The Monday Breakdown: Catt’s attack finally bears fruit to breathe life into Farrell era

Under Joe Schmidt, and at the peak of their powers, Ireland would often unveil a highly-detailed set-piece move in the biggest of games.

Think back to CJ Stander’s stunning score in Twickenham to set up the 2018 Grand Slam win, or Jacob Stockdale’s moment of magic against the All Blacks a few months later. Perhaps it is no coincidence that Ireland delivered their best attacking performance in three years on Saturday, when they unleashed a sensational move that was straight out of Schmidt’s playbook.

Such is the level of analysis that goes into the game nowadays, it takes endless hours of careful planning to launch a play that completely catches the opposition off guard.

For Mike Catt, this was a watershed moment, as Ireland’s attack coach breathed life back into the Andy Farrell era, with the kind of tactical acumen that has been lacking.

As Johnny Sexton alluded to after his side ruthlessly dismantled England, there is still plenty of work to do, but Catt can certainly take his fair share of the credit, especially having copped a lot of flak lately.

The players, led by Sexton, have always maintained they are on the right track under Farrell and Catt, yet those on the outside hadn’t seen much evidence until Saturday.

It had been a frustrating Six Nations for Ireland, but finishing on such a positive note has now offered a renewed sense of optimism.

Supporters have been crying out for a bit of ingenuity, which has been starved of this team since 2018, and while they will feel like it was worth the wait, there is a lingering sense of frustration that we didn’t see this kind of clinical edge much sooner.

When Stander powered over against England three years ago, he did so on the back of an intricate move that the squad had worked on all week in the build-up. The players never quite nailed it in training, which meant that by the time they called the play in a highly pressurised environment, they hadn’t actually pulled it off before.

Much like Earls’ try, Ireland didn’t get every detail right when they had ran the play all last week, including at the captain’s run, when they very nearly showed their hand.

Eagle-eyed analyst Brett Igoe brilliantly spotted Ireland running the move in the background of a video interview with Simon Easterby posted online by the IRFU. As the defence coach is chatting, behind him, you can clearly see Ireland rehearsing the play that unlocked England.

It’s the kind of thing that Schmidt would have done his nut in over.

As we have analysed in the accompanying images, the work that went into Earls scoring was exceptional. From Rob Herring’s pin-point throw, to the animation off the ball, to Jack Conan’s athleticism – it was a scintillating try that can give this Ireland team a whole new lease of life.

“We’d ran that move all week, it was a training ground move,” Conan explained. “I don’t think anyone expected it to work as well as it did.

“Tom Curry was the tail gunner in the lineout, but we had planned for him not to be there because that’s how England had set up during the campaign, so we thought it would be a free run. I’d come around, catch the ball and have time to square up and take an inside or outside option.

“Obviously the picture changed, but to be fair to Earlsy, all I did was pop the ball down to him. He did all the hard work and what an incredible finish from 40-odd metres out. He was absolutely on the money.

“We ran it a few times during the week and I don’t think we got it right at all and then it just came to fruition.

“It showed our attacking ability and our mindset that we’re looking to make big line breaks from that far out. It was brilliant.”

Despite the ominous early signs, Ireland looked like a completely different team in attack, as they punished an England side who were miles off the pace.

Just as it seemed like it was going to be more of the same, Ireland suddenly remembered that they are a good team who can turn it on.

The link play between the forwards and the backs was as good as it has been in some time, the work around breakdown was strong again, while players appeared more comfortable on the ball with different individuals stepping in as first receiver.

Conan’s try perfectly illustrated the type of ‘heads-up’ rugby Catt has been looking for since he came in last year.

It was 23 utterly clinical phases that had all the hallmarks of Ireland at their best under Schmidt.

Earls might have scored a second excellent try but for a knock-on in the build up, yet it came from another fluid attack that pleased Farrell, who was particularly satisfied to see Earls’ first try come off.

“It’s something we had worked on all week and you’re always trying to find a way to, first of all, win the lineout cleanly and second, how you can manipulate a defence on the back of that,” the Ireland boss said.

“We worked all week and practiced it hard with the timing of Keith Earls and thankfully it paid off.

“I thought Jack Conan’s skill was outstanding to deliver the ball because Tom Curry had read it very well. That was very pleasing.”

Conan wouldn’t ever have got the chance to display his full array of skills but for Herring’s excellent throw, which arrowed over the tail of the lineout and into his No 8’s hands.

“It’s always good when those training ground moves come off,” Herring added.

“Fair play to Jack because he had a bit of work to get that down to Earlsy and that’s a world class finish. It’s obviously something that Catty had seen during the week that he thought was a potential option for us and luckily it worked out.”

It has been a tricky bedding in period for Catt and while his Ireland attack is still a long way off being the finished article, this was a big step in the right direction.

Back home in New Zealand, Schmidt was surely impressed, having seen one of his classic moves help get the show back on the road.

1 – Ireland were extremely clever in how they painted a particular picture at their first lineout. It's a similar setup as the set-piece that leads to Keith Earls' stunning try soon after.
Ireland have two pods of jumpers (red) – Iain Henderson at the front and Tadhg Beirne at the back. The subtle difference is that Jack Conan and Josh van der Flier swap positions (yellow), with the latter positioned in the receiver position.

Note how Tom Curry (blue) is set up as the tail gunner to protect the space behind the lineout. The England flanker attempts to get in the referee's head, but his pleas fall on deaf years, as Mathieu Raynal awards Ireland a free-kick, meaning they don't get a chance to launch off this particular lineout.

2 – 15 minutes later, from the opposite side of the pitch, Ireland carefully chose their moment to launch the strike-play.

Again, Henderson and Beirne (red) are positioned at the front and back of the lineout. This time Conan steps out and switches with van der Flier (yellow). It's important to highlight Conan's vision here, as he glances across (black) at Curry to see if the England man has read the play.

Curry (blue) keeps his eye on the ball, which is perfectly arrowed courtesy of Rob Herring's top-class throw, but to the English flanker's credit, he is already setting off to protect that space over the top.

3 – Earls' starting position (yellow), coupled with his apparent disinterested body language as he stands with his hands on his hips, is crucial here.

England are defending quite narrow and Owen Farrell (blue) points to watch the space out wide. Beirne takes a couple of steps forward towards Maro Itoje (red) in what is another key part of the animation off the ball.

4 – Earls times his run (yellow) to perfection as he sprints through the space at the tail of the lineout, which Ireland have worked so hard to create.
Conan's skill to tap the ball down (red) for Earls is remarkable and from there, England are in serious trouble. Also, note Bundee Aki's hard decoy line (blue) which again keeps the English defence honest, as if the ball is going to be moved wide.

5 – This close-up shot gives a good indication of not only how well Conan did to beat Curry to the ball in the air, but it also highlights the pin-point accuracy of Herring's throw.

6 – As soon as Earls collects Conan's exquisite tap-down pass, it's all about the pace, footwork and intelligence of the Ireland winger. Earls transfers the ball (red) from his left hand to his right and back again to avoid Jonny May dislodging it. The Moyross flyer leaves May for dead on his way over the try line to offer a timely reminder that there is plenty of life left in the old dog yet.

Online Editors