I’D LIKE MORE TIME BUT WE ARE READY FOR PUMAS BATTLE
Schmidt is happy to work on the positives from Soldier Field
IT’S about an hour after the final whistle at Soldier Field and Joe Schmidt, is his own inimitable way, is in full flow.
Ireland’s head coach is dissecting a decision by Joey Carbery to fizz a looping long pass across his backline during a ‘stodgy’ — Schmidt’s words — opening half in Chicago.
Carbery’s effort was picked off by Italy wing Giulio Bisegni, it was the wrong option and it cost Ireland territory and possession.
Schmidt is forensically detailing Carbery’s thought process and mapping out the various options available to him before he launched that ill-timed pass. Suddenly, there’s a beep of a horn and Schmidt and the Irish press pack make way for a golf cart carrying referee Nigel Owens and his assistants down the stadium concourse.
‘See ya Nige,’ says Schmidt with a wave.
It summed up the week perfectly. It was all a little surreal.
A couple of minutes later, the New Zealand Maori team sprint past as they make their way to the pitch to face US Eagles. For the record, the Kiwis demolished their opponents 59-22.
This experimental week in the States is winding down but Schmidt is already looking forward to the visits of Argentina and New Zealand over the next fortnight. In truth, he’s been thinking about those games for a long time.
He only arrived in Chicago on the Thursday before the game, having spent the first half of the week working with the spine of his squad back at Carton House: Best, Henderson, O’Mahony, Sexton, Kearney et al.
Schmidt and his travelling squad will arrive back in Dublin this morning. There will be some tired and sore bodies among the returning party but thoughts of Los Pumas will focus minds very quickly this week.
‘I’m never happy. I’d like more time,’ said Schmidt, when asked if he was ready for the looming challenges this month.
‘I’d like to have maybe spent eight days in Portugal probably on holiday without the team. But at the same time, I think those opportunities keep building. We have to condense those into two trainings this week.
‘We don’t arrive back until Monday so Tuesday is the earliest we will train. Some of these guys will need to be looked after a little bit after catching up with jet lag. Then we train Thursday and I think [against] Argentina, it’s going to be a heck of a game.
‘I really think they are coming fully loaded, coming fully fresh. They have had a great window to prep themselves so from that perspective, I think the full house… in the Aviva, I hope they are going to get value for money. I think you are going to get two teams going toe-to-toe at a pretty high level, I’m hoping.’
Schmidt will certainly have his homework done. He launched into a detailed breakdown of Argentina’s squad last week.
He reminded us that he coached Mario Ledesma — the Pumas boss — during his time as Vern Cotter’s right-hand man at Clermont. He reminded us of the attacking prowess of their fly-half Nicolas Sanchez and the clutch of exciting young backs on their books, including Emiliano Boffelli and Bautista Delguy.
Ireland are not exactly lacking firepower themselves. Certainly, Jordan Larmour’s stunning contribution gave Schmidt plenty to ponder on the flight back to Dublin yesterday. Rob Kearney has a ‘chance’ of making the cut this week as the veteran full-back continues his recovery from a shoulder injury.
Larmour grabbed the headlines with his dazzling broken-field running but the gaffer will be most pleased with his application to the more mundane tasks of full-back play: covering the backfield, fielding high balls and being aggressive in defence.
‘Jordan knew that there was a window of opportunity so he wanted to open it reasonably wide and then crawl through it for three tries,’ said Schmidt.
‘So he did that pretty well. He just has a contagious enthusiasm on the pitch, which is great. And in behind what you see on the pitch he works really hard, which is really positive as well. ‘Some of the bits of the game that aren’t quite as visible he does a really good job at.’ All in all, Ireland will take plenty away from this jaunt across the Atlantic. Tadhg Beirne’s performance has put him right in the reckoning now, while Will Addison and Ross Byrne became the 70th and 71st players to be capped by Schmidt since the last World Cup.
Most importantly, it was a chance for the likes of Carbery and Luke McGrath to try and fail things. The Kiwi does not mind his players failing just as long as they fail better next time around.
‘It takes a bit of time to grow into the game,’ said Schmidt.
‘This game it was for that reason. It was a chance to evolve Will Addison and Ross Byrne. It was an opportunity to give Tadhg Beirne a start.
‘I thought Quinn Roux, his work rate was super in the game and he was very physical. Dave Kilcoyne and Finlay Bealham were very physical. That hit in the middle of the field.
‘That’s the sort of thing that you’re looking for. Sean Cronin came off the bench and was really dynamic.
‘I think those guys coming off the bench made a really positive contribution. It was an opportunity to get them involved and learn a few lessons.’
Lesson learned. Class is now in session, going forward.