Schmidt: Title already on line
“We’re very much focused on this week and, if we can get a result, we stay in the hunt, and if we don’t then I think it would be very hard to be at the top of the tree in six weeks’ time,” Schmidt said yesterday, as part of his response to concerns about Johnny Sexton’s potential workload for club and country over the coming weeks.
It may only be round two of the 2015 championship but, after a less-than-sparkling winning start to their title defence in Rome, Schmidt knows his champions must up the ante back on home turf in the Aviva Stadium against a French side showing signs of life at last.
In the aftermath of Ireland’s 26-3 win at Stadio Olimpico, Schmidt reckoned his team would need a 15 to 20% improvement this weekend and the matchday squad he named yesterday shows all the hallmarks of that search for higher standards.
It may have been 12 weeks on the sidelines at the order of a French neurosurgeon concerned about concussion issues, but the minute Sexton was cleared to play by the same specialist eight days ago, Schmidt was only going to start one man in the number 10 jersey.
Ian Keatley may have emerged from the victory over Italy with credit after a shaky start to his Six Nations debut and Sexton has had just a week of contact training but if you have a series-winning Lions fly-half at your disposal for one of the toughest games of the championship, then he is going to get the selection vote every time.
That Sexton may have to play for Racing Metro in the down weeks of the Six Nations either side of round three and potentially faces six games in successive weeks after such a long layoff was, Schmidt admitted, “a concern looking down the line”, but the coach is not a big picture thinker. This is about the here and now, game to game, France up next.
Still, it seems harsh on Keatley that he’s been dropped from the matchday squad following a perfect goal-kicking performance in Rome. He had won a straight fight with Ian Madigan for the starter’s jersey last weekend but it is the Leinster man who remains on the bench, his versatility as a regular inside centre for Leinster winning over the management.
It is not just Sexton returning to the fold. Schmidt has also recalled Jamie Heaslip at No.8, having missed his first Six Nations game in four years last weekend as he completed his rehab from a shoulder injury, as well as Sean O’Brien, withdrawn from the starting line-up in Rome with a tweaked hamstring suffered in the warm-up.
The last time any of that trio played a full 80 minutes was December 19, when Heaslip put in a full shift in the Pro12 against Cardiff before injuring his shoulder less than half an hour into the derby with Ulster on January 3.
After two lots of reconstructive surgery on his shoulder, O’Brien has not played for Ireland since November 2013, and while his run out with the Wolfhounds was his first action since September, the flanker admitted “blew up” after 50 minutes.
“It’s a long time since Sean has played with us. It is a long time since Johnny has played, full stop. It’s Jamie’s first game in the championship. It’s not perfect and our performance no doubt will reflect that to a degree,” the Ireland head coach said.
What they lack in game time, Schmidt is hoping they make up for in terms of their vast experience, with a combined 146 Test appearances between them.
“I think it builds a little bit of confidence. Having those people around, they know that those players have been in some tough, tight moments before. They have been in some very successful moments as well. therefore their decision making, their leadership does add a bit of confidence. Hopefully it adds a bit of organisation as well.”
Ireland will need every man they have available this Saturday if they are to combat France’s power and strength for 80 minutes, and Schmidt has brought in the fit-again Cian Healy to strengthen his options, hopeful he can have the same sort of impact he made for Leinster against Castres last season following a similarly lengthy absence.
“He is jumping out of his skin,” Schmidt said of the loose-head prop. “He was pushing last week. He was saying he was ready to go. He is very keen to get involved and obviously he adds a bit of a dimension for the bench.”
The Ireland management were not satisfied with the way their side closed out last weekend’s game in Rome and though the onset of rain late on was a mitigating factor as was a scrum penalty that they judged to have been unfairly awarded against starting loose-head Jack McGrath.
“All you can do is respond to that and maybe we could have responded a bit better to some of the challenges that occurred in that last 15 minutes,” Schmidt said. “You’re always hopeful your bench will come on and add value. It’s something we try to do away and week to week, this week is probably no different.”
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