Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Schmidt calls out Gatland
Schmidt wants no repeat of Argentina disaster in Nations showdown with Wales
JOE SCHMIDT has lit the fuse ahead of Saturday’s Six Nations crunch with Wales at the Aviva Stadium.
The Ireland boss showed his frustrated yesterday at Warren Gatland’s repeated attacks on his side.
The Wales supremo claimed in 2014 Ireland “kicked the leather off the ball” and a year later moaned: “I don’t think Ireland play a lot of rugby but they’ve been incredibly successful.”
Asked if Ireland had to change their game up to beat Wales, Schmidt (above) replied: “What can
IRELAND won’t have a ghost of a chance if they get spooked again.
Forced into three enforced changes among five in total, Joe Schmidt needs his tried and trusted lieutenants to guide his new Test cadets for what is the biggest threat Ireland face to making a Grand Slam showdown at Twickenham.
The 2015 World Cup quarter-final loss to Argentina is never far from Schmidt’s mind and he wants to avoid a similar outcome to that Cardiff heartbreak – when Ireland went in to bat without a host of leaders.
Can Ireland cope better this time? “You hope so because these players are a little bit more aware of what’s going to happen,” he stated. “The Argentinian week is still really bizarre because Johnny Sexton trained on the Friday for the Sunday game – it was only very late that Ian Madigan ran the captain’s run and suddenly you’re projected into the game.
“What you saw was a little bit of players being spooked and suddenly a team as good as Argentina get a 20-point lead. It’s very hard.
“You work your way back to get a kick to make it 23-all that you don’t get, then you over-chase and the likes of Juan Imhoff don’t need too many chances.
“Nor does Wales’ Liam Williams, Steff Evans or George North coming off the bench. That’s three incredibly high quality players.
“You’ve got Leigh Halfpenny, one of the smarter players around. Scott Williams, 50 caps, knows exactly what’s required out there.
“You’ve got Dan Biggar, 60 caps. So that’s all part of the challenge for our
players.” Ireland are missing Tadhg Furlong and Iain Henderson, who just failed to be fully fit in time, so relative newcomers Andrew Porter and James Ryan return to the pack.
A third Lions star – Robbie Henshaw – is gone for the season while Garry Ringrose returns for Leinster tonight rather than for his country tomorrow after ankle surgery.
The centre partnership comprises of Bundee Aki with four caps and Chris Farrell with two.
Farrell and Porter make their first Six Nations starts, Ryan his second and Aki and Jacob Stockdale their third.
“Unfortunately for us, until we get these guys into these opportunities and allow them to understand what it takes and how to run the game, it’s probably not going to happen overnight,” warned Schmidt.
More than ever, Schmidt needs leaders like Rory Best, Johnny Sexton, Conor Murray, Devin Toner, CJ Stander, Keith Earls and Rob Kearney to stand up and be counted.
“The experienced player has to make sure they do their bit right, because it’s not on to ask more of the inexperienced player,” he said. “Sometimes you want some experience around inexperienced players because when things are happening as fast as they tend to in a Test match, you can get spooked.
“You can get put off balance and you can get uncomfortable.
“We want to keep that assurance that some of these young guys are going to stay in the game.”
Schmidt is hopeful the young guns get involved with an early touch and that they realise that along with the tough moments, there will also be opportunities that must be taken.
He added: “Rory Best will grab Andrew Porter for the first scrum and make sure he’s ready to go.
“Dev is going to get an arm around James Ryan and make sure that he’s ready.
“Between Bundee and Keith Earls, hopefully Chris is ready. It’s a balance but you’ve got to have confidence in those inexperienced players stepping up.”