Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
YOUR TIME HAS COME
Schmidt tells Ireland’s emerging talent they will get their chance on big stage this month
JOE SCHMIDT has told his new faces that opportunity will knock during the Guinness November Series.
Bundee Aki will feature for the first time at Test level after qualifying under the residency rule but there will also be international debuts for Chris Farrell, Adam Byrne and Darren Sweetnam.
Ireland kick-off the three-game campaign at the Aviva Stadium against South Africa next Saturday before facing Fiji and Argentina on successive weekends.
After increasing to the depth of his options on the summer tour in the US and Japan, Schmidt wants to add more again with Japan 2019 in mind.
With Simon Zebo not on board and Jamie Heaslip, Garry Ringrose and Jared Payne all injured, there will be chances for others to impress.
Also hopeful of exposure are a quartet of 21-year-olds who were Test debutants in the summer – Andrew Porter, Kieran Treadwell, Jacob Stockdale and James Ryan.
Schmidt explained: “You’ll see a few changes through the three Tests. A really positive Guinness Series is to continue from Japan a little bit. We don’t have too many windows. The next window is a massive pressure cooker for us. It’s Six Nations, the big competition of the year.
“If we want to get a window where we can still look to be as competitive as we can be but also grow the group a bit, this is it.
“That’s part of our strategy behind some of those guys in the back three, the second row and the front row.
“It’s an opportunity in the middle of the pitch as well. Training this week, it’s funny to see Robbie Henshaw being the small centre with
Stu Mccloskey and Chris Farrell there.
“We used to have Gordon D’arcy and Brian O’driscoll there, so it’s a novelty. There are some exciting new guys involved and we’re excited about seeing how they go.
“If they go well that’s a successful
Guinness
Series because it’s an investment for us that we want an immediate return on but that we’re prepared to also take a longer-term view with.” The Springboks finished third in the Rugby Championship. They responded to a 57-0 rout at the hands of the All Blacks to lose by just a point to the world champions in the final game in Cape Town.
“Take out Ryan Crotty’s kickahead try and Rieko Ioane’s intercept and South Africa were incredibly good that day against the All Blacks,” said Schmidt (left). “If that’s where they’ve got to – and the evidence suggests it is – then they’re going to be incredibly tough. I know they lost Jean-luc du Preez, who was looking incredibly impressive in the Currie Cup final last weekend but Eben Etzebeth has grown as a leader in that group and is still incredibly young.
“Their average age would be mid-20s and it’s a team for the future that is right here, right now – one of the best that any country could hope to have.”
Schmidt then predicts a massively physical challenge against Fiji.
“There’s no coming up for air with some of the behemoths they have,” Schmidt said. “They’re a fantastic, athletic team. You only have to look at Nakawara and the skill element he brings, the footwork of Tuisova, the immense power of Nandolo. They’re going to be a real handful for us.
“And then Argentina. The disappointment we suffered last time at their hands in the 2015 World Cup quarter-finals, we’d love to rectify that.
“We’d love to scrape our way through and get three results but the quality of the performance of some individuals that we’re looking to give an opportunity, that’s equally important.”