Pain game pays for Schmidt

Joe Schmidt’s incredible year was recognised yesterday with his confirmation as Philips Sports Manager of the Year, but the main topic of interest at the Shelbourne Hotel was the day that must rank as his most painful.

The Ireland manager was suffering from what proved to be appendicitis last month when he masterminded the defeat of Australia before being rushed to a Dublin hospital for surgery.

“Yeah, it was an uncomfortable day, an uncomfortable night,” he revealed. “It hurt more the night before. I wandered around the hotel until eight o’clock and the doc gave me two of the smallest tablets I’ve ever seen.

“I struggled through. I shedded a few kilos, couldn’t eat and, by the time of the game, I was pretty uncomfortable. The pain was eased a bit by the result, thankfully.

“It didn’t really feel intense until after the game. Adrenaline is a good cure. I wouldn’t have a great pain threshold, so I wouldn’t say it was that bad although I did wake up the next morning feeling a lot better, I must say.”

It was a rare bum note on a remarkable year for the Kiwi, whose Ireland team won all but one of the 10 games played under his watch in 2014.

Even the one defeat was by just three points, against England, in London.

An exceptional run of form, no question, but the most remarkable aspect to it has been the absence of any elation on the part of coaches and staff who have already picked holes in all three of their November ties against South Africa, Georgia and Australia.

Devin Toner, for example, spoke about the need to be low key.

“It’s hard to keep that man low key, (at) 6 ft 10 and-a-half,” said Schmidt at the awards where all 12 monthly award winners were recognised. “I’m not sure how the lads felt after it. I spoke briefly to them afterwards, then I headed to the hospital.

“I think aspects of our game weren’t great during the November series. We got lucky. (South African scrum-half Francois) Hoougard would have got man of the match. He knocked the ball on three times in our 22.”

Ireland assemble for one more 24-hour camp this month before the international year closes, with Schmidt keen to dig and probe for the extra 1 or 2% that can keep Ireland ahead of the Six Nations’ chasing pack.

Key to the success has been the willingness to, and success in, expanding the squad’s depth by blooding players in the big games and the consequence of that will be seen when the Six Nations swings around in February.

“We won the Six Nations on a points differential of 10 points,” said Schmidt who admitted that the wider squad focus would be a key part of the upcoming camp. “In the last eight minutes against Italy, we scored 19 points. All of those points were contributed by the bench. The depth of our squad... sometimes you are forced to do it, sometimes you choose to do it. There are going to be some very tough decisions post-December camp and we will have a little glance at Italy and France, those first two games.

“Look at the last few times we have gone to Rome. We needed a late kick to win four years ago and we didn’t win the last time we were there (in 2013). It’s a massive year. One step at a time or we will fall over.”

One man who will not be in the running for a jersey in the immediate future is Chris Henry who underwent heart surgery after suffering a temporary blockage of a blood vessel in his brain before the Australia game.

“Chris is well,” said Schmidt of the player who has returned to light duties with Ulster. “I was speaking to him the other day. He at one stage wanted to be back in consideration for the Six Nations. That might be a bit too soon for him, but he’s feeling well.”