Joe Schmidt and stimulation can drive Ireland to be world class
There’s one coach that the players in Ireland are really responding to at the moment, and it’s none of the provincial bosses. Joe Schmidt has the players’ minds fully occupied.
The Irish players were never stimulated under previous coaches in the way they have been by the New Zealander. With the exception of Australia 15 months ago, the boys have performed to such a high standard that I wonder whether they switch off a bit mentally and physically when they return to the provinces, when you compare the coaching detail they’re receiving.
There was obviously a period of adjustment for the non-Leinster players who hadn’t worked with him before - there was shock in terms of the level of detail players were required to take to the training pitch. Lots of scrambling for notebooks and laptops, which wouldn’t be the norm in a provincial set-up.
You’d have a lot of diligent players who are highly organised anyway, but there’s also a very good peer element in the Irish setup which aids Schmidt’s work. Paul O’Connell is very demanding, while Rory Best is completely under-appreciated by the public in terms of what he brings to the table. Jamie Heaslip does it for Leinster, Johnny Sexton has to be a leader at 10 and Rob Kearney and Peter O’Mahony have grown into those roles too.
What’s key in the Irish camp right now is that every player knows their role for the first three phases from every set-piece. After that, they’re relying on good decision-makers and good options being taken around the ruck. That has been such an area of strength for Ireland that it’s hard to question the game-plan, but there are a couple of crucial things that Ireland must get right to be in with a chance of overall honours.
A slight fear for me in this Six Nations is that there is so much focus by Ireland on the ruck. Schmidt's charges offload far less than other teams, so if we get matched physically and the ball gets slowed at the breakdown, could we be in some difficulty?
The mental preparation is also going be vital. Ireland are technically better than they have been in previous years but if they aren’t at the right pitch mentally - as we saw in that Australia game in 2013 - it’s going to be hard to get the results we need.
The key to this is the right amount of confidence, mixed with a certain amount of fear factor. The fear of letting down your country is very powerful, but at the same time players must be challenged in a really positive training environment during the week and not be perturbed by one or two errors in a game.
To that end, I don’t think any of the players who were involved in the loss to Italy in 2013 will carry any baggage into this weekend’s game in Rome. That was a bad day for Irish rugby, but that era is well and truly buried at this stage, the players probably can’t believe the contrast between the two.
A week is a long time in rugby, never mind two years, and even though we have injuries this time around, losing hasn’t been suggested by anyone this week and I don’t think it will be an issue.
Looking to the rest of the tournament, the notion that it’s easier for Ireland to win the Six Nations in an ‘odd’ year isn’t a myth, it definitely matters; to go to both the Stade de France and Twickenham and win in a short space of time is extremely difficult.
Momentum is the big buzzword; getting it and keeping it going is vital. For instance, one of England or Wales will be going to bed tonight doing somersaults, but the losers will be devastated and thinking they face an uphill battle to get anything out of their Six Nations, which is an awful feeling to have on the first night. For the four other teams who won’t have kicked a ball yet, there will be a tangible boost knowing one of the tournament contenders has lost.
I thought England would provide the greatest threat to Ireland’s hopes, but I’ve changed my mind and now I think it’ll be Wales. They have a settled team, aren’t dealing with injury problems and at out-half, Dan Biggar is getting better. I rate him very highly, for me he should have gone on the last Lions tour. He’s stubborn, brave, ballsy and he has bottle. He has the potential to be up there with Sexton and is probably ahead of Camille Lopez and George Ford among the top out-halves in the championship.
I’m excited to see how Ford fares for England. He’s been excellent for both club and country in the past six months and has composure beyond his years, so it will be interesting to see if he can get them firing. Owen Farrell’s injury has made the selection dilemma easier for Stuart Lancaster but I think Ford would have started in any case; the stubbornness of Saracens’ game-plan hurts Farrell when he has to then step up through the gears to play Test rugby.
A much bigger loss to England’s hopes will be Courtney Lawes - he’s an incredible athlete and it was noticeable how much Northampton missed him when Racing Metro played at Franklin’s Gardens recently.
France have the most talented players, but their problem is giving those players the trust to feel confident enough to do what they do at club level in a blue jersey. How can it be possible for those guys when they’re changing the team every couple of games?
They’ve used 13 half-back combinations in the past 32 Tests, so you can see why their players don’t feel secure and why they have issues controlling games.
People will talk about the potential of the partnership of Mathieu Bastareaud and Wesley Fofana in the centre to destroy teams, but neither player passes the ball. Particularly in Fofana’s case, teams are starting to realise this so they can close down the wider channel and gang-tackle him.
I don’t think Scotland will be contenders for the championship, but they could be spoilers, especially on home turf at Murrayfield. Vern Cotter is a fine coach and he will know a lot of the French players inside out. Ireland’s final game there is a potential banana skin - we have the better players, but it’s a hard place to win.
As always, it’s going to be a closely-fought championship with any one of four potential winners. The good news for Ireland’s prospects for both the Six Nations and looking further ahead to the World Cup is that the European Cup box has been ticked for the majority of the squad’s senior players by now.
They’ll dispute this - I would too if I was still playing - but while there’s massive satisfaction in winning in Europe with your club, the players have now moved onto a level where they want to do something on the world stage. It’ll be fascinating watching them try.
