O’Brien’s uphill battle to be fit for Six Nations
Since the All Blacks last visited Lansdowne, Schmidt has turned Ireland into a force to be feared
SEAN O’BRIEN is facing a race to be fit for next year’s Six Nations after the Leinster openside underwent surgery on a broken forearm. O’Brien lasted just 38 minutes of Ireland’s 28-17 win against Argentina earlier this month after breaking his arm tackling Pumas lock Tomas Lavanini.
The 31-year-old now faces at least eight weeks out of action along with an uphill battle to be in contention for Ireland’s mouth-watering championship opener against England at Lansdowne Road on February 2.
Leinster head coach Leo Cullen will also be without the services of Robbie Henshaw for six weeks as the midfielder recovers from a hamstring injury. The province also clarified Dan Leavy’s injury yesterday after the IRFU refused to confirm the nature of the flanker’s condition following his withdrawal from the starting line-up to face the All Blacks. ‘Dan Leavy sustained a strain to his neck and is undergoing a period of rehabilitation. He will not be available for selection this weekend,’ read a statement from the
SATURDAY’S victory over the All Blacks was 24 months in the making. Just over two years ago Ireland were pummelled by a vengeful All Blacks side in Dublin.
Having secured an historic maiden win against New Zealand in Chicago, Joe Schmidt’s men suffered the full wrath of the ‘Blacklash’ at Lansdowne Road a fortnight later.
The visitors played with a pace and intensity that bordered on feral at times, and Ireland were left shellshocked.
There were many lessons learned that night. There were key flash points in the next two seasons that laid the foundations for that epic display last Saturday.
Here’s how Schmidt devised his blueprint to beat the All Blacks.
WAYNE’S WORLD Wales 22 Ireland 9 (March 10, 2017)
A rare defeat for Schmidt, but there was a crucial breakthrough that night. Referee Wayne Barnes has had a chequered history when he is officiating Ireland; they have won just 31 per cent of their games when he was the man in the middle.
Ireland had been to Cardiff two years previously and were whistled off the paddock by Barnes, conceding four early penalties that allowed the hosts to build a 12-0 lead while there was also a contentious late scrum call.
Ireland would lose this game but, more pertinently, would only concede four penalties across the 80 minutes. A big improvement on Barnes’s watch and Rory Best has developed a good rapport with the Englishman recently.
Johnny Sexton expressed concern about Barnes in the lead-up to the meeting with New Zealand but Ireland stayed on his good side that night, conceding just five penalties.
Lessons learned.
NO MURRAY? NO PROBLEM Ireland 13 England 9 (March 18, 2017)
Kieran Marmion knows all about starting big games for Ireland. He was parachuted into the starting line-up against an England team that was targeting a record-breaking 19th consecutive Test win.
When Conor Murray suffered a shoulder injury in the defeat by Wales, Schmidt turned to the Connacht scrum-half. Marmion had made 12 appearances for his country, but this would be his first start.
He gave a great account of himself that night as he guided Ireland through a ferocious encounter before being replaced by Luke McGrath in the final quarter as Ireland held on for a hard-fought win. Sound familiar?
BORN IN THE USA US Eagles 19 Ireland 55 (June 11, 2017)
When Warren Gatland was putting together his backroom team for the Lions’ daunting tour of New Zealand, Schmidt was top of his wish list. Gatland wanted Ireland’s head coach to run the tourists’ attack, but Schmidt had a long-term plan in mind. He declined Gatland’s invitation and decided to head up Ireland’s development tour of the US and Japan.
Schmidt had been tracking the progress of a young lock by the name of James Ryan. A star during his days at St Michaels’s College, he went on to captain a brilliant Ireland Under-20s side — which made the final for the 2016 edition of the Junior World Cup.
Ryan was recovering from a serious hamstring injury in the months leading up to that 2017 summer tour. Schmidt wanted Ryan on board so he managed to convince Rassie Erasmus to give him a run for a Munster (yes, Munster) development side against the Ireland U20s on a wet and windy afternoon at Thomond Park. Weeks later, he was on the plane to New York.
Ryan made an instant impact on a humid evening at the Red Bull Arena in New Jersey as he scored a try within 60 seconds of making his debut — as a replacement for Quinn Roux.
Ryan hadn’t even started a professional game for Leinster at the point, but Schmidt knew he was something special. Jacob Stockdale and Andrew Porter also made their debuts that evening.
By the time the All Blacks rolled into town last week, all three were established members of Schmidt’s squad.
EXPANDING HORIZONS Ireland 28 Argentina 19 (November 25, 2017)
‘They surprised us in the way they played. In the last two or three years they didn’t play like that, and today they played a lot from their own half and wide. It is a style we’re used to because the southern hemisphere sides play that way, but we didn’t expect Ireland to play that way.’
Those were the words of Daniel Hourcade, Argentina’s head coach, after this loss at Lansdowne Road. Schmidt had been steadily developing Ireland’s attacking game and the first signs of that evolution were apparent here.
Ireland had dominated the possession and territory stakes against New Zealand in Dublin two years ago but they failed to breach the visitors’ try-line. They looked incredibly potent a year later against the Pumas at the same venue with Stockdale scoring a brilliant individual try from a slick set play involving Bundee Aki and Chris Farrell.
LAST TANGO IN PARIS France 13 Ireland 15 (February 3, 2018)
Johnny Sexton’s match-winning drop goal after the bell resulted from an incredible 41-phase attack spanning almost five minutes, but it was no fluke.
Ireland have been regularly practicing an intensive five-minute recycling drill either on the Monday or Tuesday of their big match weeks. The inspiration? That frantic endgame against the All Blacks in 2013 when the visitors held the ball for 12 frantic phases to engineer a match-winning try for Ryan Crotty.
Schmidt knew that James Ryan was something special