Maybe we didn’t have the right mentality
EX- IRELAND STAR RUES FAILURES OF THIS SIX NATIONS CAMPAIGN
WALKING around Dublin’s Grand Canal Quay wearing a shirt, tie and blazer paired with rugby shorts and socks is understandably going to draw the curiosity of passersby, but for the 6’6”, 17 stone Donncha O’Callaghan the attention is nothing new.
There are the usual requests for selfies, but three years out of the international Test arena means that as O’Callaghan poses with a pot of porridge behind a desk by the edge of the water, some onlookers struggle to put a name to the familiar face smiling back at them.
‘What’s yer man’s name again?’ enquires one builder on a cigarette break. ‘Donncha O’Callaghan.’ ‘Ah yeah, of course. Still, you’d be tempted to kick any of those fecking TDs into that water.’
Six Nations weeks are certainly very different for O’Callaghan now.
A week off from current club Worcester Warriors allowed the former Munster second-row to split his time between some media jobs and promotional gigs back on home soil, but there is no mistaking that the big 37-year-old would rather be bunkered down in Carton House.
The sight of white shirts will always stir something in an Irish rugby player.
‘This is when you miss it the most,’ O’Callaghan admits, despite the fact the Six Nations title already has England’s name etched into it.
‘It is Ireland v England, it could be in frisbee and you’d want Ireland to win.’
The problem is today’s game was supposed to be a Grand Slam decider. Instead, losses in both Scotland and Wales mean Ireland’s motivation is now directed toward avoiding another defeat to protect their top four world rankings status ahead of the World Cup 2019 draw, while also looking to stop England eclipsing New-Zealand’s 18-match winning run record.
So, just how did it come to this?
For one, O’Callaghan reckons the hype surrounding the squad following a historic 2016 which included famous wins against South Africa, New Zealand and Australia wouldn’t have sat too well amongst the players.
‘I remember going out to the World Cup in 2007 and we were talking about doing really well, and then you’re home after 10 days. I think it’s an area that maybe we’re bad at, in any sport. We’re bad at being favourites (in Ireland).
‘Maybe it’s just something that sits well with Irish people that the underdog mentality is better. But in professional sports you can’t be like that. I think that is an area (we need to look at).
‘I remember reading something about Arsene Wenger saying all the players are fit now and you’re getting the best of athletes. The small margin now is in the mental game.
‘I know Ireland have Enda McNulty who does a fantastic job, but it’s maybe about addressing that fact and getting him to do a little bit more work on that.
‘Before this Six Nations we were all talking about Grand Slams this week, and that’s probably been the disappointing fact of it, whereas you look at where we compete, for the population of people playing the game we do really, really well.
‘We bat above ourselves, and sometimes I think we get carried away and we’ve got to realise we have four teams playing France, who have 14, and England who have 12, it’s a big ask.’
Of course, Joe Schmidt would accept nothing less than the best from any of his teams. Famous for his attention to detail, earlier this week The Times newspaper in England claimed that some Ireland players refer to their Kiwi coach as ‘Schmidtler’ behind his back due to his tough discipline.
O’Callaghan, however, believes Schmidt is exactly the kind of operator the current Ireland squad want — and need — at the helm.
‘I don’t agree with it [the nickname] and I’ve never heard it,’ he continues.
‘I know from my dealings with him — and I was only in two camps — I loved his want for you to improve and get better under him.
‘I think players want a coach like him that gives complete direction and is 100 per cent the boss. I know it myself, there is nothing worse than a fluffy head coach that kind of throws it out to the room, “what do you want?” You want a boss! At the age and maturity of that squad, that’s what you need.
‘I definitely feel that people are trying to push it back on him more so than the players. If you looked at how we played (against Wales), I think the players will be disappointed at how they reflected his style of play that weekend.
‘I bet that nickname was from someone that’s bitching and moaning that doesn’t set the standards high enough for themselves, or that is looking to blame someone like him for their own shortcomings in their own game.
‘You don’t necessarily need to like your coach. He doesn’t need to be a friend, you just want clear direction and he needs to be the boss. Certainly that’s the case with the likes of Joe, all the top end coaches are like that.
‘The coach never gets the credit when teams win, I found that with Declan Kidney. You win stuff and everyone says “What a great bunch of players”, you lose and everyone blames the coach. It’s a tough, tough role.’
And this week that role came with some particularly tough decisions. After defeat in Cardiff — stick or twist?
Devin Toner is the only fit member of the team to lose his place for today’s clash, and earlier in the week O’Callaghan told this newspaper that Schmidt’s decision to resist making wholesale changes to his starting 15 may be down to a lack of strength in depth.
If that is indeed a problem beginning to come to light, then one potential contributing factor is the controversial three-year residency rule, with Irish players — like O’Callaghan’s former Munster team-mate Peter O’Mahony — struggling for game time due to the presence of players born overseas, such as CJ Stander.
While not a fan of the rule due the fact it stunts the development of home-grown talent, O’Callaghan believes Ireland may need to lean on it even more heavily if they want to be able to keep competing at the highest level.
‘Personally, I don’t agree with it.
‘It’s Ireland v England... if it’s frisbee you want Ireland to win’ ‘CJ... no-one is prouder to play for Ireland’
I don’t think it’s 100 per cent right, but then CJ blows it away for me. I know how much he loves playing for Munster, I know what it means for him to play for Ireland, and then I feel like a hypocrite chatting about it.
‘I do feel that maybe five years is fair, but then I look at CJ and I know that no one is prouder to play for Ireland.
‘I remember being in the Munster dressing room and I’d slag the Limerick lads about the weather being poor, and he was always the one that bit. He was the guy telling me Limerick is beautiful and not to say a bad word about Limerick, and I used to get such a kick out of that.
‘It meant so much to him that I was slagging his city, that he took offence to it, whereas the Limerick lads would just be saying “G’way and don’t be annoying us”, but he’s a guy that’s bought in.
‘I think if that rule is in place — I don’t agree with it — but if it is three years then maybe it is something we should look to exploit a little bit more because we do need a greater playing pool.’
As for whether the current crop will be able to end the newly crowned Six Nations champions’ winning run today?
‘Eddie Jones walked in there (as England head coach) after the World Cup and said “We’re going to become the greatest team in the world”, and like we had with Munster when Keith Wood said we were going to win the European Cup, everyone burst out laughing, and the exact same thing happened there.
‘They had just been run out of the World Cup, and he believed it, and now they’re on the edge of actually doing it. With all my heart I want us to win, but I just think their drive to push on could be great this week.
‘They’ll (Ireland) be so disappointed with last week. I know everyone is on a bit of a witchhunt, but it was just unfortunate. I thought we done enough to win that game. ‘But when you don’t get a result, that’s all that matters.’
Donncha O’Callaghan was in Dublin this week to launch Flahavan’s Office Oats campaign to find Ireland’s most energetic office. The campaign will award the winner with a cheque for €1,000 and a year’s supply of Flahavan’s breakfast products for their office. Consumers are invited to enter the competition by posting fun videos of their workers being energetic on social media using #officeoats - from breakfast time burpees to water cooler circuits and everything else in between.