Andy Dunne believes Ireland need to vary their attacking style after Joe Schmidt’s side saw their 12-game winning streak come to an end against Australia in the first match of their three-Test tour.
The Grand Slam champions were blunt in attack and struggled to deal with the physicality of the Wallabies at the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane.
Joey Carbery was given the number 10 shirt in what was third start at outhalf but made a number of errors after being given the chance to impress with Johnny Sexton on the bench.
And Dunne feels Ireland would benefit from a change of thinking going forward to avoid becoming predictable in their play.
“It was interesting to see where the big hits came in – they weren’t always in the one-on-one contact areas,” Dunne said.
“They were in the wrap around play that we tend to overuse on a huge scale. It might be worth at looking at some other way to attack. Joey Carbery took a hit on it after five or six minutes, very like in the Fiji game when he broke his arm, and I think we all took an intake of breath looking at that one.
“It’s a small wrap around play that Sexton has used to great effect. But it’s been used for about five years, so I think it may be time to can it. It was one of the key areas that they caught us in.
“They shot out of the line on those wrap around plays. It wasn’t just for Carbery at 10; it was the forward players using it [too].”
James Hopper
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