Before the 2026 Six Nations began, there was scarcely a peep of positivity out of Ireland. Even the note of cautious optimism seemed excessive, and Irish rugby supporters were distinctly apprehensive about the nation’s prospects. The men in green had lost two ‘must-win’ fixtures on their November calendar, by 13-26 to the All Blacks on 1 November and 13-24 to the world champion Springboks three weeks later.
They were the kind of games Ireland had become accustomed to winning on their own turf, and the loss to South Africa was especially galling. The Ireland front row conceded no less than eight penalties at scrum-time and they were all given up at the same position of loose-head prop. Both the incumbents [Andrew Porter and Paddy McCarthy] were yellow-carded for persistent infringement.
Six Ireland front-rowers had been part of the British & Irish Lions touring squad to Australia only four months previously, and five of those – Porter, tight-heads Tadhg Furlong and Tom Clarkson and hookers Dan Sheehan and Ronan Kelleher – were part of the scrum debacle in Dublin.
There were more questions than answers in the pivotal number 10 spot occupied by Johnny Sexton for so long, with La Rochelle head coach Ronan O’Gara announcing bluntly in The Irish Examiner:
“What we have at 10 right now is simply not good enough for a nation ranked third in the world. There is a dearth of quality, whoever plays… The sobering reality is that the man in possession of the jersey now has a serious body of work to do.”
Head coach Andy Farrell was definitely downplaying his hand in the build-up to the 2026 Six Nations. It was ‘a different type of season’, the injury list was ‘a bit larger than normal’ and the team was undergoing a transition with new players being integrated into the Irish rugby family:
“It’ll be a good experience for the guys that are coming in.
“We want to make sure we see the rest of the squad galvanise those guys and give them the belief they had coming in when people helped them starting off at international level.
“These types of experiences are always going to stand for us, hopefully in the here and now.”
After the round one loss to France in Paris, things got worse and it seemed all over bar the shouting. The golden era of Irish rugby had finished, and Andy Farrell’s men were done and dusted. The last rites had been performed and the priest had left the building. Obituaries were being been written in the media, within the country and outside it.
Only five weeks later, Ireland were 30 seconds and one solitary goal-kick away from winning the Six Nations. If Thomas Ramos had missed with his last-gasp penalty attempt against England in the final minute of the final match of the final game, the Irish would have claimed their third Six Nations title in four years. The rumours of a rugby nation’s demise had been greatly exaggerated, and the emerald green rose again in the last four rounds of the competition.
What are the factors which help a team work through a transition in personnel? One of the key performance indicators which provides a boost, whatever is happening under the covers of transitional repair, is efficiency in the so-called red zone. If you can achieve a high strike rate when you are inside the opposing 22, and deny the opposition scores, you can mask the tweaks being made elsewhere in the team.
The men in green were top-notch, scoring points from 58% of their entries to the red zone while stopping their opponents from scoring on 67% of theirs. These represented tournament-leading statistical ‘bests’.
Zero unforced handling errors inside the most intense defensive zone on the field tells the tale [courtesy of Opta Stats]. Some distinct patterns emerged within Ireland’s try-scoring stats inside the 22, beginning with two tries scored in the November tour match against Australia:
— William Bishop (@RPvids1994) May 1, 2026
— William Bishop (@RPvids1994) May 1, 2026
The majority of sides will look to grind away with a series of pick-and-goes and/or one-out carries when they are only five metres from the opposition goal-line, but Ireland look instead to cut out the buzzing hive of defenders in and around the ruck. The first pass hits the third, or outside forward-in-pod and he makes contact with the sixth defender out from ruck-side. The forward on second phase finds himself opposite the defending #13, which in turn means that the acting full-back [or penultimate defender] will be positioned inside the near post. If passes are made, a score is certain.
The men in green repeated the dose in miniature only five minutes later:
— William Bishop (@RPvids1994) May 1, 2026
The first pass hits the outside or third man in line [attacking #13 versus defensive #13] and the circle ball behind allows a straight-running full-back [Mack Hansen in the white hat] to split the last two defenders and score.
The wide angle from the Six Nations game against England at Twickenham illustrates more of the mechanics behind the play:
— William Bishop (@RPvids1994) May 1, 2026
There is a horizontal line of three Irish forwards, with a three-back vertical axis behind them. The pass straight to the third or outside forward, and the use of the circle ball out of pod makes those backs relevant. The target zone is the posts off a straightening run by the full-back, in this instance Jamie Osborne.
Summary
Ireland was the number one-ranked nation on planet rugby for 462 days between 18 July 2022 and 2 October 2023. Although the golden era for one set of players is coming to a close, the process of transition can still be a fruitful period.
The men in green may be hanging on by their fingernails at number 10 and at both prop positions in the front row, but when push came to shove in the red zone, they were still the Six Nations kings.
Not only did Ireland stay alive, they did not fade away into either obscurity or mediocrity inside the 22. They may not be the finished article, but they know how to finish tries, and deny their opponents a successful end to their red zone entries.
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