Rory: His Stock will rise & rise
RORY BEST paid tribute to Ireland’s latest young gun Jacob Stockdale after an outstanding home Test debut.
The 21-year-old capped a great display with a try in Ireland’s win last night but Best is already an admirer of the big youngster, who has frightening potential.
“He’s doing really well, he definitely grew into the game as it went on and it’s tough playing your first game at home against one of the southern hemisphere sides,” said skipper Best.
“What’s impressive is that people know about him now and he has to keep improving, and he’s doing that.”
Joe Schmidt admits he wasn’t expecting his side to pull away at a canter from the Springboks.
Ireland blew the visitors out of the water with three tries in the last 10 minutes at the Aviva Stadium and recorded an impressive 38-3 victory.
Asked if he saw that coming, Schmidt replied: “No, not at all.
“In the last four Test matches we’ve played v SA it’s been one or two score margins, and the score flattered us a bit.”
Schmidt confirmed that Peter O’mahony sustained a torn ear and confirmed he will mix and match for next Saturday’s clash with Fiji.
“Everyone else pretty well came through okay. It gives us an opportunity to mix the team up a little bit,” he said.