PLANS KICK INTO TOP GEAR
Schmidt took a back seat at start of the week but Ireland boss has put stamp on final preparations
RHYS Ruddock takes his seat in the press room at Soldier Field. The Leinster flanker is still sweating and out of breath from his side’s captain’s run out on the pitch. A final blowout before today’s clash with the Azzurri.
For the likes of Ruddock, this is a big opportunity to move up the pecking order. In the absence of Rory Best, Johnny Sexton and Peter O’Mahony who were away on Lions duty in New Zealand, Ruddock led the development tour of the US and Japan in the summer of 2017 with an impressive maturity.
Today, he gets another chance to showcase his leadership qualities.
That is just one of the many fascinating subplots ahead of this encounter in Chicago.
It’s been a curious week with Joe Schmidt only arriving into camp on Thursday.
Should we be reading between the lines there?
Defence guru Andy Farrell and forwards coach Simon Easterby have pretty much led the week with Schmidt fine-tuning things at the tail-end. Schmidt is out of contract after the 2019 World Cup while Farrell and Easterby are in situ until 2020.
Schmidt is set to make a decision on his long-term future at the end of this month. Perhaps this was a test week to see how the environment may operate without the boss?
The party line from Ruddock yesterday was that the week has passed without a hitch under the guidance of Schmidt’s assistants.
‘We had a day or so in Carton before we left with the wider group, obviously Joe was there and it allowed us to set out a plan for the week and have everyone understand how everything was going to work in terms of travel and training,’ Ireland’s stand-in skipper explained yesterday.
‘So, that was all set in stone early doors on Sunday and then Simon, Richie (Murphy, kicking coach), Feeky (Greg Feek, scrum coach) and Faz (Farrell) have most of the coaching responsibility while we’ve been over here. They’ve been awesome. Not having Joe here wasn’t ideal but they’ve done an awesome job.
‘We’ve had a great week preparing and now Joe’s arrived [Friday]. I suppose it’s business as normal [today] and we’ve got a job to do. ‘It hasn’t been an excuse. We’ve prepared really well and we’re really looking forward to it.’ It’s been an experimental week with an experimental team but there is very much a longterm focus to several selections for this clash in the States. Joey Carbery, who made his Ireland debut on this very pitch during that unforgettable victory over the All Blacks two years ago, has been handed his fourth Test start at fly-half. His summer move to Munster is paying dividends. Three years ago, Schmidt sat in the coaches’ box in the Millennium Stadium as his injury-ravaged Ireland side were dismantled by Argentina in a traumatic World Cup quarter-final. When Sexton was struck down early in that week, Ian Madigan was entrusted with steering the ship at No 10.
The problem was that Madigan was getting limited chances to run a game in that position for Leinster.
Schmidt made it his mission to ensure that scenario would never repeat itself. Thus, Carbery was convinced to move down the M7 to Limerick and he has not looked back.
‘He’s happy that he is getting opportunities to kind of make mistakes and build from them, be involved in positive aspects of play and build upon them,’ Schmidt said.
‘So we are hoping that Saturday is an extension of that really. I think it’s one of the toughest positions, if you’re not playing it regularly, because of the things you have to do.
‘Even outside of your actual personal involvements in the game, it’s making sure that other people have access to the game by getting them organised, by giving clear direction.
‘So I hope for Joey on Saturday that having Bundee (Aki) and Garry (Ringrose) there will help him along a little bit. And the fact that he knows Luke (McGrath) quite well.
‘That will hopefully allow him to blend in and not have to take all the responsibility but demonstrate that he can take a fair share of it.’
Carbery certainly won’t lack quality around him with Grand Slam heroes such as Aki, Ringrose and Jacob Stockdale in earshot.
Schmidt’s matchday 23 look superior in every area against Conor O’Shea’s largely secondstring Italian outfit but the midfield pairing of Michele Campagnaro and Luca Morisi can cause Ireland plenty of problems.
Zebre No 8 Renato Giammarioli is one to watch and looks the most likely to fill the massive void left by Sergio Parisse when the talismanic backrower hangs up his boots after next year’s World Cup.
Benetton prop Cherif Traore was also singled out as one to keep a close eye on by Schmidt this week.
You still feel that Ireland will have too much firepower and too many gears for their opponents. It may take a while but the likes of Carbery, Jordan Larmour, and Stockdale should see plenty of ball.
‘There is a contagious enthusiasm in the group,’ added Schmidt.
‘There is a willingness to really stretch themselves so that they try to perform as best as they can and there’s a cohesion there because they do take real pride in who they represent and I think they do a good job of it.’
You’d expect nothing less from this young and hungry group today.