Best out to roll back years and put NZ in their place
AGE is just a number...apart from when it comes to international rugby.
And while Ireland skipper Rory Best may not feel all of his 36 years, you get the feeling that the watching public do.
After beating Argentina in a performance that lacked fluidity last weekend, the Ulsterman wasn’t alone in leaving the Aviva Stadium with more than a few ‘work-ons’.
Indeed Ireland’s best and most important player was a little off colour too but Best, on the wrong side of 35 never mind 30, was the one whose place was being called into question in some corners of social media long before the game had even finished.
A struggling lineout was the main gripe — Argentina’s dominance of the set-piece saw Iain Henderson replaced with Devin Toner — but there were plenty of the usual whispers too.
With the likes of former Irish international Tony Ward having praised Best’s leadership in the preceding week, and a CV that reads Ireland’s only victorious skipper over tonight’s visitors to Dublin, the All Blacks, it always seemed highly improbable that we’d see someone else lead the side out at the Aviva this evening, but it’d be impossible for the hooker not to hear the grumbles too.
“I think you’re always looking for improvement,” he said of last week’s showing.
“There were obviously areas I hold myself to account in with the lineout. We looked through it and there were a few that couldn’t have been thrown any better and we still lost.
“You still feel those so obviously, that shadows your thoughts on the game. It would be ridiculous for me to go, ‘I didn’t get any clean linebreaks so it must have been a bad game’.
“My game is about the breakdown, making sure we get quick ball, making sure the likes of Creevy, Matera and their dangerous back row don’t get turnovers.
“Obviously, I didn’t have as many big impacts in the game as I would have liked but at the same time when you haven’t played an international since March you always worry about your conditioning and the speed of the game.
“That didn’t pass me by and you want the lineout to be better.
“The scrum did well, you want the restarts to be better whenever it comes over on your side and you’re part of that lift.
“There’s always areas to get better but I think that you’re dealing with one of, if not the best coach in the world and if he has faith in you, you’ve got to take a bit of confidence from that as well.
“No matter who you play there is pressure, especially at home, and you’ve got to relish that pressure.
“Unfortunately not every game is going to be perfect and that is the beauty of it, there’s something to improve on.
“Regardless of the result on Saturday night we will have something to improve on and it was the same last Saturday.
“Whenever you really go in against top teams pressure is there, everyone else outside knows the pressure is there.”
Whether the questions levelled at his game were fair game or not, there is little doubt that he is aiming for an improvement this evening.
Facing the sport’s biggest task, beating the back-to-back world champions, Best will look to lead his troops by example.
“First and foremost, you’ve got to get your own game right,” he said.
“It is always something talked about that I like to lead by example.
“That’s what I’ve done over the last couple of years when I’ve been captain.
“We have a really strong leadership group. It’s not just the two vice-captains.
“When you’ve CJ Stander, Keith Earls, Devin Toner and Rob Kearney in the squad, these guys have a wealth of experience at this level.
“They’ve won things at this level. They’ve won a lot of things at provincial level. The two best sides in the world going head to head, Ireland with home advantage. It’s a mouthwatering proposition, the biggest game of the season and arguably the most interesting this side of the World Cup. Few sides are ever at full strength in this day and age but it’s such a pity Conor Murray
is unavailable for Ireland. Without him you feel that Steve Hansen’s visitors just might shade the big encounter.
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