WITH THREE WINS under his belt in a Championship where momentum is key, Jack McGrath says Ireland are ready to sprint to the finish line.
Though his focus is entirely trained on Wales and the threat they pose Ireland’s Grand Slam hope, the prop would be lying if he said he never considered winning the tournament he’s worked so hard to be a part of.
“No one wants to get ahead of themselves, because if you trip up it’s a pretty costly fall. It’s something that obviously it’s human nature that it’s in the back of your mind, but it’s tuned out coming up to the game, those three days coming up to the game,” says the loosehead.
“It’s still kind of new to me because it’s only my second Championship, but I’m still loving it. It’s a nine-day sprint, but we’re not looking past Saturday.”
There was a hint of Déjà vu about Joe Schmidt’s team announcement yesterday as the Kiwi coach one again found himself singing the praises of McGrath when the questions from the floor ask about the omission of Cian Healy.
‘That’s the type of player I am’
For Schmidt, the 25-year-old proved his worth as soon as he was allowed ‘cover’ for Healy in the November international against South Africa. The Springboks are perennial standard-bearers of forward power and for McGrath to hold his own in that environment was an impressive feat.
McGrath is a player who has forged his entire career under Schmidt. So the attention to detail the New Zealander is constantly demanding comes as second nature to the St Mary’s man.
“There’s definitely a lot demanded of you, but it’s only going to improve you as a player. That’s the type of player I am, I like to do a good bit of work, do my carrying, do my tackles, do my stuff around ruck time and be able to scrum and lift and maul well, it’s obviously a bonus.”
“You have to be fit, have to be athletic, have to be a clever player, have to know your role. The days are gone of walking from scrum to scrum — some old-school props might say unfortunately! But that’s the way the game has gone. A lot of front rows are like back rows now, poaching and getting into those sort of positions.”
That work-rate has made the recent down weeks (pre and post the win over England) a welcome break from intense competition for McGrath and an Ireland XV which has awarded starts to a total of 18 players so far in the Championship. The break helps the mind refresh as well as the body
“No matter how nice any place is, if you’re here [in Carton House] for eight weeks on the trot you get sick of it. We got to go to Belfast and that was a nice little trip, then a few days off after that. The break it up, it’s definitely a positive and coming back in on Monday it was nearly a fresh start.”
A fresh start before two big bursts.
