Mike McCarthy: The simple fix for Ireland's lineout issues

Mike McCarthy believes Ireland's lineout struggles can be easily rectified, after they survived a disastrous start at the set-piece in Saturday's 13-8 win against South Africa in Paris on Saturday.

The Irish lineout lost four consecutive throws inside the opening 10 minutes, all of which were either inside or on the fringe of the South African 22.

Ireland would go on to lose six of their 18 throws in total across the game, a return of just over 66% in comparison to South Africa's 80% completion rate.

And while acknowledging that Ireland need to make some adjustments to their lineout before the next game against Scotland on 7 October, former second-row McCarthy said South Africa hadn't been given enough credit for how they pressurised the Irish throw, with Eben Etzebeth, Franco Mostert and Pieter-Steph du Toit targeting the set-piece early in the game.

"South Africa have the best lineout defence probably in the world," the former Ireland, Connacht and Leinster lock told the RTÉ Rugby podcast.

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"The height, how rangy their forwards are, Eben Etzebeth standing at the lineout staring you down, coming off the bench you have RG Snyman and Jean Kleyn, so first of all they have the height, they have the athleticism and they have the brains.

"They're not just big brutes, they're clever and have done their homework. They know where Ireland are looking to throw."

Particularly in the opening 10 minutes, Jacques Nienaber's side contested hard in Ireland's throws, a risky tactic deep in their own