Learning the lessons and closing the deal

You like your Friday glass half-full or half-empty? Joe Schmidt will have learned a lot over the past month working with players he didn’t have as coach to Leinster.

Seeing a player in an opposition jersey on a Saturday afternoon gives a coach about 10% of that player’s jigsaw. When you have them to work with day in, day out, you eliminate the mistake of incomplete judgements.

For example, a 15 who mightn’t be good passing off one hand is doing his reps off his (weaker) left hand in training, putting the winger away. In an international match environment, you might see the value of work once every four games — and even then he mightn’t nail the pass. Only when you have that player in camp can you make a call on his weakside passing, an accurate assessment.