Ireland tasted their first Six Nations defeat in over two years against England on Saturday, on a bruising afternoon in west London.
Twickenham was rocking as England claimed a dramatic last-gasp victory thanks to Marcus Smith's drop goal with the final kick of the game.
Ireland were undoubtedly second best at Twickenham, and England were full value for their victory, and several elements of the Irish performance and setup have come under the microscope in the days since their defeat.
Conor Murray's decision to kick in the closing seconds of the game is one such call, but Matt Williams once again chose to draw attention to the contentious 6-2 split chosen by head coach Andy Farrell for Saturday's game.
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Matt Williams thinks defeat to England shows weakness of Ireland's 6-2 split
9 March 2024; Ireland players, including Jamison Gibson-Park, Caelan Doris, Conor Murray and Jack Conan after their side's defeat in the Guinness Six Nations Rugby Championship match between England and Ireland at Twickenham Stadium in London, England. Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile
Virgin Media pundit Williams has been a vocal opponent of the forward-loaded benches ever since we saw them first introduced by South Africa in the leadup to last year's World Cup.
Ireland head coach Andy Farrell chose to use a 6-2 bench split for the third time in this tournament at Twickenham, but the move would dramatically backfire.
Starting wing Calvin Nash was brought off within minutes of the game kicking off for a HIA, and did not return - a fate which later befell his replacement Ciaran Frawley.
With Conor Murray the only remaining back on the Ireland bench, Farrell was left scrambling to move players out of position. Speaking on The Stand podcast with Eamon Dunphy, Williams said Ireland can have no qualms about reaping what they had sown with their team selection:
My experience in my life is that the rugby gods have a very ironic sense of humour. Where you are weak, that's where they'll hit you. Ireland had the great misfortune of both Calvin Nash having a head knock and having to go off field in the opening minutes, and then Ciaran Frawley also getting a head knock and having to leave the field.
It left the team short and they definitely paid a price. Interestingly, when both players were down on the ground injured, that's when England scored two of their tries.
[Nash's injury] came very early. Frawley was on and it forced Ireland to weaken a strength to strengthen a weakness. Frawley doesn't play on the wing, so they moved Hugo Keenan - one of the best full-backs in the world - out to the wing. When Frawley himself was injured, they had to put Keenan back to full-back and take out Jamison Gibson-Park and play him on the wing.
Conor Murray...is a fine player, but Jamison Gibson-Park is one of the best scrum-halves in the world.
The whole thing threw the team out, there's no two ways about that. If they had an extra back on their bench, it certainly would have been a bonus.
We have a saying: you buy the ticket, you take the ride. When you pick a 6-2 or a 7-1, you're gambling. The gamble didn't pay off.
Williams spent much of the World Cup bemoaning the potential dangers posed to opposition players by South Africa's controversial 7-1 split.
His criticism of Ireland's 6-2 split, however, veers into different territory, posing the very reasonable question as to whether the immense risk of tactical instability is worth the potential reward of extra firepower in the pack.
It may not have caused the defeat to England, but Ireland's bench split certainly contributed to their lacklustre performance in London. They will hope to bounce back when they face Scotland in Dublin with the Six Nations on the line this Saturday at 4:45pm.
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