Niamh Briggs believes that despite the win against Scotland, Ireland need to work on their gameplan for turnovers.

Briggs told Monday Night Rugby that it often looked as if Ireland have no plan for what to do once they gain possession, despite their 27-24 win over Scotland.

Ireland & turnovers

"Every time we turned the ball over into our possession, there was almost this 'quick, get rid of it' as opposed to having a look up and seeing where the space is," Briggs said.

"More often than not, if you get a turnover ball, the defence that turned it over will crab in because they gravitate towards the ball, so the space is outside. We either try and force things and get a knock-on, we lose the ball or we kick it away.

"For a team that can win so many turnovers, with James Ryan, CJ Stander, Tadhg Beirne, Robbie Henshaw - they are really good players on the ground."

'We don't look like we have a plan'

Briggs feels that it might be a lack of drilling before games.

"Do they not work at this in training? Do they not turn around and say 'let's play a couple of phases and every time a whistle goes, it's a turned over ball'? It seems to me like they don't, it seems to me like the one area [...] that we haven't improved at all.

"We don't look like we have any plan. The old saying in club rugby was when you got a turnover was 'move it two passes'. We don't even seem to have any sort of pattern or understanding about where the ball can be played. It is literally just: get it and whoever has it, kicks it.

"For Finn Russell's try, and soon as we turn the ball over, Garry Ringrose tries to kick it when the space wasn't there to kick it. That, for me, was a big frustration point."

Positives

However, Briggs believed there were significant positives to the performance.

"When they attacked the ball off phase play, they tried loads of little points of movement - tip-ons from the forwards and passes out the back. Switch plays that they tried didn't come off all the time but at least they tried them.

"I definitely saw positive movements in that area, but we are brilliant at turning ball over but we don't seem to punish teams the way that teams punish us."

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