JOE SCHMIDT’S FOCUS no doubt immediately switched to France next weekend as soon as the referee blew the whistle in the Stadio Olimpico yesterday afternoon.
Ireland got out of Rome with the win that kickstarts their campaign despite a workmanlike if uninspiring first performance of the Six Nations season.
On Friday, first-choice out half Jonny Sexton was given the all clear to face Les Bleus by doctors. But in the meantime, Ian Keatley did his long-term prospects no harm at all in the Italian capital, according to the Schmidt.
“Obviously he kicked 100% from the tee and that allowed us to establish a bit of scoreboard pressure because I think without that, Italy were so in the game and up for the game it was going to be very difficult,” said the Ireland head coach.
“In the game, a couple of times I think he was probably a little bit nervous and we’ll have a look at that, have a chat about it. What you can’t take away is that’s a small experience that he’s had that will help him acquit himself in the future.”
In the absence of the likes of the aforementioned Sexton, the usually bionic Jamie Heaslip, Cian Healy and Sean O’Brien who pulled up with a hamstring tweak in the warm-up, Schmidt too was happy with the efforts of some less experienced players.
“Fingers crossed that’s the first small step for them,” said Schmidt. “They’ve had that experience, played in the pressure cooker that is the Six Nations championship. As Paul said, you finish November, have two months off after with a number of changes. We had six of the same starting 15 as we had this time last year. That in itself presents a challenge.
He continued: “Tommy [O'Donnell] lays in a position where it’s a natural thing to top the tackle count. Robbie[Henshaw] put some very heavy shoulders in and stopped their momentum. I think he really put his hand up and Jordi Murphy’s workrate throughout was really impressive. I think he volunteered to carry a lot as well as tackle a lot and I think his stats are also very impressive.
“It was almost a workaholic performance from all three of those guys, and that’s what we need. We wouldn’t be the biggest team around and we’ve got to make sure that everyone is working really hard, so it was great that those three could demonstrate that today.”
On the Henshaw-Payne combination, Schmidt saw plenty of promise.
“There was a couple of times they combined, particularly in that second half, and did really well,” he said.
“Jared got into a bit of space and got away, Robbie unfortunately picked the ball up very close to the line and didn’t quite finish it off. I thought they defended well together. The defence was great from the pack, which meant they probably got it a little easier for them, but I think they managed to put a fair bit of pressure on both side of the ball. When they carried, they gave us great advantage line and they gave us greay advantage line defensively getting off the line as well.
“So it’s probably in its embryonic stage, to be honest. They’ve not spent a lot of time together and it’s a long time between South Africa, almonst three months ago, and today when they played together for the second time. It’s the first time they’ve played with Ian Keatley, so there’s a number of changes as a result of injury and form. I thought they did really well.”
