Jamison Gibson-Park's numbers don't lie – Ireland is a scrumhalf country

Irish Times

01-08-2025

Amid the drama of
Hugo Keenan's
match-winning try in Melbourne – don't mention Jac Morgan – the role of the halfbacks in a lengthy final attack can easily be forgotten.
Jamison Gibson-Park's
decision to pass to Keenan instead of his outhalf
Finn Russell
, loitering on the other side of the ruck, was instrumental to finding a one-on-one close to the line. Earlier in the phase play, Russell's call to hold on to the ball, instead of throwing an audacious pass to an outnumbered
Jack Conan
, ensured the Lions did not become isolated and vulnerable to a turnover.
In that final attack, Gibson-Park touched the ball 13 times, while Russell had nine attacking contributions. Such interplay between nine and 10 in the build-up to scores was unusual for the
Lions
.
In the build-up to Tom Curry's first-half score, Gibson-Park's four touches doubled Russell's two. The numbers are the same for Huw Jones's try minutes later. When
Tadhg Beirne
crossed after half-time, the preceding phases saw eight contributions from Gibson-Park and just three from Russell.
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Such volume is probably why
Ronan O'Gara
, speaking on Sky's Lions commentary, labelled the scrumhalf
Andy Farrell's
'go-to man'.
'Obviously not with an Irish 10 being the dominant figure in the touring party, Gibson-Park will play that role,' explained the La Rochelle boss.
To an extent, O'Gara is right. In Farrell's attacking system of intricate pods and multiple passing lanes, an Irish scrumhalf is more likely to have a better grasp of things than a Scottish 10. Yet even when Gibson-Park plays for Ireland and has a compatriot joining him in the playmaking brains trust, he is the dominant figure.
As a rugby community, Ireland loves to focus on the 10. A culture war has broken out between supporters of
Jack Crowley
and
Sam Prendergast
. The health of
Johnny Sexton
was the main source of public anxiety for the bones of a decade, O'Gara himself before that.
Forget the cultural hold of the outhalf. It's based on vibes alone. Unquantifiable evidence. According to the pure numbers, we are a scrumhalf country. It's not even close.
◊♦◊♦◊♦◊♦◊♦◊♦◊♦◊♦◊♦◊♦
There' a lot of talk in Ireland about the relative merits of Sam Prendergast and Jack Crowley, but not as much about the significance of the scrumhalf role. Photograph: Billy Stickland/Inpho
While some scrumhalves add defensive value, their main job is with ball in hand. One of the best ways of measuring the offensive influence of an individual is to look at attacking involvements; carries plus kicks plus passes. How often do they contribute when the team is on the ball?
In the first Lions Test, Gibson-Park had 81 attacking involvements (AIs). Russell had 32. In the second, the tally was 77-33 in favour of the scrumhalf.
This more or less tallies with longer trends. Across Test matches for both Ireland and the Lions in 2025, Gibson-Park averages 78 involvements when starting, compared with the outhalf figure of 36.7 in those same games.
Interestingly, in 2024, Gibson-Park's average was up. He recorded 92 AIs per international that calendar year, compared with his outhalf's 40.9. In 2023, Gibson-Park's influence was down to 71, while the outhalf's rose to 42.6.
What, if anything, can be taken from these trends?
For one, a certain domineering presence was in the Irish outhalf jersey in 2023. In his last ever game, Sexton demanded the ball against New Zealand, recording 78 AIs. That Gibson-Park was only marginally ahead of him on 85 is staggering.
In 2024, the first year of the post-Sexton era, Ireland operated with a pair of inexperienced outhalves. First Crowley had a crack during the Six Nations before Prendergast took over in November. With two young bucks outside him, of course Gibson-Park was going to take on more of the attacking burden.
So far in 2025, with Prendergast and Crowley marginally more experienced, combined with two Tests alongside a veteran Russell, Gibson-Park's AI figure has stabilised. A happy medium between being beholden to Sexton and babysitting Crowley and Prendergast.
As always, contextual wrinkles complicate such straightforward narratives. For one, Ireland have started to
play with less of the ball
. Less possession means fewer involvements for your scrumhalf.
[
How Ireland's new attacking plan has fuelled their perfect Six Nations start
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]
This shift has ensured Ireland kick more, which has also changed Gibson-Park's role. Since Sexton's retirement, when paired with Crowley, Gibson-Park has averaged 7.6 kicks per match to his outhalf's 6.4. When Prendergast is in the 10 shirt, he averages 11.2 kicks per match compared with Gibson-Park's 6.6. The scrumhalf continues to bear the passing burden, but Prendergast's right boot has seen much more action.
Yet even in the Sexton era, Gibson-Park was influential. While the former Ireland captain raged against the dying of the light in that New Zealand defeat, numbers from earlier in the tournament suggest this game was an anomaly. In critical pool matches against Scotland and South Africa respectively, Gibson-Park had 49 and 63 AIs to Sexton's 22 in both outings. More than double, and in one case almost triple the output of the player many considered Ireland's talisman.
Just one of Jamison Gibson-Park's many attacking involvements over the years. Photograph: Ben Brady/Inpho
In a way, such attacking dominance from the scrumhalf is to be expected. Unless sucked in by desperation, the nine passes from every single ruck. The 10 isn't involved when forwards come rumbling around the corner. When a team has forward dominance, as the Lions did against Australia and Ireland tend to have against Six Nations opponents not named England or France, you don't need to go to the backline. Just keep on boosting those scrumhalf involvements by passing to forward after forward.
Yet the data also suggests this gap is intentional. In this year's Six Nations, Gibson-Park was Ireland's most valuable player according to expected points added (rugby's equivalent of individual xG). In fact, he was the best player in the whole tournament by that metric. Which suggests, yes, his attacking quantity is high, but so is his quality.
8. Ben Earl 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 42.88
9. Jamison Gibson-Park 🍀 66.98
10. Fin Smith 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 35.81
11. Louis Bielle-Biarrey 🇫🇷 51.18
12. Yoram Moefana 🇫🇷 39.67
13. Huw Jones 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 39.11
14. Damian Penaud 🇫🇷 22.43
15. Blair Kinghorn 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 37.53
— Simon Chi (@Vanguard403)
Such is the value added by Gibson-Park's contributions – passing in the main – that they greatly add to Ireland's expected output on the scoreboard. The eye-test suggests he is Ireland's – and the Lions' – best decision-maker. That coaches' game plan for him to be so heavily involved suggests they agree.
Perhaps the biggest test of this theory will come when Gibson-Park finishes. Will Craig Casey operate in a similar manner? In his last three international starts, the Munster nine has had 65, 73 and 94 involvements. This compares with the relevant outhalf figure of 55, 37 and 52. Casey is still the main man, but not to the same extent as Gibson-Park.
The fact these were games against Portugal, Georgia and Fiji makes it difficult to draw conclusions. One day, we will see whether Casey is as dominant and, more importantly, as effective as Gibson-Park.
For now, Farrell can rest easy in the knowledge his best playmaker continues to offer attacking quantity and quality. For as long as this coach has Gibson-Park at his disposal, Ireland will remain a scrumhalf-dominated nation.