Lancaster’s vote goes to the greens
IN THE black corner New Zealand, in the green Ireland. World champions versus Six Nations champions, world No1 v world No2. This is the game of the season.
New Zealand are never there for the taking but the vulnerability England exposed in the first half last Saturday will give renewed hope to Ireland that they can find the extra inch Eddie Jones’ men could not.
Ireland may have lost Dan Leavy yesterday and be without Conor Murray and Robbie Henshaw but they know they can beat the All Blacks having done so in Chicago two years ago.
And the selfconfidence that gives them is priceless according to Stuart Lancaster, the last England coach to taste victory over New Zealand and now coach to more than half the Ireland side at Leinster.
“The most important thing, regardless of any game plan when you play the All Blacks, is believing you can beat them,” said Lancaster.
“England had that last week through the likes of Owen Farrell and Ireland have it on the back of the Chicago game last year and the involvement of a fair number of their players on the Lions tour.
“I coach a lot of the players at Leinster and I rate them very highly. If you were picking a Lions squad now there would be a lot of Irishmen in it.
“New Zealand will probably be more cohesive than they were against England because they will have had another week together but Ireland have world-class players and that, plus the quality of their coaching, will make them competitive.”
His instinct is that Joe Schmidt’s attacking plays will challenge New Zealand in a way few others do but, with dry weather forecast, it will be defence coach Andy Farrell, who Lancaster worked alongside for three years with England, whose area of expertise will be the most critical. “Ireland can live with the All Blacks, whatever the conditions, but they have to live with them for 80 minutes,” Lancaster said. “New Zealand can hurt you in a split second. What sets them apart is their ability to transition from defence to attack. That’s why they are the best in the world.
“Ireland’s defence will need to be strong but Andy Farrell has coached against the All Blacks many times. When Ireland are at their best, their defence is very strong and he will work hard on their line speed to pressure New Zealand behind the gain line.”
Johnny Sexton will again be crucial. “Johnny has proven against New Zealand he can create problems in varying his attack between his kicking game and ability to organise multi-phase rugby. He’s rightly nominated for world player of the year. He’s one of the best – if not the best – player I’ve coached,” he added. FARRELL: Vital role