IRELAND’S WORLD CUP STARTS HERE
Italy a launchpad for focused planning towards France 2023
IT was early November 2018 and Ireland were back in Chicago for a return fixture at Soldier Field. Joe Schmidt’s squad had made history in a memorable week in the Windy City two years previously. A 111-year hex against the All Blacks had been lifted, just a few days after the Cubs – Chicago’s long-suffering baseball team – had claimed their first World Series in 108 years.
So, the IRFU were keen to return to the scene of one of the national team’s greatest away days. Word on the street was a rematch against New Zealand was put on the table, but the Kiwis weren’t too keen on the idea. Understandable after what happened on Stateside in 2016.
The union pressed ahead with plans and so Italy were recruited as opposition. Suffice to say, it was a disappointing sequel. A half-full
Soldier Field was the setting for an emphatic 54-7 victory for Schmidt’s side. Ireland were flying at the time. A Grand Slam and a series victory against Australia was in the bag already. Leinster had claimed every trophy on offer in 2018.
There were more positive vibes in Chicago. The likes of Andrew Porter, Tadhg Beirne, Joey Carbery and Jordan Larmour all impressed. A quartet of rookies with big futures.
Larmour had a big day, lighting up the venue with a brilliant hat-trick. The fleet-footed Leinster wing was buzzing when he arrived into the post-match mixed zone to field questions from the Irish reporters in attendance.
The answers served up on such occasions are usually pretty standard fare but Larmour was in defiant form when the microphones were thrust in his face.
‘Long-term, we want to be World Cup champions,’ he said at the time.
‘But there is a good bit of rugby to be played. There are three more huge games coming up this month. But the sky is the limit for this team.
‘Looking to the All Blacks, no one is scared of them, no one is afraid of them. They are a quality team. So are we. We just need to turn up on the day and we can turn them over.’
Larmour probably got a clip on the ear from the IRFU comms team for his outburst. Funnily enough, Ireland would go on and beat the All Blacks for a second time a few weeks later at a heaving Aviva Stadium. The hype machine went into overdrive after that. Perhaps this group could boldly go where no Irish team had gone before? We all know what happened in 2019.
The World Cup in Japan proved a depressingly familiar experience. Schmidt grew too reliant on a core of players who were past their best. Depth – or the lack of it – in key positions were exposed in sobering encounters with Japan and New Zealand.
Andy Farrell was there to bear witness to all of it. Soon, he would emerge from Schmidt’s shadow to take up the top job. Appointing Johnny Sexton as captain was one of his first pieces of business. It didn’t seem like a long-term strategy at the time. Changing the culture of the environment and the game plan were the big projects. It’s taken more than two years, but Farrell has gradually put his own stamp on this operation.
Crucially, he seems to have heeded the lessons of 2019. There have been no proclamations about world domination from this camp, but there have been knowing nods towards France in 2023.
This afternoon’s team selection is quite telling on that front. Sexton is on the bench as Carbery is handed a second consecutive Six Nations start. Dan Sheehan starts his first Test.
Ryan
Baird gets his first Six Nations start. These two freakishly talented forwards have just 11 caps between them. They could both be frontliners at the next World Cup. Mike Lowry is making his debut. Mack Hansen earns his third cap. Craig Casey and James Hume are on the bench.
It’s a youthful group armed with an expansive game
plan. They should make light work of the Italians today, who arrive in Dublin on a 34-game losing streak. There has been plenty of talk this week about points differentials and the hunt for the title in the coming weeks.
A first Six Nations trophy since the heady days of 2018 would be most welcome for this group.
Farrell is clearly thinking bigger, however. The short-term, game by game, tournament by tournament focus has cost Ireland teams dearly on the biggest stage, time and again. For all the glory of the Six Nations and the many memorable November campaigns, seeing an Irish team make a serious impact at a World Cup would be unprecedented. And this is a group which has the potential to finally deliver at the global showpiece. This third-round meeting feels like the launchpad for next year.
Farrell has a couple of boxes to tick. Securing a bonus-point win and a big points total is first priority. Seeing Carbery, Sheehan and Baird tear it up would be another bonus. Improving the depth chart for the big one in 2023 is the ultimate goal though.
The schedule is not the most forgiving, perhaps the most daunting, in the tournament’s 36-year history.
The reward for getting past the Springboks, Scotland and Tonga is a quarter-final against either France or New Zealand.
Farrell’s men will be underdogs, regardless of what transpires in the next 18 months.
Flying under the radar while building a strong, youthful squad could suit them down the road. Ireland had an ageing group with a big target on their backs in 2019. Again, we all know what happened there.
So, a new approach is required. Farrell seems to agree. We’re about to see an early phase of the grand plan against the Azzurri.
TV: Kick-off 3pm, Aviva Stadium,