Joe’s Ireland building early momentum
‘It’s not a case of we bring the standards down to accommodate the new people coming in. The standards are the standards and everyone catches up. You catch up quickly or you get left behind and then you don’t make the next squad’ —
RORY BEST, March 2016
IRELAND’S habit of hitting the straps in the opening match of a Test window has become an encouraging feature of the Joe Schmidt era. Last Saturday’s annihilation of South Africa was the 11th time in 13 blocks of fixtures since winter 2013 that he has guided his team to victory.
The meticulous coach might often be heard bemoaning his squad’s lack of training time when they are heading back into action following a long break away. However, his concern is frequently misplaced as the pressure he puts on his squad to deliver excellent firstup performances, despite limited prep, keeps delivering results to savour.
Look at the ledger: last Satur- day’s rout of the Springboks was preceded by the historic opening win over the All Blacks this time last year. In total, all four November series openers have been won under Schmidt. So, too, all three June tour openers, a first World Cup warm-up and also a first match at a World Cup.
No doubt, Ireland have made it their business to launch Test windows with a winning smile.
They put their best foot forward from the off in the 2014 and 2015 title-winning Six Nations campaigns even though there were slow starts to their subsequent 2016 and 2017 championships with the second half-implosion in the draw with Wales 21 months ago and the infamous bus-gate defeat to Scotland last February.
It shows winning starts aren’t easy to achieve. Just ask neighbours Wales who have been beaten in eight of their 13 recent Test window openers, the latest setback coming last Saturday’s against Australia. Ireland under Eddie O’Sullivan and Declan Kidney also had their first-day inconsistencies, O’Sullivan losing nine of 21 and Kidney six of 14.
Schmidt’s Ireland, though, pos- sess this ability to get up to speed straight away and it could be an invaluable skill to have given the significance of what is on the horizon — a two-year run that includes must-win fixtures such as away to France first-up in the 2018 Six Nations and later the pool opening showdown against Scotland at the 2019 World Cup.
Assistant coach Richie Murphy ducks for cover when asked why Ireland’s opening day strike rate is so positive. ‘I don’t know why that is,’ he said yesterday, the dust having settled on another satisfying Test window opener.
‘The one thing I would say is that the core of the players that are coming back in have an understanding of what is expected of them. There is a clear guideline and game plan on both sides of the ball set out for the guys so it’s easy for them to get up to speed with what we are trying to do.
‘That has to be part of the reason maybe that guys feel comfortable when they come in. But the other part of it that is quite good is the sharing. Guys work hard with each other and with the new guys when they come in, in order to try and bring them up to speed.’
This wasn’t always the case, Schmidt’s skipper Rory Best cutting a sorry sight last year when trying to explain why Ireland had uncharacteristically misfired at the start of 2016.
‘There is a massive pressure there (in training) and it’s something as a player group we let off the first couple of weeks,’ he said during a miserable campaign where the opening day draw to Wales was the precursor to draining defeats in Paris and London.
‘We let some of our standards away in training. Because we wanted to build confidence, because everyone was talking us down, we maybe went a wee bit too much instead of going, “Look, if you don’t catch up you are going to be left behind”.
‘That is the environment we have created and that is why when the young guys come in the first thing they do is they spend a lot of time studying plays, studying where they need to be so if something goes wrong, they are not the ones that get it wrong. There is a lot around that. That is the framework we play to.’
With Ireland having once more put their best foot put forward on weekend one, the onus to prepare assiduously now falls on what is set to be a rejigged team to face
‘The tightness within the group is really easy to see’
Fiji on Saturday.
Schmidt’s sides are consistent at backing up fine window-opening displays, winning in week two on eight of the 10 occasions after they have won in week one, but Saturday will bring an added pressure as home matches against non-tier one oppositions seldom attract sell-out crowds. This game will.
‘It shows you the interest in Irish rugby at the moment,’ reasoned Murphy yesterday as Michael Bent was drafted in as tighthead cover while Dave Kilcoyne and James Ryan sat out training, but both are expected to be fine for the weekend.
‘It’s an opportunity to maybe see one or two guys who don’t play that regularly for Ireland and see some new guys coming through.
‘If you looked at training this week there is a real buzz. The tightness within the group is really easy to see but then there’s massive competition between the players below that. Everybody realises that if you don’t work together for the common good noone goes forward.’
Ireland are going forward judging by their latest first-day bonanza.