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'The gap's closing' - Ireland gaining on England insists Ryan

By PA
PA

Stand-in skipper James Ryan is adamant Ireland will learn from the “collection of errors” which cost them dearly in the comprehensive defeat to England.

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Andy Farrell’s side struggled to impose themselves on Saturday’s Autumn Nations Cup clash at Twickenham and paid a heavy price for a series of set-piece blunders in an 18-7 loss.

Leinster lock Ryan was selected to lead out his country in London due to the injury absence of regular captain Johnny Sexton.

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Itoje on his man of the match performance against Ireland

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Itoje on his man of the match performance against Ireland

While mistakes at the line-out contributed to making it a miserable occasion for the 24-year-old, he has backed the team to take on board their shortcomings.

“Probably our set-piece let us down at times in crucial moments. They scored off the back of some those moments that we didn’t quite nail,” said Ryan.

“It was just a collection of errors, really. It’s so important at this level to be accurate. It’s definitely one big learning that we’ll take.

“It was just little inaccuracies that gave them points. But we’ll take loads from that and I’ve no doubt that we’re going to keep building.

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“It’s no one person’s fault. Collectively we need to be more accurate in those pressure moments. We’ll have a look at ourselves next week.”

Jacob Stockdale’s late converted try made the scoreline more respectable after two scores from Jonny May and the boot of Owen Farrell gave the dominant hosts complete control.

Ireland have now been convincingly beaten on each of their past four meetings with Eddie Jones’ World Cup finalists.

Two of those defeats, in addition to a loss to France, have come in the seven matches since Farrell replaced Joe Schmidt after last year’s World Cup.

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In spite of those unfavourable results, Ryan insists the Irish are closing the gap to the world’s top teams.

“Look, this is a new group, new coaching staff,” said Ryan.

“How many players have made their debuts over the last few weeks? It’s kind of a new chapter for us.

England, in terms of where they are at, they’ve been together a lot longer. I’ve no doubt that the gap’s closing there.

“We just need to keep growing now. We’ll get so much from games like this as a group.”

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Jon 1 days ago
Why Sam Cane's path to retirement is perfect for him and the All Blacks

> It would be best described as an elegant solution to what was potentially going to be a significant problem for new All Blacks coach Scott Robertson. It is a problem the mad population of New Zealand will have to cope with more and more as All Blacks are able to continue their careers in NZ post RWCs. It will not be a problem for coaches, who are always going to start a campaign with the captain for the next WC in mind. > Cane, despite his warrior spirit, his undoubted commitment to every team he played for and unforgettable heroics against Ireland in last year’s World Cup quarter-final, was never unanimously admired or respected within New Zealand while he was in the role. Neither was McCaw, he was considered far too passive a captain and then out of form until his last world cup where everyone opinions changed, just like they would have if Cane had won the WC. > It was never easy to see where Cane, or even if, he would fit into Robertson’s squad given the new coach will want to be building a new-look team with 2027 in mind. > Cane will win his selections on merit and come the end of the year, he’ll sign off, he hopes, with 100 caps and maybe even, at last, universal public appreciation for what was a special career. No, he won’t. Those returning from Japan have already earned the right to retain their jersey, it’s in their contract. Cane would have been playing against England if he was ready, and found it very hard to keep his place. Perform, and they keep it however. Very easy to see where Cane could have fit, very hard to see how he could have accomplished it choosing this year as his sabbatical instead of 2025, and that’s how it played out (though I assume we now know what when NZR said they were allowing him to move his sabbatical forward and return to NZ next year, they had actually agreed to simply select him for the All Blacks from overseas, without any chance he was going to play in NZ again). With a mammoth season of 15 All Black games they might as well get some value out of his years contract, though even with him being of equal character to Richie, I don’t think they should guarantee him his 100 caps. That’s not what the All Blacks should be about. He absolutely has to play winning football.

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