Six Nations 2019: Ireland 'over-reliant on box-kick' - former fly-half Tony Ward

Former Ireland fly-half Tony Ward says Joe Schmidt's team are over-reliant on box-kicking as a tactic.

Speaking after the 32-20 Six Nations loss to England in Dublin, Ward said: "What disappointed me was our over-reliance on the much vaunted box-kick. I absolutely hate it.

"While we do it well, I think we're overplaying it.

"It's a tactic we've really come to depend upon and it's very easy to negate, as England proved on Saturday."

"When we don't have that [variety] unfortunately we're struggling against teams of the quality of England," added the 19-time capped international after Ireland's first home loss in 13 games.

England scored four tries to secure a bonus-point win over the defending champions, who had not been beaten in the competition at the Aviva Stadium for six years.

"We knew what was coming in terms of the physicality and brutishness England would bring, but the intensity did catch us a little bit by surprise. They really closed down our space," observed Ward.

"In terms of the coaches Joe [Schmidt] did get one or two things wrong. Eddie Jones won on Saturday and he won emphatically. England won both halves and the final scoreline was fully reflective of what we witnessed over the 80 minutes.

"I think the Irish players know they underperformed individually and collectively.

"Joe made the point afterwards that Ireland are slow to get going in the opening game. Last year Johnny Sexton's drop-goal rescued us against France and the previous year we lost to Scotland at Murrayfield."

Ward expects regular full-back Rob Kearney to return for next week's encounter with Scotland at Murrayfield, while Keith Earls, Devin Toner and CJ Stander are injury concerns.

"The gamble of playing Robbie Henshaw at full-back didn't pay off. Not that Henshaw played particularly badly but there's no doubt Rob Kearney was missed," said Ward.

"Rob had a poor game for Leinster against the Scarlets so I understood where Joe was coming from but he took that risk and it didn't come off.

"I expect Rob to return against Scotland and we need him. I still think the place for Henshaw is at centre alongside Garry Ringrose."

Scotland opened their campaign by recording a seventh successive home Six Nations victory with a 33-20 success over Italy in Edinburgh.

"I can see Andrew Conway coming in on the right wing regardless of whether Earls is right, while Devin Toner will be a big loss if he's not fit and the loss of CJ Stander would be a massive blow," added Ward.

"We have a big task on our hands at Murrayfield and if we lose again next Saturday it would be disastrous given it's in the build-up towards the World Cup.

"Next Saturday is a 'must-win' in every way and we'll see where we go from there."

Tony Ward was interviewed on BBC Radio Ulster's Sunday Sportsound programme.