Josh van der Flier still raising his game

As impacts go, Josh van der Flier’s has made quite the impression on the Test scene since his debut against England three weeks ago.

Yet the Ireland flanker knows he will have to keep upping his game if he is to continue to have a positive effect on the team’s performances.

Which is why, after two solid displays successfully looking after the ball for Ireland at Twickenham and against Italy last weekend, the rookie has been charged by head coach Joe Schmidt with also making his presence felt on the other side of the ball.

That Scotland, with their breakdown threat, are coming to town this Saturday for the final game of the 2016 Six Nations campaign, only heightens the challenge in front of the 22-year-old to start poaching more turnover ball but the ruck-loving Leinster back rower has declared himself ready.

“I do enjoy it, it’s good fun,” van der Flier admitted yesterday following Ireland training at Carton House. “It just always seems that I end up with high amount of rucks after games. (Poaching is) something I’ve been trying to work on in training.

"That’s what you see the best back rows in the world are doing.

"It’s something I want to start working on.

"I probably wasn’t very effective the last couple of games in terms of going for turnovers and disrupting their ruck ball, so that’s definitely something I’ve been trying to work on in training the last few training sessions and it’s something Joe has identified that I need to work on.

“Scotland are traditionally pretty good at the breakdown and we’ve seen throughout the tournament how good they’ve been.

"So it’s going to be a much bigger challenge than Italy. They especially like to put pressure on our ball to disrupt our play, so it’s definitely going to be a big task on our hands.”

As with most newcomers to Ireland camp, there is the definite feeling that van der Flier will leave after the Six Nations a much better player.

The influence of training alongside seasoned internationals on a daily basis has been rubbing off, not least in the nuances of breakdown work.

“Hitting past the ball is something we’re trying to work on, Tommy (O’Donnell) and all the lads have been giving me tips that you need for international rugby — tiny things in hitting a ruck really well can make the difference.

"Especially at international level, what I’ve noticed is even the tiniest little movement by them you need to hit them slightly differently because when you come across those poachers over the ball, then you need to hit them right.

"Now with the neck roll stuff that the refs are focusing on, it’s even more important to get it right.

“I’m working on it constantly, I’m still learning and I’ve a lot to improve on when it comes to rucking and the breakdown area so just trying to learn as I go along and constantly improve.”

CJ Stander said last week that the hard work that is put in on the training ground makes the decision-making process at ruck time instinctive come matchday, and van der Flier agreed.

“Definitely, from training you just need to know the moves we’ve run through during the week because you don’t get that same time you get in training just to think through in training.

"It just needs to be instinct, as CJ says, it needs to be instinct come the game.”