They provided a physical rather than technical challenge.
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“I think that that’s his area of expertise, if he can’t get players to come away with a smile on their face he’d be disappointed”.
Bowe is certain he have retained the ability to combine it with Dave Kearney, Earls and Simon Zebo to book certainly one of Ireland’s initiating branch berths continuing.
After the break the Irish forwards were clearly keen to get in on the act, Cian Healy’s wonderful clearing kick upping the pressure and when Reddan dinked through Earls pounced for his second try.
The Cork native has never seemed to fit the archetypal idea of a Schmidt back-three option but the X-factor he brings to proceedings were there for all to see against the Romanians.
In the immediate aftermath of Sunday’s World Cup bonus-point win over Romania, Joe Schmidt’s attention had already turned to facing Italy at the Olympic Stadium this weekend with the Ireland head coach describing the next seven days as “the pivotal week”.
Ireland took a while to find a rhythm in the game and part of this was overcommitting numbers to rucks.
Losing Kearney would be a blow to Ireland but a number of players put their hand up for selection after a dominant performance against Romania.
The pair of them looked confident with their finishing, and posses the speed which will scare opposition defences.
Many believe the Irish are capable of making it to the pointy end of this competition, and they’ll be looking to convert a few more believers with a strong win today. A classic example is the display of Richardt Strauss on Sunday at Wembley.
A marginal foot-in-touch call denied him what would have been a glorious score after his own chip and chase and his second-half dart set up Kearney’s touchdown.
“He’s in the squad to try and keep morale high, to try and keep players who are disappointed knocking on the door and wanting to fight for their places”. Even those who got very limited time like Paddy Jackson made a difference. Quiet impressive when you consider the teams playing. Those previously out of form have played their way back in while others have stated a case for inclusion.
“They are allowed to enter and for an hour they suffer ugly losses, their ranks reduced until it seems they can not possibly cope, among the stricken two representatives from the same tribe who had taken the places of previously fallen heroes”.
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Ireland, however, would not be thwarted for long as Madigan kicked another penalty before Bowe scuttled into the corner, this time squeezing just inside the line, for the opening try and Madigan added the extras to give his side a 13-3 lead after 21 minutes. Against Romania there needed to be a greater variety of options running off the outhalf.
