Irish struggle to stay on task as Springboks loom
After battering Scotland on Sunday to get their World Cup campaign off to the perfect start, Ireland experienced a change of pace yesterday.
From Yokohama, a bustling city of four million, Joe Schmidt’s squad travelled south-west to Katsuragi Kitanomaru, a resort hotel located in tranquil woodlands not far from Hamamatsu in Shizuoka prefecture.
The resort, of which Ireland will have exclusive use this week, boasts traditional Japanese-style (as well as Western-style) guest rooms, three hot springs and two golf courses. Ireland’s squad may need to get a bit of Zen if they are to survive the next four weeks without going crazy.
Schmidt’s side have played only 80 minutes of rugby, yet barring a shock in their remaining pool games, against Japan, Russia and Samoa, they already know who they are going to face in the quarter-finals. South Africa’s defeat by New Zealand on Saturday means the Springboks are almost certain to finish runnersup in Pool B.
The temptation to ask about that prospective clash — despite it being some four weeks away — was too much for some yesterday.
And as much as Schmidt and his players tried to deflect the questions, it was too much for them not to fall occasionally into the trap of talking about the possible game against South Africa.
“I thought [Cheslin] Kolbe was phenomenal,” Jacob Stockdale replied at one point when asked about the Toulouse winger’s live-wire performance against the All Blacks. “He’s a serious wee jack-in-the-box. He’ll be one I need to look out for.”
Or CJ Stander who, as a South African by birth, was virtually guaranteed to be asked about the possibility of playing against many of his former friends and teammates. “It’s just another game,” he insisted. Only it is not. The Stander link is one of a number of fascinating subplots to that potential quarter-final. The fact that South Africa are now coached by Rassie Erasmus, who spent 18 months at Munster, is the main one. Erasmus’ decision to sign Schmidt’s ex-assistant, Felix Jones, to his back-room staff on the eve of the tournament is another.
The problem is that match is still a month away. Ireland have to put in three professional performances before then. Japan, up first, are no strangers to giant-killing. Their players admitted yesterday they hoped Ireland might underestimate them as the Boks did four years ago.
“I think they will look down on us,” said lock Uwe Helu. “And we’ll do everything when we get our chance.”
Helu added that he had seen things in Ireland’s game against Scotland, specifically their defence being a bit narrow, which he felt Japan could exploit this weekend.
He added that the pressure would be all on Ireland at Shizuoka Stadium.
“Everyone expects them to win,” he said. “We’ll give everything. Every game for us is a final.”
Schmidt provided a medical bulletin yesterday morning — Johnny Sexton’s substitution on Sunday was purely “tactical”, apparently, although he did suffer “a bang to the thigh”, while Peter O’Mahony and Bundee Aki had passed the next stage of their HIA protocols.