Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
BLACK AND WHITE
Equation very simple for Schmidt and Best - make history and beat Kiwis or walk away with regrets
IRELAND are dreaming of fairytale endings at their base in Tokyo Disneyland, not of completing full circles for Rory Best and Joe Schmidt.
Defeat for Ireland against New Zealand would end a Test playing career for Best that began against the All Blacks in 2005.
For Schmidt, his love affair with rugby began as a fouryear-old playing barefoot rugby in Te Aroha, in his native New Zealand.
He really doesn’t want his remarkable coaching career to go on hiatus without making Irish World Cup history. As with All Blacks supremo Steve Hansen and his captain Kieran Reid, the Irish head coach and his skipper are in the last chance saloon.
It’s win or bust now.
“It’s not something that I’ve given any thought to,” said Best, who, at 37, is playing in the biggest game of his career.
“We’re doing everything we can to make sure it isn’t the last game. We’re hopeful it’s two weeks away (in the final)
“When that final whistle goes we’ll worry about it then. At the minute it would be unfair and not reflective of the way the team is feeling.
“With the focus as a squad, it’s about winning, because obviously it’s knockout rugby. I’m no different.
“We’ll see what happens on Saturday night and hopefully there’s a bit longer to go. If there isn’t, there isn’t. We’ll tackle that at full time.”
However, Schmidt will enjoy a drink afterwards with the All Blacks coaching staff that he has gone head to head with as Ireland boss since 2013, when it took a last gasp try to deny him the spoils.
Success followed against the world’s best team in 2016 and last November, though he admitted yesterday that he felt awkward about the rivalry.
“Inevitably, everyone looks up to the All Blacks,” said Schmidt. “You watch them as a young kid and all the way through.
“When you get to the stage when you’re coaching Super Rugby, the All Blacks are very much a part of feeding information down and helping coaches develop.
“I would’ve got to know Graham Henry well. I’d have a huge respect for what he built into the All Black formula.
“You’re learning from that, but people don’t realise how much philosophies are fluid. The game changes.”
For Best, it’s chalk and cheese to his debut against the All Blacks, a 45-7 loss in Dublin.
“If you look back 14 years, I’m substantially better prepared as an individual – even just the physique and my condition,” he said.
“Back then I was young and inexperienced, and didn’t really realise what it took to get to the top.
“Joe has talked about how much the game has changed. You kind of just turned up and thought you were a good player and that would be enough on the day.
“Now it’s changed a lot. Preparation is the big thing.
“That’s why, by and large, we’ve been able to achieve consistency over the last number of years – because we understand what it takes to perform at the top level, and how small those margins are.
“Whenever you don’t get it quite right against the best teams, you don’t win. Ultimately, that’s where we’re at.
“We’re really looking forward to this. Hopefully it’s not something that comes full circle and starts and stops against the All Blacks.”