Schmidt bullish as star trio fit to face All Blacks

The doom and gloom of the Irish injury bench this week has been put to rest today with the news that Brian O’Driscoll, Rob Kearney and Johnny Sexton are all fit and will start on Sunday against New Zealand.

All three were major doubts after picking up knocks in the loss to Australia last weekend and there was a fear of what would happen without Ireland’s three fringe players.

Joe Schmidt speaking today says he was more than happy with their recovery to put them in the starting 15.

“All three took full part in training today, Rob trained well on Wednesday, they have had the luxury of the conditioning we have done through the last three weeks, so it was just a case of getting them on the training pitch together and confirming they were fit to play,” he said.

Of the three, Sexton’s suspected hamstring injury seemed the worst and most likely to miss out.

His facial expression as he left the pitch at half time in the Aviva last weekend was one of a man who knew there was something majorly wrong.

Schmidt though says either way he would have been happy with the back-up options and confirmed the pecking order for the 10 shirt, confirming it would have been Paddy Jackson over Ian Madigan, had Sexton missed out.

However, the former Leinster coach has put Madigan on the bench instead of Jackson.

“I think Paddy did really well against Samoa so we would have had confidence in Paddy, we have confidence in Johnny obviously because of the leadership and experience he has and that tips the balance in a week that wasn’t perfect for preparation at all,” Schmidt said.

On picking Madigan ahead of Jackson, considering his pecking order, Schmidt says it was all to do with cover.

“If we get an injury to someone like Gordan D’Arcy or get one elsewhere, Ian just gives more flexibility where with Paddy, he plays 10 and doesn’t play other positions.”

With Ireland plugging away for over 100 years to try and beat the greatest team in the world, there is little expectation that this Irish team will do it.

Schmidt has rubbished the suggestion and insists you can never take anything for granted.

Schmidt said: “I do believe in any two horse race there are no certainties and I think winning will take an exceptional performance.”

“The All Blacks have proven that as well as being a class side, when they have come under pressure they have overcome it, it was highly evident especially in the Rugby Championship against South Africa.”

“You’re down to 14 men and down by six points to score two converted tries and win by eight points, that’s exceptional and it’s a clear sign of the self-belief they have and we have to have that because you can’t win otherwise.”