FERGIE TIME
AS Alex Ferguson once said, even top class performances are sometimes not enough.
You need luck on your side too when the big days come.
And such a challenge is facing Ireland at Twickenham tomorrow.
That’s the view of the Fergie-like Joe Schmidt who, despite seeing his side build an 11-match winning streak over the past year and clinch the Six Nations title last Saturday, is extremely wary of what lies ahead against a wounded England.
The fact that Eddie Jones has made a whopping seven changes for this final championship encounter suggests the Red Rose are in crisis.
That they could fall to their third straight defeat may mean there’s a whiff of desperation to their preparations.
But Schmidt harks back to 2014 when Ireland first won the championship under his guidance as a barometer to what’s required now.
Ireland’s only loss that year was a 13-10 reverse to England.
The men in green led
10-3 courtesy of a superb try by Rob Kearney, one of only two survivors from the 2009 Grand Slam set-up going for another glorious clean sweep this weekend.
But Danny Care’s try and the boot of Owen Farrell saw England’s chariot home.
“What I hate is we could actually play really well and lose,” said the Ireland boss. “I remember four years ago we went to England and I felt it was our best performance of the Six Nations. One of the greatest ironies for me was that when we won that championship it was described as four super performances and just that one poor performance against England.
“When we looked at it, who were up against and how well we performed, for us it was probably our best performance.
“One of the things you don’t get safeguarded by is the level of your performance when you’re playing against a really good team.
“Because if Anthony Watson, Jonny May or Elliot Daly slip away, they’re gone. They’re too quick.
“If Mako Vunipola doesn’t get put down in the first tackle, you’re going to be under pressure. Kyle Sinckler the same, the ball carry they bring.
“That line-out pressure they got on the French, that’s massive. I’ve no doubt that that’s a similar sort of thing that they will try to do to us.
“But not only does it have to be a really good performance – even Sir Alex Ferguson said, ‘You want to put all those good things together and then you just need an ounce of luck when it comes to those really big games’.”
Both sides played with such ferocity that day in February 2014 that in the last quarter they were almost out on their feet, like two heavyweights trying to land the winning punch in the final rounds.
And Schmidt expects a similar scenario tomorrow. “I thought it was an unbelievably good Test match,” he reflected. “It was only one try apiece but it was end-to-end, side-to-side.
“There was so much play in that game. I think the first four and a half minutes it was non-stop. So it could be a real high tempo and that’s going to challenge both teams.
“England will want to play. They’ll want to come at us, want to have the ball on their pitch and will work hard to make sure that’s the case. They’re desperate to win but so are we.”
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