Players’ ability to implement gameplan crucial

The Joe Schmidt era continued on its upward curve Saturday when Ireland convincingly put away the second ranked team in the world at a raucous Aviva Stadium.

When England won the World Cup in 2003 they placed massive focus on their ability to be able to test themselves and beat the southern hemisphere’s big three ahead of the tournament.

Their reasoning? They wanted to have that achievement in the locker and also they wanted to put doubt into their opponents’ minds when the showpiece event was up and running.