 1 | 5 | 40 |
| Gibson-Park | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Sexton | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Lowe | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 | |
| Aki | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| Ringrose | 4 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 18 |
| Conway | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Keenan | 1 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 16 |
| Sheehan | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7 |
| Healy | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Bealham | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| Henderson | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 12 |
| O'Mahony | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| Murray | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Carbery | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Earls | 1 | 2 | 1 |
When I was putting this article together, it became pretty clear early on that Caelan Doris was going to score incredibly highly but by the time I’d wrapped up, I was blown away by how efficient he actually was.
The 82 points that he racked up here is the highest on record so far this season and, while Ireland’s possession dominance, collision dominance and Japan’s poor defence have to be taken into consideration, this was a remarkable performance by an individual and he solidly nailed his role down here as an elite Combo Flanker without even showcasing what he can do as a jumper. In fact he was often used as a carrier off the lineout, which is pretty remarkable stuff.
- Caelan Doris – 82 points
- Tadhg Furlong – 53 points
- Tadhg Beirne – 44 points
- Ronan Kelleher – 43 points
- Andrew Porter – 41 points
————— - Garry Ringrose – 18 points
He’s a good 29 points ahead of Tadhg Furlong, who is all the more remarkable because he only played 55 minutes total. Are you shocked to see the entire starting front row in the top five? I’m not. They were outstanding, to a man, and they were joined by an equally effective performance by Tadhg Beirne, who also did really well on the defensive side of the ball – more on that later.
James Ryan’s performance at the offensive breakdown will be something of a concern. His overall score is incredibly low for a second row who played the full 80 minutes, even if he carried 11 times, made 8 tackles and was our primary lineout outlet. He needs to rectify this against New Zealand, should he be selected.
Garry Ringrose was the best of the backs with an aggressive, busy day over the ball.
♛ ♛ ♛
On the defensive side of the ball, Ireland were equally impressive with Caelan Doris standing out once again.
Ireland’s Defensive Ruck Work Score vs Japan
- A Turnover is rated as an action that turns the ball over at the breakdown through a poach/jackal or counter-ruck or in contact, like a choke tackle. Impact tackles that dislodge the ball aren’t counted in this metric. These actions are very valuable so I rate any turnover action as being worth 5 points.
- An Effective Slowdown is where a player plays a role in slowing down the opposition ruck recycle, either through an effective poach, a slowdown in the tackle or a strong counter-ruck. These are worth 3 points.
- An Ineffective action is where you take yourself out of the defensive line with a badly timed poach attempt that doesn’t slow the ball down or with a weak counter-ruck. -1 point.
- A Penalty is a conceded penalty at a defensive breakdown. Any breakdown penalty is rated as -2 points.
| Turnover | Effective Slow Down | Ineffective | Penalty | Defensive Ruck Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Doris | 3 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 27 |
| Beirne | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 18 |
| Aki | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 15 |
| Henderson | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 13 |
| Furlong | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| Ryan | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 9 |
| Porter | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| O'Mahony | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7 |
| Sexton | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Van Der Flier | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Conan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Ringrose | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Kelleher | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Bealham | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Healy | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Gibson-Park | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Conway | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Keenan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sheehan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Murray | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Carbery | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Earls | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Lowe | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | -1 |
There’s that man Caelan Doris again, topping the charts.
- Caelan Doris – 27 points
- Tadhg Beirne – 18 points
- Bundee Aki – 15 points
- Iain Henderson – 13 points
- Tadhg Furlong – 12 points
Doris was hugely impressive. His aggressive counter-rucking was a constant thorn in Japan’s side and he balanced that out with some well-timed turnovers and poaches. Outstanding.
It’s no surprise to see Tadhg Beirne and Bundee Aki rated highly here either – they are outstanding defensive players at the breakdown and did incredibly well in this game. Beirne, in particular, had a lot of high-quality involvements. Iain Henderson showing up in the top five is really good considering he came on as a second-half replacement while Furlong’s work rate during his 55 minutes on the field is the usual freak behaviour we’ve come to expect.
If Ireland can duplicate these numbers against New Zealand, we’ll beat them but saying it is easier than doing it.
