Summer tour could lay some solid foundations for 2023
BACK in the summer of 2017, Joe Schmidt and a 31-man Ireland squad boarded a flight to New York for a three-week development tour.
The then Ireland head coach was without the services of 11 senior players, who were en route to New Zealand with the Lions.
Schmidt wasn’t too concerned about that, though. The Kiwi had eight uncapped players in his travelling party and he intended to give all of them a run.
The itinerary was as follows: a quick stopover in New Jersey to face the US Eagles before a fortnight in Japan to take on the hosts in two venues, Shizuoka and Tokyo.
Warren Gatland wanted Schmidt on the flight to New Zealand, but the Ireland boss turned down the invitation to join the Lions backroom team to focus on this expectation with the national team. He saw it as a key building block in the lead-up to the 2019 World Cup.
It was a chance to scope out the facilities and logistical challenges of the country while blooding some young talent which could bring the whole operation forward.
It was a productive tour on many fronts. Jacob Stockdale and James Ryan – who was at that point yet to make a senior appearance for Leinster – both scored tries on their debuts in a 55-19 stroll Stateside. Andrew Porter would follow suit in Tokyo.
The likes of Dave Heffernan, Kieran Treadwell, John Cooney, Rory O’Loughlin and Rory Scannell would all get their first taste of international action as well.
Schmidt also brought Ronan O’Gara, Felix Jones and Girvan Dempsey along for each leg of the trip to give a trio of promising young Irish coaches some exposure of a Test environment.
O’Gara was in his element. The Corkman, who was working with Racing 92 in Paris at the time, sat down with a small crew of travelling journalists one morning at the team’s base in New Jersey. He was loving every minute of it, soaking up everything like a sponge.
The former Munster out-half had been taking notes religiously. Prior to this chat with the press, he threw said notebook on the table. ‘That would be worth a few quid now I reckon,’ he joked.
All things considered, it was a hugely productive three weeks on tour. Porter, Ryan and Stockdale would become established players in the memorable 2018 campaign. For the record, the hosts were demolished 55-22 in Shizuoka.
The less said about the return trip two years later, the better.
Ultimately, things did not go according to plan at the World Cup, but that summer tour in 2017 laid some solid foundations.
As things stand, the IRFU are still exploring the possibility of a Pacific Islands tour – in some shape or form – this summer.
One option is taking on the likes of Fiji and Samoa in Australia, where crowds are back in their droves and Covid-19 is well under control. The logistics involved in getting a squad to places like Apia or Suva are challenging at the best of times, never mind during a global pandemic.
And there is an asterisk attached to every date in the rugby calendar going forward anyway.
On Friday, the Pro14 confirmed their tentative plans for the Rainbow Cup to go ahead next month. Any cross-border travel is subject to government approval across the five competing countries.
It remains to be seen how things pan out with the Lions in South Africa as well. There as so many moving parts in all of this.
But for argument’s sake, let’s say that the Lions and Ireland both get the green light to tour in July.
It’s going to create something of a dilemma for Ireland’s head coach. While Schmidt passed on Gatland’s offer, he did give Andy Farrell the nod to link up with the Lions back in 2017.
The defence coach would play an integral role in that drawn series. And Gatland wants Farrell involved again.
He has been quizzed on that subject several times by the Irish media this season. Farrell has kept his cards close to his chest during every interrogation. He has never nailed his colours to the Lions mast, but he has always kept the door slightly ajar as well.
Does Farrell stay in the day job and bring an experimental group on tour or does he leave the Irish operation in the hands of Paul O’Connell and head off on his third Lions assignment?
There are pros and cons to each decision. As Farrell noted a few months ago, it would be beneficial for the Irish contingent to have an assistant coach in their corner in the big selection meetings.
Looking down the line to 2023, the chance to get up close and personal with the Springboks for six weeks could be hugely beneficial ahead of their crunch meeting in the World Cup pool stages.
Then again, would Farrell want to leave his squad after their best performance of his tenure against England? There is no doubt that
O’Connell, Simon Easterby and Mike Catt could steer the ship for a couple of weeks.
In Farrell’s potential absence, it might be a chance to give one of the defence coaches at the provinces a chance to learn in the Ireland environment.
Jared Payne has been doing great things up at Ulster. Perhaps the former Ulster and Ireland centre could oversee that brief?
But Farrell is settling into his role now and he would surely target this summer as a prime opportunity to see more from the likes of Craig Casey and Ryan Baird, who were capped under his watch in the Six Nations.
It would be a prime opportunity to get Joey Carbery back into the Ireland camp and to get Harry Byrne on board.
Then there’s exciting young talents like Dan Sheehan, Gavin Coombes, Ciaran Frawley and Robert Baloucoune, who could all be key players in the years ahead.
Taking all that into account, Farrell may stick to the day job this summer.
‘IT’S GOING TO CREATE A DILEMMA FOR IRELAND’S HEAD COACH’