Hard yards pay off for Schmidt

Argentina 17 Ireland 23

Ireland wrapped up the tour with a second successive win over the Pumas having not won on Argentine soil before and if the experimental nature of the Irish squad is to be reduced in mitigation, then it also needs to be taken into account that the home side were also significantly understrength.

Indeed, it could be argued that the Pumas got more out of this tour and have unearthed a level of talent unprecedented in the Argentine game and will approach the upcoming Rugby Championship with renewed confidence.

The biggest disappointment from an Irish perspective was the failure of centres to grasp the opportunity in the post Brian O’Driscoll — and inevitable Gordon D’Arcy — era and Luke Marshall, Darren Cave and Fergus McFadden would have hoped for more of an impact.

Indeed, the star of Robbie Henshaw, a late withdrawal through injury, has probably risen another few notches even though he didn’t tour.

Six players made their debuts with Robbie Diack making the biggest impact, while Kieran Marmion also impressed twice off the bench. But the two biggest winners are Simon Zebo and Rhys Ruddock, with Zebo crowning another solid showing after a year in exile with a superb try on Saturday on a day when his defensive tackling, suspect for so long, was again top notch for the second game in-a-row.

Ruddock, making his first start since his debut four years ago, was outstanding on Saturday and will be pushing hard for inclusion in a crowded back row.

Ian Madigan, who burst over for the clinching try seven minutes from the end, also made the most of his brief appearances but will need to nail a starting spot with Leinster if he is to progress internationally.

Schmidt said he was disappointed with the performance on Saturday but took positives from the tour overall.

“What pleased me is that everybody on tour got onto the pitch, albeit some of them very briefly. What pleased me was the engine of Rhys Ruddock, the accelerating of a couple of the lads. I thought the back three did pretty well, they all had moments where they carved through. Simon [Zebo] got a nice gap close to the maul where Eoin Reddan worked it really well. Andrew Trimble got nice space down the wing and put it in behind them, re-gathered and then put them under pressure.

“Then Rob Kearney went through the middle near the ruck so the back three were very dangerous. The set-piece again really allowed us to dictate the match to a large degree. We got some really good lineout pressure in the second half and we got scrum pressure when it was needed.

“I thought Jack McGrath coming on for that scrum, where we really took them apart when they had an attacking scrum, that could have really launched them back into the game if they had got something off it.”

Schmidt said his first tour with Ireland had been helpful for both players and management and would help in the process of selecting a group to come together again towards the end of summer.

“I’m starting to get to know players more, I’m knowing a little bit more about what is required but at the same time this is the first time I have taken a team on tour and there was a lot of travel involved.

“We trained twice a week really and it’s not a massive amount of time for such a big group where a number of them are new to probably get that cohesive performance that we were looking for.

“I’ve learned a little bit about some players I didn’t know much about. The coaching staff as a group, we have learned a little bit more about players. The players have learned about what the level is and there is a number of front liners missing for Argentina. Imagine the full Argentine team? I think a few players are a little bit shell-shocked at what the level is and sometimes when you have had that shock you get the head down and you work a bit harder because you know you are going to have to be a little bit better prepared next time.”

Two early Sexton penalties should have seen Ireland push on and dominate on Saturday but Trimble followed Pumas’ hooker Matias Cortese to the bin and Argentina led 10-9 at the interval thanks to a fine try from full-back Joaquin Tuculet.

Eoin Reddan did superbly to put Zebo through for an excellent try after 51 minutes but the Pumas, making the most of sloppy handling and passing from the Irish, remained in the game until Madigan put on the burners and raced through.

The Pumas did not give up and were rewarded with a try from Lucas Gonzalez Amorosino at the death.

Scorers for Argentina: J Tuculet, L Gonzalez Amorosino, tries; N Sanchez 1 pen, 1 con, S Gonzalez Iglesias con.

Scorers for Ireland: S Zebo, I Madigan tries; J Sexton 3 pens, 1 con; I Madigan 1 con.

ARGENTINA: J Tuculet; L Gonzalez Amorosino, J De la Fuente, G Ascarate (S Gonzales Iglesias 60), M Montero; N Sanchez; M Landajo (T Cubelli 65); L Noguera Paz (R Herrera 68), M Cortese (S Iglesias Valdez 12-19 & 27) (B Postiglioni 65 blood), R Herrera (M Diaz 51); M Carizza, T Lavanini (M Alemanno 70); R Baez, T De La Vega, A Ahualli de Chazal (J Ortega Desio 63).

IRELAND: R Kearney; A Trimble, F McFadden, D Cave (N Reid 74), S Zebo; J Sexton (I Madigan 65), E Reddan (K Marmion 78); D Kilcoyne (J McGrath 58), R Best (R Herring 77), M Ross (J Cronin 74); D Toner (I Henderson 40), P O’Connell; R Ruddock, C Henry (J Murphy 63), J Heaslip.

Referee: J Garces (FRU).