Ireland ready for their moment of truth

As is so often the case, it is a simple plan that has brought Ireland to the brink of a Six Nations title.

Now all Joe Schmidt’s players have to do is implement it just once more and they will deliver a trophy to their new coach at the first time of asking.

The plan which has served them so well to this point with wins over Scotland, Wales and Italy and just one, narrow defeat to England, is based upon getting the basics right, not giving the ball away, staying on the right side of the referee and executing one’s role efficiently.

That the final opportunity to get it right comes this evening at Stade de France, where Ireland have failed to win on their last six visits since that only victory in 42 years in Paris came in 2000, should be of little relevance to a team as singularly focused on doing its job correctly as this one.

While bad blood and some dismal rugby have engulfed France during what has still been a winning campaign and could yet land them the title themselves, Ireland have gone about their business with growing confidence, clarity and a unity of purpose that makes their own nadir against Australia just four months ago seem a lifetime away.

There has been progress, even in the heartbreaking defeats to New Zealand and England, ever since that dark day in November when Schmidt saw his new team commit every schoolboy error in the book, including trying too hard to please their incoming boss.

So while the French have for the past two weeks had to withstand withering attacks on their competence from former coaches and players in their media, the Irish have strolled from one challenge to the next in almost regal fashion, never veering from the “process”, as Schmidt likes to call it, and always focusing on getting the detail right first, then putting it into practice with clear heads.

Which is why, on the eve of a match he called the biggest of his career with a first trophy as a professional within his reach, flanker Peter O’Mahony spoke with a quiet, yet seemingly unruffled intensity, about the next stage of that winning process.

“We’re four games in, you have seen the style of rugby that we are trying to play; positive game plan, trying to be very disciplined and try to attack with the ball. I don’t think we have to hide what we are about,” O’Mahony said yesterday.

“We’ve played four games and you have seen what we’re capable of at times and we’re vulnerable at times as well. We have to try and minimise when we are vulnerable and maximise when we are being hugely effective. That’s what we’re about.”

All the boxes have been ticked thus far, save for the lack of a cutting edge at Twickenham, but a significant one remains. Having seen Ireland rebound fantastically well from their November hiccup with a rousing yet still losing performance against his fellow New Zealanders, Schmidt set his side the sensibly conservative target of a top-three finish in this year’s Six Nations.

It could still pan out that way, of course, should England beat Italy in Rome and France come good at the death.

Yet, though this side seems way ahead of Schmidt’s first-season schedule, anything but a win in Paris tonight would have to represent a disappointing end to his debut campaign.

For this is a moment of truth staring Ireland in the face. Near misses against the best teams are no longer accepted with a shrug of the shoulders and this evening’s trip to a bear-pit of a Test arena is the time for Ireland to prove they have the confidence not just to live with the big boys for 78 minutes but last the pace and come out winners.

Forwards coach John Plumtree believes the lessons of those defeats to the All Blacks and England this season have been duly learned and the Irish were ready to go to the next level by finishing the job as well as they had started it.

“There’s going to be pressure moments and some of the bigger pressure moments can be in the 78th, 79th minute and we’ve had a couple of bad experiences around that period of the game, last year in November,” Plumtree said. “So we’ll work hard to close out the game if we have to and if we have to get that one point I’m sure we’ll be having a chat on the field about how we’re going to achieve it.”

France may have been abject in recent weeks but they are desperate to make amends and bristling with intent and physicality. They also know how to close a game, their wins against both England and Scotland proving the point. The stinging criticism may also provoke a backlash of which Ireland will have to bear the brunt. And then there is that awful record in Paris, Brian O’Driscoll’s hat-trick in 2000 the only cause for celebration in a miserable 42-year run.

None of that should matter for this Ireland side tonight. And on O’Driscoll’s last night as an Ireland player, what better way to banish the demons?