McCall wants stand-up defence once more
Defensive coach Mark McCall has called on Ireland to take tomorrow’s second Test with Japan by the scruff of the neck.
With rearguard regular Mike Ford away on Lions duty, Ulster coach McCall has stepped into the Far East breach just as forwards maestro Niall O’Donovan has done in the head coach role.
McCall, who made the last of 13 appearances in an Ireland shirt against South Africa in 1998, was satisfied with how the Irish kept their hosts tryless in their 44-12 first Test win in Osaka, despite allowing Japan to dictate for long periods.
The former Ireland Under-21 coach expects O’Donovan’s charges to step it up another gear in defence and attack tomorrow in Tokyo.
“I think we had far too much defending to do in the first Test. That was the consequence of the number of mistakes we made during the game, and certainly, this time around, we’d like to be doing less defending and cutting down on those errors,” said the 37-year-old.
“I think we coped pretty well with most things that they threw at us. At the same time we would like to see the boys attacking much more in this game.
“We set ourselves a goal before arriving in Japan of not conceding a try on tour, and it’s been so far so good. In saying that, we would definitely like to do much better with ball in hand.
“The boys know they need to be more clinical – tries will come if they can take their opportunities by building through the phases and using the advantages they have over the Japanese. But not conceding any tries still remains one of our big objectives.”
One man who has been impressed will McCall’s first coaching involvement with the Irish squad is hooker Frankie Sheahan.
The Munster front-rower, who earns his 24th cap at the Prince Chichibu Memorial ground, said: “Mark has done a great job since he has come in. He is very clear in what he wants and has done a lot of research in to what way the Japanese attack.
“It paid off last Sunday, and judging by what he has achieved to date, let’s hope the same applies here in Tokyo.
“Personally, I was pleased with how the lineout went last week. We had done a lot of research on the Japanese set-piece and managed to pinch a number of their throws as well as dominating our own ball.
“For Leo (Cullen) and Matt (McCullough), who hadn’t played before as a second row partnership, it was an encouraging display.”
Japan captain Takuro Miuchi, a driving force at the base of the Cherry Blossoms’ scrum, is expecting a proud performance from his side.
“We proved last week that we can, at least, compete with the Irish and controlled the game for long periods. It would be a dream to beat a top side like Ireland, who are not unbeatable, especially away from home.”
Japan have made five changes to their side for tomorrow’s Test – up front, loosehead prop Shigeyasu Takagi and hooker Masakazu Nakabayashi are bumped up from the bench, while Australian-born lock Jamie Washington has been replaced by Hajime Kiso.
Japan’s most-capped player Keiji Hirose comes in at fly-half, with Hirotoki Onozawa deputising on the left wing.
