Ian Madigan
๐ค SpeakerAppearances Over Time
Podcast Appearances
But Ireland, by going for the poachers, not getting them, we just couldn't get set.
And, you know, one of the analogies, one of the defensive coaches I had used was a good defensive system is great, but you also have to be an accordion player as well.
And what I mean by that is you need to know in certain instances, we need to get really tight and really compressed in our defense and get off the line really hard.
That inevitably is going to be closer to your own try line.
Or if you've got a team,
camped up close to the touchline and you've made a dominant tackle.
It's going to be really difficult for a team to go around you when that's happened.
But there's also instances when the accordion needs to open up and you need to have bigger spacings and you need to fill the field.
And Ireland got exposed by being caught between those two systems and not being reactive enough.
You think of, you know, Biel Bari's try.
So, like, it comes off...
Prendergast fly hacking it when he's concerned that he's going to either land into touch or be tackled into touch.
He fly hacks it down.
And Ireland just keep their defensive width.
But the danger is completely on the touchline.
You need to compress your defense there.
Prendergast misses a tackle, then makes a tackle.
Gibson Park's involved.
And there's just too much space there when you're dealing with speedsters like Ramos and Bialberi.
And then on the flip side of it, when we needed to compress our defense and get bodies in front, we didn't do that.