Ireland and Schmidt ran out of ideas: O’Driscoll

IN JAPAN

BRIAN O’Driscoll believes a combination of a failure to evolve tactically and a loss of confidence cost Joe Schmidt’s Ireland dear in 2019.

Speaking in Tokyo, the former captain defended the coach’s overall record in Irish rugby but conceded that he and the team had been unable to stay ahead of the game after beating New Zealand in November 2018.

They started the calendar year with a hammering at home to England and never really recovered, suffering crushing defeats to Wales, England again, Japan and then the All Blacks in a 46-14

World Cup quarter-final defeat.

“He has absolutely maximised the potential of that team over the course of the six years with them,” O’Driscoll (right) said of Schmidt.

“But yet, in the final year, he failed to evolve the team when he needed to and, when we got close to the top of the tree by playing our game plan, teams started giving a little bit more respect, a little bit more time to how they could nullify us.

“On top of that, they weren’t doing that game plan as well, so it was a double-negative.

“Then, we had this massive confidence dip across the entire squad after getting owned by England in the first game, physically dominated.

I don’t know if our year ever really recovered from that, to be honest.

“It completely took the wind out of our sails, after riding that crest of a wave from the New Zealand game and then, bang, we didn’t have a couple of games to enjoy it.”