Kearney: We’ve still plenty left in the gas tank
SUNDAY’S quarterfinal represents uncharted territory f or Ireland. They have previously been in World Cup last-eight fixtures, so no new ground is being broken f rom that perspective.
What is very different is the fact they are attempting to step on the accelerator for the third weekend in succession against a fellow tier-one nation.
Last February, after seeing off Italy and France on consecutive Saturdays, Joe Schmidt treated his squad to a down week with just a couple of days training in Galway interspersed with plenty of r’n’r given they had a 15-day build-up to their third game against England.
Here, after overcoming the Italians and the French in successive matches which exacted an even more physical toll than the games eight months ago, they have just seven days to glue themselves back together before going at it again against another quality side.
It’s guesswork how things might pan out. Backing up consistent performances on successive weekends without a break from facing t he world’s elite t e ams is something Ireland don’t have much experience in.
Last time they went toe-to-toe on three consecutive weekends in a row against proper opposition was the three-Test tour of New Zealand in 2012 which ended in the shambolic 60-0 defeat in Hamilton. And while there is no fear of that sort of an embarrassing outcome, Ireland will have their work cut out to endure the unrelenting physicality and come up with a result.
The onerous schedule isn’t something pre- occupying Dave Kearney, mind. He is a winger who wouldn’t be f eeling the same stresses and strains those on the Irish forward pack are soothing, but he insists Ireland aren’t fearing they could fall short in two days’ time due to too heavy a workload.
‘It hasn’t really entered my head until you said it there,’ he suggests. ‘It doesn’t make a difference, really. This is knockout rugby. You don’t really have time to sit back and reflect on what you have done.
‘Monday comes and you have forgotten about France. We’re totally focus on Argentina. If you allow yourself dwell on the past, you will fall short. It’s all Argentina now and we’re focused on the task.
‘It’s the quarter-final of the World Cup. If you find yourself falling short on the petrol, you’re probably in the wrong place.’
Kearney is a player Schmidt likes, one of just six in the original 31 at the finals who earned his debut on the New Zealander’s watch (Jack McGrath, Nathan White, Tadhg Furlong, Jordi Murphy and Jared Payne are the other five).
That likeability factor was crucial in getting the wing back into the side.
Having contributed diligently to the 2014 Six Nations triumph, he went 19 months uncapped due to serious injury and others jumping ahead in front of him in the queue.
However, having put an immediate attacking gallop into Ireland within a minute of being sprung from the bench against Scotland in the August warm-up game that was his comeback, he has started six of the seven matches since then and is ready to wear the No 11 at the Millennium even though it’s on the backfoot he has been most seen in recent weeks.
‘The French game was probably more of a defensive display from me. Similar enough to against Italy. I didn’t get a lot of ball, but I’ve been happy so far. I know how much competition there is out wide and how important it is to perform when you get the chance.
‘It’s important to hold your width and be patient. There was a couple of times last week — one when Sean (O’Brien) just knocked it on — when there was a good bit of space on the edge for me, so you have just got to be patient.’
One thing you find Kearney being patient about is rucks out wide. It was at a public training session in Belfast 20 months ago that the crowd fell silent as a no-nonsense Schmidt bawled the winger out of it for not doing what was required at a breakdown. It was an uncomfortable moment, one he is endeavouring to avoid happening again.
‘Wide rucks is something that Joe takes pretty seriously and it’s very important if we get the ball out wide as a back three unit, if we don’t win that ruck and create quick ball you’ll get in trouble.
‘It’s like hitting the ball up short and the forwards coming in and getting quick ball for us — we have the same responsibility out wide to do that and if we don’t it will be up on the video on Monday.’ Kearney has been under Schmidt’s thumb for a while now having made the breakthrough at Leinster while the Kiwi was learning the ropes about how things work in Irish rugby. That constant presence has the back on his toes.
‘He definitely gets the best out of the players. Even if we’re in a sports hall doing a walk through, it’s quite relaxed but it doesn’t really matter. If you’re not doing the right job there he’ll tell you.
‘We always train at the highest intensity possible and we always train like we’re playing a game, obviously without the collisions but in terms of our passing. If we put a ball down, if we don’t catch a ball, he won’t just let it slide.
‘Once we do all that stuff during the week then it becomes engrained in us and it becomes normal. Then in a match, when certain scenarios come up, our instinct is to do what we have practiced in training and that is part of the reason why he gets the best out of the players.’
Do that Sunday and Ireland will have conquered uncharted territory.