Schmidt praises team, coaches
IRELAND’S top of the rankings clash with New Zealand lived up to its “heavyweight” billing on Saturday, coach Joe Schmidt said as he delighted in a collective victory he was quick to share with his squad and coaching staff.
The Six Nations champions laid down a massive marker ahead of next year’s World Cup by beating the All Blacks in commanding fashion to record just their second victory over the world champions in more than 100 years.
As well as notching their 17th win in the last 18 games and marking two years unbeaten at home, Ireland also became the first team, apart the British and Irish Lions, to leave the All Blacks try-less since 2014.
Schmidt credited the “super job” done by his defence coach, former England rugby league and union international Andy Farrell, and also singled out forwards coach Simon Easterby and scrum coach Greg Feek for their efforts.
“I know a lot of people thought that our line-out was a bit flimsy last week but I thought our first half line-out was a fantastic platform to springboard into the game, as was the scrum. Greg Feek is a bit of an unsung hero there as well,” he said.
“I’m lucky, I’ve got a team behind the team who do a super job.”
However, Schmidt was typically modest when asked about his role in the brilliant line-out move that led to the game’s decisive and only try for Jacob Stockdale.
“I mostly steal them from other people. I’m always on the look out, I’m always keeping my eye out. I watched the (New Zealand) Mitre 10 Cup, they’ve always got a couple of good ones,” he said.
“I’ve come up with some incredibly poor moves in my time.”
Meanwhile, a scrappy win over Italy has all but ensured coach Michael Cheika will guide the Wallabies to a second World Cup but the former Randwick enforcer has more immediate headaches before the season-ending clash against England.
With the Wallabies having slumped to an eighth loss in 11 Tests against Wales the week before, a first ever defeat to the Azzurri would have been more than enough justification for Rugby Australia to swing the axe, even with 10 months left before the global showpiece in Japan.
Instead, the 26-7 victory over Conor O’Shea’s Italy in Padua – as unconvincing as it was – has given Cheika and the Wallabies breathing space before they head to Twickenham to take on Eddie Jones’ England.
Cheika and his men will need every inch of it.
No 8 David Pocock is nursing another pain in the neck, two months after he was forced to miss the Rugby Championship clash against South Africa with a separate neck strain.
The loss of Australia’s most fearless breakdown warrior would be a massive blow for the Wallabies, who have lost their last five straight to Jones’s side.
Cheika will be reluctant to risk Pocock, however, given his importance to the side’s World Cup hopes and his recent neck problems.
“He’s obviously got a pretty nasty stinger on his neck,” Cheika said post-match. “It was giving him the burns down the arm for quite a while. We’ll just wait and see what happens and see how he recovers.”