The Irish Times' Gerry Thornley talks to Ireland defensive coach Les Kiss ahead of their latest Six Nations clash with Wales.
"In the fall-out from Paris, no one would have spent more time analysing the DVD than Les Kiss. A defensive system that had become the envy of the other teams in last season’s Six Nations conceded as many tries in Stade de France as it did in all five games last season. That hurt.
"Kiss is a deep-thinking, slightly alternative defensive coach. He doesn’t seem to analyse performances in terms of tackle counts and missed tackles. He’s guarded about his modus operandi, and takes a somewhat personalised, holistic view, with the defensive and offensive performances inextricably linked. So he particularly enjoyed the way Cian Healy and Keith Earls forced that turnover after 13 phases of English recycling from which Ireland stealthily struck for their first try. In any event, the bottom line is about scoring more points than the opposition."
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