Just what doc ordered for Joe Schmidt

Ireland 58 Italy 15: Out of the darkness and into the light. Given the woefully inept quality of the opposition provided at the Aviva Stadium it is difficult to declare categorically Ireland have emerged from the gloom of weeks past and stepped blinking into a new dawn.

Yet for a head coach as accustomed to success as Joe Schmidt has been during a gilded career with the Blues, Clermont Auvergne, Leinster and this national team, Saturday’s nine-try rout of perennial wooden spooners Italy was just what the doctor ordered after a more than challenging period since his side’s World Cup exit.

The mitigating circumstances for the four-Test winless streak that began with the humbling defeat by a flamboyant Argentina side last October have been well documented. In spite of all that, though, the numerous injuries and retirements have not given Schmidt a free pass. The draw with Wales and defeats by France and England that ended Ireland’s interest in making this season’s RBS 6 Nations campaign a bid for three championships in a row have seen a change in perception of the head coach’s approach and decision-making process.