Ireland still trying to escape ‘rut’, says Rob Kearney

Over a month now since England struck that unexpectedly heavy blow at the Aviva Stadium and, for all the debate and doubt, it seems that we are none the wiser as to why one defeat could have left a side that had climbed so high feeling so low.

The intricacies of the issue have been dissected at length. Injuries have led to the use of 35 players across the three games of this campaign. Problems with form, shape, and execution have all been lamented and the possibility that sides have sussed Ireland out added to the list of explanations. But how is it that Ireland, ranked second in the world approaching the gates of this tournament, could be facing such an existential crisis on the back of a single reverse?

Ronan O’Gara has spoken about how Joe Schmidt’s side was “spooked” by the loss to England and theorised that maybe the very infrequency of such defeats has been an issue for a group of players for whom victory had become a comforting bedfellow.

This is a side, after all, that claimed a Grand Slam in the previous Six Nations, added an historic series win in Australia and followed all that up with a comprehensive defeat of the world-champion All Blacks at the back end of the year.

“Elite athletes are no different to any other punter watching on from the stand,” said Rob Kearney of that change in confidence levels. “It is still a human person with the same thoughts, the same negative thoughts, the same positive thoughts. We are all the same.

You put a guy out on the field in front of 80,000 people, another few million people watching at home on TV, and you make a mistake: it will have that effect on anybody. And that is where our training comes in, our confidence, little bit of sports psychology and mindfulness.

To be fair to Schmidt, he has been open in his assessment of the men, suggesting after the stuttering win in Rome two weeks ago that the side’s confidence had been “a bit broken” by the English experience and he has since talked of a side that has gone “into its shell” at times. It’s an astonishing turnaround but Kearney remains confident that the sense of zest and feelings of positivity can return as quickly as they went away. One setpiece, three or four phases of good play, a clever try: any one of them could reignite this team’s spark, he believes.

”Deep down, we all realise that sometimes it’s quite easy to get immersed in this little rut you can be in. You start to listen a bit to outside pressures and a little bit of noise and everything that goes on outside the group.

“The coaches have been good at that over the last week, highlighting, and I suppose reassuring us that the team we are and what we’ve achieved over the last 12 months ... You don’t lose that overnight, it’s just a matter of how we can find it.”

Part of the search was conducted last week in Belfast where, after a few beers in the immediate wake of their Italian exertions, the senior squad juggled an intense three-day training camp with some R&R that included the famous black cab tours. Such diversions are no guarantee of a remedy, if they were, then training could be moved to the Guinness Storehouse most weeks, but the hope is that the change in environment and pace can recalibrate the minds as well as the bodies.

If some of Ireland’s play has been strangely subdued, then so has their body language with the disparity between their vocal and enthusiastic communication with one another on the pitch last November contrasting sharply with the hushed and head-down demeanour of late. How to change that is another thing: engineer it or allow it return organically?

“Probably both,” said Kearney. “You can manufacture it and we have got to give each other things to cheer about too. So, we’ve got to step up and make some big plays and then that encourages other guys. We do try to energise each other.

“We try to make each other feel really good, to look really good by doing your own things off the ball. That might take a little bit of pressure off the guy outside you. So, it probably can be something that’s manufactured but we have got to give each other stuff to cheer about.”

The French will be mindful of all this. No strangers to bouts of soul-searching themselves, the visitors will land in Dublin on the back of an uplifting bonus-point defeat of Scotland two weeks ago and in the belief that their corner has already been turned. An Ireland with big names returning and at home will be a very different proposition to a Scottish side reduced to the bare bones through injury, but Kearney accepts any signs of weakness or uncertainty in the home ranks will be seized upon by an intent opponent.

“They’ll probably sniff a little bit of blood,” said the veteran full-back. “If you’re analysing a team that is not firing at their best, that’s the nature of sport.”

Time for Ireland to wipe away the scent, then.