Beating Kiwis can set us up to win World Cup, says Heaslip
JAMIE Heaslip believes that victory over the All Blacks this weekend will give Ireland the confidence to go on and win next year’s World Cup. The former Ireland captain has a mixed history with New Zealand. He became the first Irish player to be sent off in the professional era in 2010 — after driving his knee into Richie McCaw’s back — but six years later, he was part of the first Irish team to beat the All Blacks on a momentous day in Chicago’s Soldier Field. ‘I think the squad we have is even stronger than the squad we had in Chicago two years ago,’ Heaslip observed. ‘I think as a steppingstone for putting ourselves in the right mind-frame for winning the World Cup, this will be a big step to take to be able to do that. ‘The difference maker here is that we’re going to have the squad, we’re going to have the ability but you need a bit of luck on the field and I think that extra bit of impetus can be our home support and our travelling support because some of those games are just like home games. If we meet New Zealand in the World Cup it’s either we’ve come second in our group or we won’t meet them again until the final so we’re going to have to play them. ‘But we have got rid of the whole thing about never having beaten them. That’s not a talking point anymore. We have beaten the best in the world in the past, but can we do it again? I think the difference maker is going to be the crowd.’ Heaslip, who watched last weekend’s Argentina game in his new role as analyst for Channel 4, says he is not concerned about the scrappy nature of Ireland’s performance against the Pumas as Joe Schmidt’s men still managed to win. ‘At the end of the day, they won and they are always measured on their results and outcome even though Joe says they are not outcome-focused. They won and I think their scrum was very strong and dominant. The props were very impressive at what they did. ‘Defensively, they played well but were not as clinical as they tend to be in parts of the game. ‘The game was really good in certain ways, but there was enough creaking for there to be good work to get done this week and enough of a little bit of a fright, not too much, just a nudge, to re-focus.’