Schmidt hits out at ‘unfair’ criticism of Ireland skipper Best
Joe Schmidt has leapt to the defence of veteran hooker Rory Best, branding criticism of his Ireland captain “unfair”.
Head coach Schmidt has made 12 changes from last weekend’s record 57-15 loss to England at Twickenham for tomorrow’s World Cup warmup against Wales in Cardiff.
Munster’s Niall Scannell starts at hooker with a big chance to seal his World Cup squad spot, with 37-year-old Ulster stalwart Best added to the bench at his own request.
Best and prop Tadhg Furlong were due to be rested this weekend, but Schmidt admitted both asked for extra time to push themselves back up to top match sharpness.
On Tuesday, Schmidt refused to give any guarantees that Best will captain Ireland at the World Cup but has now defended his regular skip per in the wake of the eight-try England hiding.
“The people who maybe really launched the criticism at him, some of it is unfair,” said Schmidt of Best. “The quality of what he provided, his support play and breakdown work, was still of a good standard.
“To put his performance in the nutshell of the lineout which is a lot of moving parts, there’s a little bit of undue criticism. At the same time Rory is very selfcritical. He is very conscious of wanting to improve himself.
“I know internally he sets an incredibly high benchmark for himself, he didn’t reach that benchmark and he will be very keen to re-establish that benchmark coming off the bench on Saturday.”
Asked if he had always planned to include Best and Furlong on the bench for the Principality Stadium clash, Schmidt said: “It wasn’t originally the plan, but the plan is always fluid. You get guys who get knocks, or guys who need more time. They were very keen to get back in and get back involved, they felt they were just a bit off last week. Rory felt he was underdone, and didn’t have the energy in his legs.”
Ireland’s soul-searching this week has included boss Schmidt unusually addressing the media on Tuesday, while Jacob Stockdale has had his shaggy hair cut short and Bundee Aki his bushy beard shaved off.
Peter O’mahony will captain Ireland tomorrow from openside flanker – the Munster star shifting across the back row to accommodate provincial colleague Tadhg Beirne at blindside. O’mahony, Aki and Stockdale are Ireland’s sole survivors from last weekend’s Twickenham humbling.
Jack Carty starts at standoff with a big opportunity to push ahead of Ross Byrne in the queue for Ireland’s third playmaking berth. Ulster’s Will Addison will make his first start at full-back.
Cardiff Blues wing Owen Lane and Saracens prop Rhys Carre will make their Wales debuts after head coach Warren Gatland made 14 changes from the starting lineup on duty against England 13 days ago, with Blues back-row forward Josh Navidi, pictured, captaining Wales for the first time.
Flanker James Davies is the only player retained following a 13-6 victory over England.
Lane and Carre apart, there are also opportunities for the likes of full-back Hallam Amos, centre Scott Williams, stand-off Jarrod Evans and hooker Ryan Elias prior to Gatland announcing his 31-man World Cup squad on Sunday.
Victory over Ireland would give Wales a 12th successive home win.