Back-row central to Ireland’s ambitions

Schmidt needs to stumble upon a reliable combination if the glass ceiling of the quarter-finals is to be smashed through

A WEEK out from a potential World Cup quarter-final and it seems that the make-up of Ireland’s back-row is still very much up in the air.

That such a situation has arisen is down to a couple of reasons, namely injuries and loss of form. It’s a far cry from this time last year when Ireland were moving towards a November series with a full complement to choose from.

On the back of the Grand Slam success, Dan Leavy had announced himself on the international stage, while Sean O’Brien had just recovered from the shoulder problem that kept him out for the majority of the previous season.

Life was good and Joe Schmidt had welcome selection headaches in all three positions. He still has options, but losing O’Brien and Leavy in particular was a body blow and, judging by how much the Kiwi has juggled his back-row recently, it suggests that he is still trying to find the right balance.

Specialist

All things being equal, CJ Stander is the only one guaranteed his place, especially given that he is the only specialist No 8 left standing. Stander has been involved in all four pool games, as has Peter O’Mahony, but the Munster man’s form is a concern.

O’Mahony is picked for his lineout ability, his leadership and his work at the breakdown, but in the eyes of many, he doesn’t carry enough ball and therefore tends to float in and out of games.

Josh van der Flier would be likely to start in a quarter-final, yet there is a feeling that Schmidt may favour more bulk in his backrow if Ireland end up facing South Africa.

Rhys Ruddock’s form seemed like it was too good to ignore, but his omission from today’s match-day squad is puzzling.

It is understood that the Leinster flanker is fully fit and Schmidt’s decision to leave him out was a tactical one.

Just when you think you have figured out Schmidt’s thinking, he pulled something of a surprise by naming Tadhg Beirne at blindside. It’s a position that Beirne is familiar with from his time with the Scarlets, but since joining Munster he has predominantly been used as a lock.

Making the switch to the back-row shouldn’t be any issue for the Kildare native and if he performs well there, then he could become a live option for next week.

Schmidt selected the same starting backrow for the first two pool games against Scotland and Japan, which would ordinarily suggest that was his first-choice, but it is important to remember that O’Mahony only started the defeat to the hosts because Conan fractured his foot two days before.

“We’re trying to share the load, we’ve tried to rotate the back-row a little bit after the six- and five-day turnarounds,” Schmidt said this week.

“Some guys had to double up and they’ve had more involvements than what we had anticipated. Plus losing Jack Conan, who we named to play against Japan but had to make a late change there, which meant we had to use up more of the mileage available in the back-row, an attritional position.

“So, it’s probably not ideal but there’s players who have been freshened up a bit. Josh van der Flier, he didn’t play against Russia so he’s coming in fresh.

“He’s obviously going to have his hands full with a back-row containing TJ Ioane and Jack Lam and Chris Vui, who I think is massively underrated.

“I think from a back-row perspective it’s going to be physical, it’s going to be fast, it’s going to be combative. I’d like to think we’ve got our guys freshened up and ready for that battle.”

As Schmidt alluded to, the breakdown battle will be crucial today, especially against a Samoan pack who will be out to disrupt Ireland’s ball as often as possible.

From that end, Beirne and van der Flier have a key role to play. The pair have never started together in the back-row and their energy around the park will be central to Ireland’s plans to tire out Samoa.

In their opening pool game win last month, Ireland obliterated Scotland at the breakdown as they smashed every blue jersey that moved.

They must rediscover that intensity because when it dipped against Japan, they paid the ultimate price. Rather than Schmidt’s men dictating the tempo, it was Michael Leitch and Co who did.

On the back of that, a lot of the scrappiness against Russia came from the sluggish breakdown as Tagir Gadzhiev made life difficult and, as Schmidt highlighted, Samoa have the tools to do something similar.

“I think we’ve had our moments,” forwards coach Simon Easterby reflected, as he assessed Ireland’s breakdown work throughout the tournament.

“I’d say without the ball we’ve been pretty good and we’ve turned over a good few number of balls and been effective in there.

“I think on the attack side there has been a couple of occasions, particularly in the Japanese game, when we didn’t quite get our contact right.

“But that has to be across the board. It’s not like it was 30 years ago when it was just the number seven or number six’s job to clean out rucks. Jeez, I think that was all I did when I played, I hardly carried a ball.

“But I think the game has changed, like, significantly. Everybody has got to do every role. I think we see that across the board now, everyone has got to be able to do those fundamental things and do them well against teams of this quality.”

The refereeing of the breakdown has also been an issue at times. Beirne’s yellow card in the win over Scotland was very harsh and nine times out of ten, he would have been awarded the turnover.

Position

Players know they have to be smart when they put themselves in the jackal position and playing to the referee is a key part of that, as van der Flier explained.

He said: “For example, if I’m on a poach, some refs would be two-three seconds, some are four-five seconds, some are quicker. I suppose with some refs you know you have to be able to stay on the ball for five or six seconds or you’re not getting it, that kind of thing.

“I’ve got no issues, anyway. I haven’t got too many turnovers but I put that down to myself, more than anyone else.”

Ireland, and O’Mahony in particular, have too often been guilty of not adapting to what the referee wants. If they do arrive at a quarter-final next week, they can not afford to do so against one of the best teams in the world.

O’Mahony needs a big performance and starting on the bench today will not help his chances of delivering one.

Samoa will provide huge physicality at the breakdown, but Schmidt’s side have the intelligence to out-smart them.

Whenever Ireland’s back-row delivers on the main stage, the rest of the team invariably do too.

They might be without some key men, but Ireland have enough weapons in their armoury to still make their mark in Japan.

That must start by dominating Samoa at the breakdown and using it as a platform to deliver a much more complete, all-round performance.