Farrell Should Not Shoulder All the Blame for Team Failings

It was fairly obvious where the brickbats would be aimed after England's performance at Croke Park and I don't want to be cast as an apologist for Andy Farrell, but to single him out, as some commentators have done, is just plain wrong. England lost because they did badly in too many core areas of rugby union.

Instead of England's expected dominance of the scrum and hoped-for parity in the lineout, Ireland edged the first and commanded the second thanks to Paul O'Connell's towering performance and pilfering and some naive thinking, especially when Danny Grewcock was shown the yellow card.

Immediately England had to defend a five-metre lineout. They chose to compete for the throw when, one big man down, they should have stayed on their feet to defend the anticipated Irish drive. The result was inevitable. Instead of being free to join the midfield defence, England's open-side flanker, Magnus Lund, got sucked into the maul, Gordon D'Arcy produced a little bit of magic and Girvan Dempsey made the score.

A small thing, but at this level they change matches. At times Tests are like chess matches and never more so than when it comes to the kicking game. And this is where Ronan O'Gara takes the bows. He was exceptional all day; I can't remember him being better.

When England applied pressure he was clinical in getting Ireland out of trouble and back downfield where the visitors didn't have anyone who could answer at the same level. Jonny Wilkinson looked out of sorts, Harry Ellis failed with a few attempted box kicks and Mathew Tait turned over the ball by running back into his own 22 before kicking to touch.

Of course it helps a fly-half to have a pack that is going forward, winning the majority of contests at the breakdown and providing the kind of silver service that O'Gara enjoyed. But England's defensive patterns didn't help, failing to put enough pressure on him.

In the first half it was much too lateral and there was obviously a half-time rethink, but the resulting pattern had a few kinks of its own. Farrell and Mike Tindall got up faster but, as happened in the first half, the wings lagged 10 yards back - more in the pattern of a sevens defence, something with which David Strettle is comfortable.

I'm not having a go at the young Harlequins wing. I'm a great fan and he did at least get over the Irish line - from a Farrell cut-out pass. Farrell may be newish to the game and still learning but take a good look at the video. He was virtually error-free and was one of our better performers. But for now he's too easy a target for the old brigade.