Herring insists Ireland have ‘more to give’
Ireland hooker Rob Herring believes the best is yet to come from Joe Schmidt’s side as they toast their series win over Australia in Sydney.
Victory at the Allianz Stadium brought the curtain down on Ireland’s most successful season as they added a first series win over one of the southern hemisphere’s traditional big three since 1979 to their Grand Slam success.
With captain Rory Best out of the tour with injury, his Ulster teammate Herring was one of the relatively unheralded players who received an opportunity on this tour, starting the first Test and coming off the bench in matches two and three.
Despite fielding three very different teams for each of the games in a compelling series, Ireland managed to come from 1-0 down to win in Melbourne and Sydney and clinch the Lansdowne Trophy.
With the 2019 World Cup in Japan looming large over next season, Herring is excited about what the team can achieve.
“The last year has been massive for us,” he said. “We know that as a squad we still have more to give. We have tough autumn internationals coming up and then the Six Nations, leading into a World Cup.
“These next 18 months are going to be massive to keep building on. Being out there on the pitch after the game, the support we’ve had throughout this tour has been phenomenal and we were out there, clapping on the crowd… Jeez, it’s just those memories that will live forever.
“Hopefully, there is more to come. We’ll keep building to the World Cup.”
Ireland survived some nervous moments, but Herring believes the confidence they have built through their successful campaign stood them in good stead.
“There’s a lot of belief in the squad and we’ve shown the last year we can come back and hold out in those big moments.
“I think that’s the kind of belief you need to keep building on going into a World Cup.
“We’re quite a tight group and, from these 3½ weeks we’ve been on tour, that sense of being tight-knit has grown considerably.
“Ultimately, we want to play for Ireland and play for each other on the pitch. That showed in the last few Tests and when we put our minds to it, we can be pretty good.”
Although bitterly disappointed to lose the series, Wallabies No 8 David Pocock praised the Irish effort. “It is an incredibly disappointing loss,” he said. “The finishers came on and lifted the energy. Credit to Ireland through the series, they have been tough.
“Their game-management has been really good, you don’t become second in the world for nothing. Each game has been tough. They’re a good opposition, it’s been a real arm-wrestle and it’s not how we wanted it to finish.”