‘Grand Slam is super special’
Buoyant Schmidt making sure there’ll be no resting on laurels as championship glory beckons
THE big freeze was beginning to make itself known as Joe Schmidt put his players through their paces as snow fell on the Aviva Stadium, but afterwards there was a notable thawing in the head coach’s approach to his press conference beneath the West Stand.
The New Zealander is riding the crest of a wave and took questions for more than half an hour as he made a case for his defence coach, considered the balance in developing young players and holding their performances to account, explained his injury situation at length, praised Jamie Heaslip’s contribution and ultimately considered the issue that is dominating the discussion outside the four walls of his camp – the Grand Slam.
The Ireland coach does not normally entertain such things. His focus is on the next job, on improving the players and keeping their eyes on the ball.
It has served him superbly in the trophy-laden eight years he has been in Ireland, but the down week between the pivotal games between Wales and Scotland have afforded him a little room to breathe and time to take a look at the bigger picture.
He’ll like what he sees. Fourteen points out of a potential 15 and a healthy points differential is “perfect”, according to Schmidt who will have worked out all of the equations ahead of a seven-day period that could define his tenure.
Five points clear with 10 to play for, they know that a bonus-point win over Scotland would put England – who play France away after Ireland’s game – in a corner and if Eddie Jones’ men can’t match Ireland’s result then the title will go Schmidt’s way for a third time in five seasons.
He feels that would be an achievement in itself and he would be correct, but the clean sweep has evaded him so far and would put this team – injury hit as it is – into another realm.
A student of rugby, the Kiwi coach knows just what it would mean to win the final two games and secure just the third Slam in Irish history.
He won’t think about it too much as he focuses on making improvements to the side, but he knows exactly what’s at stake.
“I’d love to win a Championship, you know?” he said. “But the Grand Slam is super special, especially here.
“In 2009 I witnessed that from a distance. I was living in Clermont but I saw how people reacted, what it meant to people.
“When you’ve only had two of them people talk about it because what’s rare is beautiful, you want it to happen massively.
FANTASTIC
“For us, it would be fantastic if that was something we managed to do but for us it would be really special if we managed to get three Championships in five years.
“That would be an incredible representation of the consistency at the very top level – at the very top level of Europe, you throw in a few of the southern hemisphere results and it’s been an exciting time for some of these players to really test themselves.
“But these next two games, I think they just get bigger and bigger, don’t they?
“Scotland on that upward spiral. We’re at home, in Dublin, we know the reality that if we can get the result there then other people have to do something special to stop us from getting the Championship.
“So it’s a massive short-term focus for us but for Scotland it’s a massive short-term focus (as well) because they know that if they get a result here they go to Rome with what would be a massive result for them in the context of how they’ve built over the last two/ three years from Vern (Cotter) through to Gregor (Townsend).”
Schmidt has targeted defensive improvements in the remaining games after his side conceded six tries in their last two games.
And he believes the responsibility lies with individual errors rather than a systematic flaw.
“Andy Farrell is world class,” he said of his defence coach.
“He’s got the confidence of our group, because they can see the system works,
we’ve just got to make sure we apply it at the right time at the right place, with the right people in the right place. With the right people doing the same thing
“If you look back at the game with one guy doing this and one doing that, there were very clear images that people know what we should be doing. Some of that is exuberance, somebody trying to make sure they are contributing in a positive manner. But any enthusiasm has to be tempered with intelligence on the pitch.
RUFFLED
“Teams are too good. You don’t fly out at Hadleigh Parks or Scott Williams, and expect them to feel ruffled. They’re going to say: ‘welcome, I’m going to manipulate you and make something of this for my team’. There are some learning experiences there. Do we have to learn quickly? Absolutely, because we can’t afford to keep conceding three tries a game.
“Andy’s doing a great job, not just with the team, but with individuals. Trying to get them to understand the pictures, so they make good decisions.
After working their way through two close finishes, Schmidt is hoping his players are steeled for what’s coming. “There is a bit of a belief that even if it is tough we are capable,” he said. “Then you can believe in yourself. Maybe hopefully stick to the system which we didn’t do as well as we would have liked sometimes.
“I think I said I’d bite your hand off after those first two wins and that certainly hasn’t changed.
“February, 14 out of 15 points... Gee, that’s perfect for us so far.
“The imperfect thing is that we know we’ve been vulnerable in some areas of the game.
“We know we won’t win the Championship unless we can make sure that we are good on both sides of the ball, that even in the air... it’s not very often that I’d say that we didn’t win the aerial battle, but Dan Biggar being the player that he is got a couple that were incredibly important to them – one of which they scored on the back of in that last 20 minutes.”
Another element to work on as part of the Grand plan.