Ireland have that feelgood factor but are wary of Scots
BRENDAN GALLAGHER discovers that the joint favourites are just focusing on first match
The morphing of Ireland into apparent worldbeaters, certainly All Blacks slayers, last autumn is still fresh in our minds and one of the main reasons they probably start the 2017 Six Nation as joint favourites with England in most people’s eyes.
Not only did they beat New Zealand at their own game in Chicago and become the first side in history to stick five tries on the All Blacks in a Test match, they performed exceptionally well in the second match two weeks later when the 21-9 scoreline line was ridiculously harsh. On another day they would have prevailed and to finish a riotous November they also powered their way over the finishing line against Australia.
Throughout this purple patch Ireland were exceptional, a side packed full of likely Lions and the performances of Leinster, Munster and Connacht in Europe have built on that feelgood factor, which makes you wonder exactly what was going on during the 2015-16 season.
To recap briefly. Ireland went into the 2015-16 season with consecutive Six Nations titles under their belts following the arrival of Joe Schmidt, right, as coach but then failed to set the World Cup alight. The Irish were notably poor in their pool game against Italy and although they blazed defiantly in their win over France they crashed out spectacularly against Argentina in the quarter-finals.
Then came a middling third place in the Six Nations – two wins and draw – followed by a curate’s egg of a summer tour to South Africa. Ireland beat a desperately poor Springboks side in the first Test despite being reduced to 14 men after the dismissal of CJ Stander but somehow found a way to lose the second and third Tests. A massive chance to make history went a-begging.
Perhaps we were witnessing a new phenomenon – third season syndrome – for Schmidt? Or perhaps it was a delayed transitional season after, first, the retirement of Brian O’Driscoll and, then, the equally talismanic Paul O’Connell hobbling painfully into the sunset with that agonising and career ending hamstring rupture against France in the World Cup. Or perhaps – a third option – we were reading way too much into Ireland’s temporary blip.
“There was less of a transformation in the team last year than people realise,” argues Schmidt who is not a man for getting too despondent or too elated about anything. “Leading into the World Cup I thought we were in pretty good shape and one of the best performances I’ve seen from the Irish team in my time came against France in the World Cup. But it came at a physical cost which became evident the following week when we lost against a very good Argentina side.
“Then we had a bit of a generational change down to some big injuries. Paul O’Connell and Peter O’Mahony were replace by Ultan Dallane and Josh van der Flier and you go from massive experience and ability to raw ability and massive inexperience. As that experience accumulates they start to understand the level and the demand and better prepare themselves for that.”
Schmidt cites prop Tadhg Furlong as another example of this. Furlong has caught many by surprise – possibly even Lions coach Warren Gatland? – but he hasn’t arrived from nowhere as the hardscrummaging, all-purpose, slick-handling and powerful runner that light up the autumn.
He has been on Schmidt’s radar for a long while and was an unheralded member of Ireland’s World Cup squad slipping on for a few minutes against Romania at Wembley. This time last year, not that anybody really remembers, he came on as a replacement in the draw against Wales and defeat against France
“Sometimes people are impatient, the player himself – and the coaching staff – can be impatient for him to get where he needs to be. You always want to be improving. Tadhg’s progression has been gradual but at the same time it’s been impressive because it’s such a tough position to play and he has made incremental advancements each time he has come into the group.
“The Six Nations last year was really tough for him, he was part of a scrum that was under pressure in the first couple of rounds and then you move onto South Africa in the second Test and he actually got some really good scrum dominance.
“And then he came off the bench in the third Test and was under pressure again and he learned from that. You learn from the tough times like last season in the Six Nations, players invest in themselves and, hopefully, come out the other end slightly better.” Schmidt sides normally like to “play some rugby” and certainly he has enjoyed bringing all the firepower available to bear both at Leinster and now with Ireland. He likes to see the game played at tempo and at a pace that only the best players can sustain. It’s the point of difference that separates the wheat from the chaff.
Given that, you might be forgiven for thinking that he would automatically be in favour of the bonus points system which is being introduced for the first time this season but Schmidt is cautious and is waiting to see how that develops.
“I’m not sure about BPs. They might become relevant towards the end of a game but my feeling is that teams will just continue playing the way they play. There were no BPs when we went to play the All Blacks in Chicago but there were nine tries in the game. We played the game we wanted to play to try to beat them and New Zealand played the game they wanted to play.
“Yes, I can see one or two ‘in game’ decisions might be affected – taking a penalty when you’re eight points down or when you want to deny your opponents a losing bonus point but I don’t think it will affect the mentality of teams, certainly not the first half mentality.”
Looking beyond the first game of the Six Nations is a huge no-no for coaches but who can blame Schmidt on this occasion, given that a resurgent Scotland at Murrayfield are Ireland’s first opponents. Co-favourites or not, nothing definitive about Ireland’s prospects can really be uttered until that trickiest of hurdles has been negotiated. It is occupying his every waking hour.
“They have real depth, I look at their midfield now. Huw Jones at the Stormers. Duncan Taylor who was super in the last Six Nations; Alex Dunbar is a really good player; Mark Bennett is a really good player, then there’s Matt Scott. Who do you pick? I’ve no doubt Scotland are rubbing their hands together waiting for us because of how they did in November and how their teams are doing in Europe and the quality of people they can draw upon and the competition for places they have.
“The progress of Scotland under Vern Cotter has been pretty evident after a tough first year. What you want to do is leave the place in a better state of health than when you arrive and Scotland are really healthy at the moment.
“It’s definitely the most open Six Nations I’ve been involved in that’s for sure but if we are talking generally the team that needs to be knocked off the pedestal are England. The year they had in 2016, their autumn form, reigning Grand Slam champions and their depth. They’re the side we all have to beat.”