Ireland must save their best for last
ACOUPLE of hours after the final whistle had sounded, Joe Schmidt made his way back to the Lansdowne Road press conference room flanked by his right-hand man Johnny Sexton.
Ireland had just been confirmed as Six Nations champions for the third time in Schmidt’s five years in charge, but you wouldn’t have known it from the facial expression of either man as all eyes turned to England and the Grand Slam.
Schmidt has transformed Ireland into a ruthlessly efficient outfit, yet for all that they have achieved in this campaign, the feeling is that there is still more to come.
Perhaps Irish supporters will not fully realise how good they have it until the Kiwi departs after next year’s World Cup. One thing for sure is that whoever replaces Schmidt has huge boots to fill.
Reflecting on their four Six Nations victories to date, Ireland haven’t exactly fired on all cylinders for a full 80 minutes. They will, however, need to do so in Twickenham this weekend.
While the narrow defence that has caused them so many headaches was somewhat improved, Scotland still managed to exploit Ireland on several occasions.
On Saturday, it very much felt like master versus apprentice as Gregor Townsend pitted his wits against the man for whom he has so much admiration.
What unfolded was an exhibition of world-class power plays, but ultimately Ireland are further down the line than Scotland are. The players know exactly how Schmidt ticks and what he wants from them.
A wounded English side playing in their own back yard is a dangerous proposition, yet Ireland have nothing to fear.
Schmidt has moulded a team so utterly confident in their own ability that they can go toe-to-toe with anyone in the world.
The Ireland boss undoubtedly has unfinished business at the World Cup, particularly in the manner in which Ireland crashed out to Argentina, but in the more immediate future, winning a Grand Slam would propel Schmidt to new heights. Ireland haven’t had a head coach like Schmidt before, and it might be a while before they have another.
Enjoy it while it lasts.
BENCH IMPACT REITERATES IRELAND’S STRENGTH IN DEPTH
Scanning through both benches before kick-off, it almost seemed too obvious to point to the impact that Ireland could call upon, but even still, they demolished Scotland in that regard.
Jordi Murphy has almost become the forgotten Irish flanker but it’s worth remembering that the Ulster-bound man started in the historic win over the All Blacks.
Murphy was immense off the bench and was rightly singled out for praise by Schmidt. Like they have been made to do in midfield, Ireland have dug deep into their back-row options and managed to come up with the answers.
A few eyebrows were raised when the fit-again Iain Henderson didn’t come straight back into the starting XV, but Schmidt rarely gets his team selection wrong and so it was again.
Devin Toner put in a fine shift before Henderson was unleashed from the bench. Not for the first time, Schmidt’s knack of getting the best out of players shone through.
AMBITIOUS TOWNSEND HAS SCOTLAND ON THE RIGHT TRACK
One wonders if Schmidt will have been lying awake on Saturday night thinking about what might have been had Scotland not butchered three gilt-edged try-scoring opportunities.
For a man who strives for perfection, it’s the kind of thing that will make for unpleasant viewing in the review session this morning.
Credit, however, must be given to Scotland who are increasingly looking like they are on the right track under Townsend.
The Scots remain an unpredictable force on the road but given that Ireland face them in their opening World Cup clash in Japan, they should, in theory at least, be better again in 18 months.
Townsend will look back on Saturday with plenty of regrets but will be optimistic about the long road ahead.