Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
IRELAND OZ-SOME
Boys in green clinch historic Test victory
ANOTHER chapter in the most successful season in Irish rugby history was written in Australia yesterday.
Joe Schmidt’s boys in green held on for a 20-16 victory in Sydney in a bruising encounter that went right to the wire.
The success clinched a first series win in Australia since 1979, the 2-1 triumph being made all the more remarkable as Ireland had lost the first Test. When added to a third Grand Slam, won just a matter of months ago, it’s hard to argue against this being the most successful period in the side’s long and proud rugby union-playing history.
And when asked just how Ireland had managed the feat, Schmidt was quick to pass on the credit.
The New Zealand-born coach told Sky Sports Main Event: “It comes back to the provinces. They manage them well, keep enough juice in the tank.
“I’m not sure we could play again next week. I think all that juice is used up.
“Maybe, we didn’t have this generation of player in the past. I would take my hat off to the coaching team.” A try from CJ Stander and five Johnny Sexton penalties secured the Lansdowne Cup.
It’s going to be a tough act to follow but, whisper it quietly, there’s the small matter of the World Cup in Japan in just over a year. Surely not?
news@irishmirror.ie
GARETH SOUTHGATE has defended his decision to base England’s World Cup bid in the cool north of Russia as he arrived in Nizhny Novgorod to find temperatures soaring into the 30s.
Having trained all week in breezy conditions at their Gulf of Finland base, the England squad flew into a mini heatwave that could see the mercury rise to 33 degrees when their game against Panama kicks off at 3pm
local time. As Southgate visited the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium for his pre-match press conference, the heat was stifling but the England manager insisted he was happy with his preparations.
He said: “There’s no physiological benefit to train in the heat the two weeks before.
“We have to adapt. We are a team who keep possession and, in the heat, that will be key.”
Southgate’s team faces a gruelling test this afternoon and will then have only three days to recover before taking on Belgium.
Southgate confirmed Dele Alli will miss the clash with Panama with a thigh strain. He is likely to be replaced by Ruben Loftus-Cheek.
The only other possible change would see Marcus Rashford replacing Raheem Sterling.