Desperation, decision-making and Ireland's indiscipline

Yellow cards are the new Dublin Buses.

From the summer of 2021, right through to the end of the Rugby World Cup, Ireland gave up three yellow cards across a total of 29 games. It was, by some distance, the cleanest record in the game.

In the space of four matches, their halos have turned to horns.

From averaging a yellow card once every nine-and-a-bit games, they've now had four in their last four, a consequence of conceding 45 penalties in that period, which is the highest in this year’s championship.

Having won comfortably in spite of a high penalty count in each of their last three games, that indiscipline came back to haunt them at Twickenham on Saturday, as their Grand Slam hopes came tumbling down against an inspired England.

Their penalty count of eight was actually a reasonable drop on the previous three games, but the context and location of those indiscretions proved costly.

Twice in the opening half they conceded penalties under pressure on the edge of their own 22, while another followed in the second half when Peter O’Mahony was yellow-carded as he attempted to slow England down following Ben Earl’s break up the middle of the pitch.

"The yellow card is him trying to do something for the team and we know it’s the wrong decision, but it could have been anyone in that situation trying to make up for a linebreak," defence coach Simon Easterby (below) said.

While Ireland's defence had been rock solid up until last weekend, their tendency to concede penalties in their own 22 has been a running theme in the Six Nations, and the main reason why they’ve seen their sin-bin count spike.

In their opener against France, eight of the 13 penalties they gave up can be attributed to two small flurries of French pressure in and around