Schmidt fears Ireland’s cover is blown
JOE SCHMIDT is hoping his champion Ireland team won’t get distracted by the massive World Cup hype now surrounding them after they clinched back-to-back Six Nations championships in the most dramatic fashion. Just 180 days away from kicking off their global campaign on September 19, Schmidt has finally admitted he is targeting a first semi-final spot in the tournament. However, he hopes the tide of optimism after a second successive title and a run of 11 wins in 12 matches won’t be too much of a burden for Ireland to carry in six months’ time. ‘Based on the comments of some people, including some of our own people, we’re not that much of a threat,’ said Schmidt. ‘Hopefully we can continue to stay a little bit under the radar, but I’m not sure if we can. Maybe we have blown that,’ he added when asked by
Sportsmail what message was sent to the world by Ireland winning successive titles for the first time since 1949. ‘I just think it’s going to be an incredibly tough tournament. We’ve never made a semi and everybody knows that is where we’ve got to try to get to. ‘That is what we will work towards and probably the low-key approach. If we can take that into that challenge, it would be great because you can get distracted and that is always a risk. ‘The fact that we just managed to get the silverware is a testament to the group we’ve got.’
SCOTLAND — Tries: Russell. Con: Laidlaw. Pen: Laidlaw.
Team: Hogg 6; Fife 4, Bennett 5, Scott 5 (Tonks 69min), Seymour 5; Russell 7, Laidlaw 5 (HidalgoClyne 55, 5); Grant 4 (Dickinson 31, 5), Ford 5 (Brown 52, 5), Murray (Cross 11, 5); Hamilton 6 (Swinson 52, 5), Gray 6; Ashe 5 (Harley 55, 5), Cowan 6, Denton 5. Sub not
used: Visser. Sin Bin: Cross (55). IRELAND — Tries: O’Connell, O’Brien 2, Payne. Cons: Sexton 3, Madigan. Pens: Sexton 4.
Team: Kearney 5; Bowe 7, Payne 8, Henshaw 7, Fitzgerald 7; Sexton 6, Murray 6 (Reddan 79); Healy 6 (McGrath 52, 6), Best 7 (Cronin 61, 6), Ross 6 (Moore 45, 5); Toner 5 (Henderson 61, 5), O’Connell 10; O’Mahony 6, O’Brien 9 (Murphy 72), Heaslip 8. Subs not used: Madigan, Jones. Att: 67,225. HT: 10-20.
Referee: Jerome Garces (Fra).