Gordon D’Arcy: Hugo Keenan showed exactly why he represents the best of this Ireland team

In Michael Cheika’s first season as Leinster coach, we went to Toulouse and beat the reigning European champions 41-35. Everyone remembers Denis Hickie’s length-of-the-field try. It is one of my all-time favourite tries.But it was another in that match, scored by Shane Horgan, that taught me a valuable lesson about the importance of accurate passing. Cheika devised the play based on a midfield setup, a loop off nine, where I swung deep from the open side to collect and distribute a wide pass to Girvan Dempsey behind a ruck.He slid past Jean-Baptiste Élissalde, the French nine playing a high line, to allow Horgan a one-on-one he was never going to lose. Cheika told me plainly in the build-up to the match, “this is the pass, you’re going to make it, so practise it until it’s in your locker”.It would have been easier for him to hand that job to another player, as my proficiency as a centre was still in the embryonic stage. He didn’t. It added pressure but executing it provided me with a growth spurt as a player. Some years later, Joe Schmidt kept asking us one question: “Will you be the best passing team in Europe?”READ MOREIrish rugby has rediscovered its appetite for catch-pass execution. Ulster and Connacht, based on squad personnel, have had to emphasise skills and execution. Munster and Leinster are following suit this season. Ireland appear to be loosening the structure a little, which naturally puts pressure on skill execution. A lovely byproduct is how it highlights the coachability of this Ireland group.The 42-12 win over Argentina last Friday was comprehensive, but context will always be important. Felipe Contepomi fielded his strongest team in a year. However, the cohesion was not quite there. Ireland were fresher, the players benefited from not playing the previous week. I wouldn’t get carried away with the scoreline.Argentina started well, won collisions and scored a try through Mateo Carreras, but ill-discipline handed the initiative back to Ireland. Ireland’s kicking game impressed me. It was less predictable, there was more nuance, more attacking ambition. When an attack lost energy and drifted towards negative carries, Craig Casey and Sam Prendergast were quick to use the boot. Robert Baloucoune and Mack Hansen chased and contested effectively.Ireland’s Mack Hansen surges past the Argentina defence during last Friday's Nations Championship match at the Aviva Stadium, Dublin. Photograph: Ben Brady/Inpho As the game wore on, Ireland kicked when required to manage it. That was earned. Argentina were chasing and throwing the ball around right up to the last 10 minutes. Ireland didn’t force anything. When opportunities came, they took them and built a lead.The ambition from set-piece was clear: get the ball into players’ hands earlier. It was visible in the first try. Ireland didn’t fix the drift defence, but Baloucoune’s pace carried the ball into space, and Hansen’s offload to Hugo Keenan was perfectly flighted and timed. Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good.Keenan represents everything that is right about this Irish team. For four or five years, his value lay in selfless work, exemplary backfield cover, chasing kicks and contesting high balls; a lot of running. Now he is being asked to do things differently. A looser game rewards him.There are similarities to Christian Cullen, the former All Black who ran brilliant trail lines, looked for the offload and looked to make the extra pass at the right moment. Keenan’s work rate put him in try-scoring and link positions. He was the glue in defence. He can be the glue in attack.Join our Irish Times Rugby WhatsApp communityGet the best of our writing in the Irish Times rugby community. Photograph: Henry Simpson/Inpho Join our Irish Times Rugby WhatsApp community and get our best rugby writing sent directly to your messages inbox. From provincial and European news to coverage of Ireland’s Autumn internationals, you won’t miss an update. Join here: https://chat.whatsapp.com/DaV5S7cDxWF0xDDILjarcwTadhg Beirne has a sixth sense for where to be, as he showed time and again. For Keenan’s third try, Joe McCarthy and Tadhg Furlong got set quickly and understood the value of short passing rather than seeking contact.Ryan Baird lifted the scoring pass over the final defender to Keenan. You don’t need every forward to have that vision – two or three is enough, and it’s infectious. A few metres out, you can still let the ball do the work.Hansen reminded us why he matters so much; simple things done well, like keeping the ball alive or a regathered chip kick. A caveat with a more open game is the requirement to get numbers to rucks, and ball placement at the breakdown. Ireland can do better in the latter respect. Perfect placement saves nanoseconds that are invaluable elsewhere on the pitch.Craig Casey kicks clear during Ireland's emphatic defeat of Argentina at the Aviva Stadium. Photograph: Ben Brady/Inpho Casey’s kicking and delivery were top drawer, but with so much of the shape running through Prendergast, he doesn’t get the latitude he has with Munster. That’s a style issue, not a criticism. Generating faster ball would put a huge onus on clearing deep at the breakdown and moving possession before the defenders get set.Passing accuracy is another area that requires polishing. A lot of ball went to the inside shoulder, forcing the runner to check. After Baloucoune’s break, the Argentina backline readjusted. Ireland kept attacking around the 13 channel, but more than once Hansen had to stop and step back inside. Crisper passes, where players arrive from depth, will open more avenues.Henry Pollock’s second try for England against Australia was a classic example. Short passes with players hitting them at pace and depth, going to width. It was his first Test on the wing. He came on at half-time and scored twice in two minutes.Fiji are a different kettle of fish. Ireland beat them 52-17 in November 2024, but it was not as comfortable as the score suggests. Ireland were slow to find any rhythm and Fiji’s indiscipline – 17 penalties conceded – did much of the damage.Now under head coach Jake White, they lost 54-17 to France but there was enough to remind everyone of their quality with the ball in hand and their ability to score tries. Ireland must be clever in how and where they engage the Fijians.Whoever starts at 10 must manage astutely. It is about sucking the air out of the game. This Ireland team is more than capable of doing that. Like Argentina, Fiji may hurt themselves with indiscipline, and they will probably be less structured and less proficient at set-pieces. But their broken-field running is a far greater threat than anything Argentina offered.Ireland will have to manage the game more than they did last Friday and earn the right to attack the way they want to. The result against Fiji matters. With injuries and knocks, rotation in personnel is likely. The aesthetics of performance matter less than winning to nudge Ireland towards South Africa in the right frame of mind.Friday was a start. Ireland showed more attacking promise than we have seen in a while. The next step is keeping up the pressure on the skills, the alignment, the depth and passes that enable players to run on to the ball. Get those right and Ireland’s attack has plenty of room to grow. This group listens. That is why the ceiling is high.