Relieving the pressure and raising spirits
UNCERTAINTY is rife at the moment with the Brexit deadline just 30 days away. The Six Nations will be concluded by then and Ireland may have negotiated this worrying mid-season slump. That all depends on how they go against France and Wales in the coming weeks.
A repeat of the stuttering displays against England, Scotland and Italy will set alarm bells ringing ahead of the World Cup.
Joe Schmidt has been very candid after three sub-par performances in the championship to date. His players were ‘bullied’ by England, ‘frustrated’ against Scotland and ‘suffocated’ by the Italians. Schmidt himself is ‘worried’ by current developments.
Indeed, Schmidt’s men are struggling to hit the heights of last year. In 2018, Ireland were a slick and organised outfit. Johnny Sexton’s last-gasp drop goal in Paris galvanised that squad and imbued a confidence which drove them to a Grand Slam, a series victory on Australian soil and that memorable triumph over the All Blacks.
It was quite a remarkable 12 months and, unsurprisingly, the hype machine went into overdrive. Ireland, despite their failure to reach a World Cup semi-final across the previous eight tournaments, were being tipped to take Japan by storm. They went into this year’s Six Nations as hot favourites to seal back-to-back Grand Slams (a feat never achieved in the 19-year history of the tournament).
Going back to that win against New Zealand last November, it is interesting to revisit a quote from All Blacks head coach Steve Hansen.
A canny operator and a master of mind games, Hansen anointed Ireland as the world’s top team before making a very prescient observation.
‘They’ve become a team that believes in themselves and are priding themselves on how they’re playing.’ he said. ‘It’s their turn at the moment so we’ll see how they cope with that.’
Not very well, it turns out. The burdens of favouritism and expectation have weighed heavily on this squad and it has showed on the pitch.
Following Sunday’s events in Rome, Schmidt admitted the whole operation needed to take a step back and have a breather.
This down week ahead of the visit of France on March 10 is another opportunity for the Kiwi to take stock and find a solution to the current malaise.
He could do worse than try some of the following left-field ideas.
OLD-SCHOOL SESSION
In his final year as Leinster head coach, Schmidt took his squad to the Gravity Bar in the Guinness Storehouse for an end-of-season bash.
The province had just sealed back-to-back Heineken Cups and c e l e b r a t i o n s w e r e i n o r d e r. Schmidt was there in the midst of the players downing a pint — you’d wonder if things ever get that relaxed in the national set-up.
Sometimes when things are failing to click, it’s worth going back to basics. Maybe an old-fashioned drinking session is the best thing this stressed-out squad needs at the moment? Give them the chance to relax and bond and forget about all the pressure and expectation for one evening.
Sexton recently revealed that Ireland trained the house down in the lead-up to that ill-fated encounter with England. Eddie Jones, on the other hand, had let his England squad loose for a night on the town in London prior to a 15-day pre-tournament camp in Portugal. There was no question which squad looked the more cohesive and motivated in Lansdowne Road.
LET JOEY RUN FREE
Joey Carbery’s move to Munster was engineered by Schmidt and David Nucifora to get him more exposure at out-half in top-level games, but Ireland’s head coach might be missing a trick here.
For Leo Cullen and Stuart Lancaster at Leinster, it wasn’t a case of Sexton or Carbery — they wanted to get both of them on the pitch. Carbery’s footwork, acceleration and passing skills were used to devastating effect at fullback for Leinster.
Ireland are crying out for another playmaker in their back line at present. Another conductor in the backs would take some heat off Sexton, who is copping heavy punishment on the front line.
A NEW ROLE FOR RYAN
CJ Stander’s injury early in the tournament has presented a dilemma for Schmidt. He has never seemed fully convinced by Jack Conan while Jordi Murphy failed to impress against Italy.
Having experimented with Robbie Henshaw at full-back, he may consider deploying James Ryan in the unfamiliar position of No8.
Even when Stander is on the field, Ryan is arguably Ireland’s best ball-carrier at the moment. A lock by trade, the 22-year-old certainly has the pace and the intelligence to operate at the back of the scrum.
Crucially, it could also solve a big selection issue for Schmidt when Devin Toner and Tadhg Beirne get back to full fitness.