During a recent Champions Cup<\/a> victory away to Bristol, Union Bordeaux B\u00e8gles<\/a> (UBB) had the impressive feat of avoiding a single attacking ruck during three of their four tries. Or so this correspondent thought when starting off a conversation with the European champions\u2019 Irish attack coach<\/a>.<\/p>\n Turns out that during all four UBB scores, they did not have to recycle the ball once. Not a single ruck. Win possession, throw an offload, fast guy scores. <\/p>\n Pat Lam, the slightly hapless Bristol coach on the day, was asked how you can stop a side that refuses to take the ball to the floor, denying opposition poachers a chance to slow them down. \u201cYou\u2019ve just got to be accurate. If you drop a ball, turn it over, kick poorly, they\u2019ll strike.\u201d <\/p>\n In other words, don\u2019t given them the chance in the first place. If you do, there ain\u2019t nothing a scrambling defence can do. <\/p>\n If there is one stat to highlight in advance of Ireland\u2019s<\/a> Six Nations<\/a> opener against France<\/a> on Thursday night, or indeed the tournament as a whole, it would be rucks per try. In an era dominated by aerial battles and kicking, more teams are trying to manufacture transition attacking opportunities. If they get some scraps, skilled handlers and fast athletes can pick off disorganised defences with ease. <\/p>\n Of the Six Nations teams, France look the best equipped<\/a> in this part of the game. Remember Louis Bielle-Biarrey\u2019s try at the Aviva<\/a> last year? A counter-ruck earned a turnover. Maxime Lucu passed to Damian Penaud via Emmanuel Meafou. One wing fed another, LBB grubbering and chasing brilliantly as Ireland\u2019s disorganised line was carved open. <\/p>\n England<\/a> aren\u2019t bad in this phase of the game either. They too have the athletes to maximise space and the aerial game to create it. See Ben Earl\u2019s try vs Australia<\/a> in November. Win the ball back in the air, pop it inside to a fast backrow and speed off through a defence set for kick receipt. <\/p>\n Ireland have spoken about their desire to improve their transition attack.<\/a> Of the 14 Irish tries scored in November, three came either via securing a turnover or running back a kick. Just one came without a ruck, Tommy O\u2019Brien\u2019s effort against Japan. Work remains to be done.<\/p>\n In the French example above, three of the names mentioned are Bordeaux players. Two of them, Messrs Lucu and Penaud, won\u2019t be involved come Thursday. Still, with the French backline expected to include UBB men Matthieu Jalibert, Yoram Moefana, Nicolas Deportere and Bielle-Biarrey, the insight of their club attack coach is valuable when assessing how Ireland can try to catch the transition attack king. <\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s always three things,\u201d explains McNamara. \u201cThere\u2019s skill set, structure, mindset. We [Bordeaux] have the skill set piece, the ability to play in disorder as much as anything else.\u201d <\/p>\n Offloading and pace are arguably the two most important skills here. As Ronan O\u2019Gara<\/a> once said, \u201cspeed kills\u201d. Irish rugby\u2019s reckoning with pace becomes more and more important. It\u2019s no surprise that Tommy O\u2019Brien scored Ireland\u2019s lone ruck-less try so far this season.<\/p>\n \u201cThere isn\u2019t an awful lot of structure that goes into it,\u201d continues McNamara. \u201cThen you have the mindset. We talk about it often, it\u2019s a race between the attack and defence, who gets set first. When you lose the ball, you\u2019re vulnerable. We try to capitalise on that as quickly as we can. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s something that\u2019s been adapted from football. Jos\u00e9 Mourinho was the first one who spoke about the moments in the game, the transition. It originally came from basketball, soccer took it on to another level.\u201d<\/p>\n [\u00a0Philippe Saint-Andr\u00e9: \u2018Ireland are not as good as two years ago. You can see it in the Champions Cup\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n Is there the required mindset for counterattack within Andy Farrell\u2019s<\/a> squad? The ability to spot space quickly before the window of opportunity closes. \u201cIt\u2019s about pace but speed of thought as well,\u201d says McNamara. <\/p>\n Intriguingly, when the Co Clare native was coaching on home soil, running the Ireland Under-20s, he saw the required mindset in younger Irish players. \u201cIt\u2019s different because there\u2019s less at stake in lots of ways with the 20s,\u201d he explains. \u201cThe reality is we probably played every possession as if it was our last with the 20s. It\u2019s one of the purest forms of rugby.\u201d<\/p>\n Young players to watch in the Six Nations<\/p>\n Does that fearlessness extend up to the senior ranks? Or does playing with such a focus on transition merely increase the risk of loose ball, playing into the hands of a team which is better at counter-attacking? \u201cYou talk about the jeopardy, it creates a bit of fear against us as well,\u201d says McNamara. \u201cIf you\u2019ve a fear of making mistakes, you\u2019re in a dangerous place. It\u2019s a self-fulfilling prophecy.\u201d<\/p>\n Ireland want to get more dangerous in transition. In terms of skill set (ie pace), they don\u2019t have the same amount of talent as France or England. <\/p>\n The question remains if they can nevertheless improve their mindset and other skills \u2013 such as rapid identification of space \u2013 to remain competitive in an area of the game which only continues to rise in importance. If Ireland score on counterattack while going through minimal rucks, then progress can be identified. <\/p>\n 22 entries <\/p>\n Another number to keep an eye out for over the next six weeks: the differential between a team\u2019s 22 entries in attack and 22 entries allowed in defence. <\/p>\n![\"Just](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/W5VFQ6KJCVC2JKO3S5OPBCDUMI.jpg\")
Just one of Ireland’s tries in November came without a ruck: Tommy O\u2019Brien\u2019s effort against Japan. Photograph: Billy Stickland\/Inpho <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/PVAE26AVX5C7JALNZNUQPAI35A.gif\")
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