Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
ONE MORE WIN
Ireland 80 minutes away from Grand Slam
JOE Schmidt is shutting out the Grand Slam hype building for Twickenham by insisting: “It’s just us against them.”
Schmidt claims one 6 Nations title would have been enough as he reflected on guiding Ireland to a third in his five years in charge – with a shot at Grand Slam glory to come.
“If five years ago, when I started this job, I was asked to pick which three years of the five you want to win the 6 Nations, I would’ve taken one out of the five because they’re tough to win.
“So it’s incredibly satisfying to see these guys being rewarded for the effort we made.”
Ireland will head to London on Thursday ahead of Saturday’s final championship showdown hoping to extend their record 11-game winning streak.
The home win over Scotland in
Dublin on Saturday was followed by England’s loss to France and those resulys confirmed Ireland as the
Red Rose’s successors as champions.
It also saw Schmidt’s side push ahead of England to second in the world rankings
Eddie Jones’ side are seeking to avoid a third straight defeat while retaining their unbeaten 6 Nations record at Twickenham that stretches back to 2012.
England are also seeking revenge for last year’s loss in Dublin that coincidentally smashed their own Grand Slam dream at the final hurdle.
Schmidt believes it all adds up to a fearsome challenge facing his team.
“You just isolate what you can do,” he said. “This is just us against them.
“I think there’s a degree of certainty around that and it means you can focus yourself a bit more.
“They know we’re coming and they’re going to be ready for us. We have to get over there and have our A game ready from the start.
“I think they’re going to be really dangerous.
“The personnel that they have, I’ve seen them play often enough, I actually watched them train with the Lions and they have an exceptional level.”