Schmidt: Why Keatley got nod at No.10
Schmidt enjoyed a dream start to his tenure as head coach by winning the championship at his first attempt but this year the former Leinster boss is faced with some more difficult choices, his hand forced by several injuries to key players and a lack of game-time for a number of players returning to action after long lay-offs.
Throw a revenge mission in the Italian capital into the mix following a 22-15 defeat that ended his predecessor Declan Kidney’s tenure and Schmidt had plenty to ponder as he sat down with his management team this week for what he described as one of the longest selection meetings of his tenure. The net result was four changes from the side which signed off the Guinness Series in November with a win over Australia and a much altered replacements bench.
Schmidt made three key decisions.
In the absence of the injured Paddy Jackson and first-choice Johnny Sexton, who was yesterday back in Paris awaiting clearance by doctors to return from a 12-week concussion lay-off in time to face France next weekend, Schmidt had a clear-cut choice between two Ians, Munster’s Keatley and Leinster’s Madigan.
He has opted for the former with 27-year-old Keatley now preparing to make his Six Nations debut in his fourth Test appearance.
Madigan had been perceived to have had the edge given his greater experience over 13 caps and time in Ireland camp. However, it appears he has suffered from a below-par performance at out-half for the Wolfhounds against England Saxons in Cork and his lack of game-time at No. 10 for Leinster, where Matt O’Connor prefers to start Jimmy Gopperth with the Madigan at inside centre.
For Keatley’s part, Schmidt is placing value in the provincial partnership he enjoys with Ireland scrum-half Conor Murray on a weekly basis at Munster and a solid kicking game which makes up for any possible lack of creativity in comparison to Madigan.
Schmidt referenced clutch kicking in Champions Cup pool games this season, including Keatley’s game-winning drop goal at Sale Sharks and a last-minute penalty to secure a losing bonus point at Clermont Auvergne
“His kicking game has been really sound,” Schmidt said. “I thought he got really unlucky in a couple of recent games where he found the really good space in the corner and the ball drifted over the dead ball where it should have been a five-metre lineout. So he’s finding the right spaces and maybe hasn’t had massive luck there.
“He’s controlling games better. The clutch kicking, he’s nailing those and allowing the team he’s playing for to get their nose in front at the right time or to get the right field position at the right time.
“He’s got a very capable passing game. The first time I saw Ian Keatley play I think he was playing 12 or 13 for Connacht and the first thing he did was slice straight through our Leinster defence at the RDS and Eoin O’Malley thankfully dragged him short of the line. I do think he’s got a running game that can threaten as well.”
With fitness doubts over & Sean O’Brien and Jamie Heaslip, Schmidt has endured couple of weeks in camp and the Kiwi waited until the very last moment to make a call. The upshot is that O’Brien will start his first Test since the November 2013 loss to the All Blacks following two shoulder surgeries and after just a 50-minute outing for the Wolfhounds while Heaslip misses just his second Six Nations game since 2007 and his first since the same fixture in 2011.
This time it was a shoulder problem that did not mend in time, although Schmidt said Heaslip would be fit to face France next weekend.
So the door has opened for Jordi Murphy to make his championship debut at No. 8.
Schmidt accepted: “What we are missing is experience that Jordi cannot bring. We are also missing accuracy, Jamie brings incredible accuracy. He is quite often overlooked for the amount of work he gets through in the same.
“At the same time, Peter O’Mahony has that experience. He’s a leader in his provincial team and in our group. What Jordi has to bring is security at the base of the scrum and clarity in defence.”
After undergoing a torrid time in Europe before Christmas at the hands of Wasps and Harlequins, Mike Ross was overlooked for Leinster’s front row by head coach Matt O’Connor for the final two Champions Cup pool games last month, with Marty Moore the preferred starter and Tadgh Furlong promoted to the bench.
Schmidt has other ideas, with Ross leapfrogging the less experienced Moore into the Ireland number three jersey.
Moore is clearly the heir apparent with Ross only getting a one-year deal beyond this summer when he made public his desire for a two-year contract but Schmidt has backed the elder partner to continue doing a good job for Ireland in this Six Nations opener.
“The best-case scenario Mike gives us is solidity in that scrum and I think it’s something he has demonstrated he is capable of doing, particularly in a green jersey in recent times,” Schmidt said.
“I know he was well underdone before the autumn and I thought he hung in really well against what is a very strong South African pack first up. The Georgians, it’s probably the one place they have more depth than anyone else, and Australia are very tricky to play in the front row.
“So he came through that. I do think that Marty Moore and Nathan White have done some really good work even in camp here. So it is a little bit of an unknown but for us Mike has delivered in the past.
“He delivered last Six Nations and we’re hopeful he’ll deliver again.”
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