Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
CHRIS AND CUDDLE IS UNLIKELY.. BUT JOE’S ICE COOL
JOE SCHMIDT will not be turning the air blue ahead of the visit of Les Bleus.
So says former Ireland flanker Chris Henry, who expects the Kiwi born head coach to keep things the same as they always are ahead of the visit of France this Sunday.
The visitors come to Dublin on the back of a confidence-boosting home win over Scotland two weeks ago, with no changes to their starting XV.
But Henry, who won his last Ireland cap in the 2015 Rugby
World Cup quarter final defeat to Argentina, says Joe will have kept a cool head this week despite three unimpressive performances against England, Scotland and Italy.
“Joe’s such a cool, calm guy I don’t think he’ll be as flustered as everyone else is,” said Henry.
“He’ll just keep doing what he’s been doing, he knows what works for him, he won’t change the world and he doesn’t need to.
“He’s not going to cuddle the players at all .... but I think Joe understands everyone’s human, a lot of the squad are so young, dealing with high expectations.
“He’ll know when to prod in certain ways, when to pull back in other ways. He’s the coolest and calmest out of anyone in that camp, so I don’t think he’ll be using what’s going on outside as a motivating factor at all.”
Welcoming France to Aviva Stadium should be a motivating factor in itself, and Henry believes the players will be going all out for the five try bonus point win that could keep their title hopes within reach.
“It was great to see them back, a good France is great for tournament,” Henry said. “It’s a good time to get them, because they did well against Scotland but for those [Ireland] players who have been under heat, this is the best opportunity to go out and enjoy it, embrace it and try not to get too uptight.
“France have also shown some crazy stuff in the first two games, and hopefully some of that slips back in because there’s a chance now for Ireland to show why they’re no.2 in the world, and just because France had one good game last week, it doesn’t mean they’ll do well two games in a row.”
Schmidt will name his side to face France today, and while reports suggest Seán O’brien is a doubt to start – Henry believes his former back row colleague must be given the nod in the No 7 shirt.
“If you look at Seán’s career, if he picked up an injury he’d be thrown [straight back] in and every time he seemed to deliver,” Henry said. “This Six Nations I went ‘surely he can’t do that again’, but because of the England game, the way that worked, and the way the players were talking ‘oh we are flat, we’d no energy’, I thought Seán was amazing [in Scotland].
“He was fitter than I thought he’d be, played 65 minutes and I was watching, wondering when he’s gonna drop off but he didn’t drop of until the very end.
“I’ve seen him less fit – so if confidence is low now and the team need those inspirational figureheads to take some heat off Pete [O’mahony], Johnny and Rory [Best] – three big leaders, you have to start Seánie if he’s good to go.” ›› Former International Chris Henry teams up with Volkswagen, a proud partner of Irish Rugby, ahead of Ireland vs France #Readyformore
He’ll know when to prod in certain ways and when to pull back. He’s the coolest and calmest out of anyone in that camp..