Schmidt sounds positive note

LEINSTER coach Joe Schmidt has had to weather early-season panic before and has advised Ireland’s fretful supporters and critics alike to reserve their judgments until the business gets underway in New Zealand next month.

The Kiwi took over at the Irish province last summer and had to contend with one newspaper leading the charge for his dismissal before October after his side lost three of their first four Magners League games, including one in Italy.

This was despite the fact that Schmidt was operating without many of his Irish internationals, most of whom paid a last fleeting visit to the province’s team base yesterday prior to today’s departure for the southern hemisphere.

The sizeable Leinster contingent travels with the moniker of European champions attached, proof positive that early-season stutters are not the most accurate of barometers on which to judge a side’s entire season.

Declan Kidney’s side has less time to find its feet in the fast-approaching World Cup after a dismal warm-up series but Schmidt feels the principle is the same: relax and trust in a set of players and coaches that have a track record of success.

“He’s had four games and I think the equipment is there and he is going to get that equipment in working order,” said Schmidt who will join Brent Pope, George Hook et al as a pundit at RTÉ for the tournament.

“The players have been in and out (on Monday) and they are absolutely committed, not so much to turning it around because the margins are so fine, but to get the margins on their side with a bit more accuracy. I’m pretty confident they can do that.”

Schmidt may not be Irish but he has as much invested in the national team’s latest enterprise as anyone. With 14 Leinster players on the plane, no club will be better represented at RWC 2011 than the Heineken champions.

While a huge honour and source of pride, it is something of a double-edged sword as Schmidt looks ahead to Friday’s RaboDirect PRO12 opener away to Ospreys with a squad that is as light on experience as it is depth.

Injuries to youngsters like Andrew Conway, Stephen Sykes and Eamon Sheridan haven’t helped the planning process so Schmidt could have been forgiven if he had cursed the loss of Shane Jennings to a late call-up over the weekend.

“I am honestly delighted for Jenno. He even came on and made a difference for us (against Northampton last Friday), as he always does. The plan was to give him and Kev (McLaughlin) half a game each coming back from the international scene. Jenno came on and made an impression straight away for us. He started to organise our defence a bit better and gave us a bit more impetus. He’s really deserving of it but David Wallace is a fabulous player as well and a guy who was probably going to be going to his last World Cup and it is pretty devastating for him.”