Schmidt’s men need a blistering finish

Never mind the fast start that is required of all Test rugby teams.

As Ireland launch into a first Six Nations championship tomorrow under the leadership ticket of Joe Schmidt and Paul O’Connell it is how they finish their game with Scotland that will be the deciding factor.

A high price was paid by Schmidt’s team in Dublin 10 weeks ago when New Zealand ruthlessly punished Ireland’s inability to score in the second half of their Guinness Series Test. Not only that, the All Blacks also showed the value of their own never-say-die attitude to come from behind and close out a game they had had no right to win, having trailed 19-0 after just 20 minutes.

So much for being quick out of the blocks. Their first half heroics may have been sufficient to hang on for victory against Wales in last season’s Six Nations opener but it cut no ice with the world champions in November and Schmidt is acutely aware of the need for his players to develop an 80-minute level of consistency that matches their undoubted ability.

The head coach’s predecessor Declan Kidney saw Scotland make a mockery of his side’s superiority at Murrayfield last season by snatching victory in a game in which they had been outclassed in virtually every department. Scott Johnson, Kidney’s opposite number that day, made no bones about admitting his players will arrive in Dublin this weekend merely looking to hang in for the opening hour before getting stuck into the business end of the match over the final 20 minutes.

The ebullient Australian calls that last quarter of the match the second game within the game, when the scoreboard pressure builds and as he sees it all piling on Ireland he unleashes a strong and experienced bench.

Schmidt is wise to that and said yesterday.

“Ideally we always want to have a bit of air between us and our opponents after the 60 minutes. At the same I think we’ve got to try and win the last quarter, just like Scotland will,” he said. “I think they do have a degree of confidence in that last quarter because they’ve done it a few times and particularly in the summer they managed to score after a minute of injury time against Italy to win the game.

“They know how to hang in, they’re very difficult to break down and it’s hard to get really clean quick ball from them. They tend to muddy the breakdown area really effectively. They’ve picked a couple of big centres and a big carrying back row. You get Ryan Wilson on the ball, Dave Denton carries well, those two guys in particular and Kelly Brown to link with them and then John Beattie off the bench, they will take that opportunity to carry at us pretty hard.”

Two can play at that game, of course, but Ireland will be missing the best and hardest ball carrier of them all, certainly in the northern hemisphere, with Seán O’Brien watching from his couch as he nurses his seriously injured shoulder. Schmidt knows that only too well and he yesterday looked to his troops to share the burden in O’Brien’s absence.

“His numbers were unbelievable against New Zealand, on both sides of the ball, defensively and in attack,” the Ireland coach said. “And I guess it’s a real roll your sleeves up day for the back row and even the second row will have to chip in.

“I thought Mike Ross carried really well twice against the All Blacks, squared up and got good advantage line. I think everyone has to take on a bit of the responsibility and as long as you share the responsibility it’s a little less burden, rather than say ‘well look, you’ve got to pick up, of Seán’s 20 carries that he made, you’ve got to pick up 10 of them’. Or, ‘you’ve got to pick up so many’.

“I think everyone has just got to chip in. He’s a big loss and I think it’s a huge opportunity for [O’Brien’s direct replacement at openside flanker] Chris Henry and the rest of the forward pack to show something.”

This is a Scotland side to underestimate at your peril, with Stuart Hogg returning after injury to add some unpredictability and pace to an already dangerous back three, also featuring Seán Maitland and Seán Lamont.

Yet the Scots have not won their first game in the Championship since beating France at Murrayfield in 2006 and have won just four times on the road in 14 seasons of Six Nations rugby.

That their most recent away win came in Dublin, at Croke Park in 2010, will serve as much of a warning as last season’s game in Edinburgh but Ireland need not fear Scotland.

They just need to start as they mean to go on, with the intensity they showed for so long against New Zealand, and finish the job accordingly. That is well within their means and there is just enough hurt from November to ensure this Ireland team can summon their demons.