WITH CANADA ACCOUNTED for in an eight-try victory at Dublin, Ireland’s attention turns immediately to a second meeting with the All Blacks.
History was made in Chicago last weekend as Joe Schmidt’s side produced a sublime 40-29 win over the Kiwis, making the return tie in the Aviva Stadium all the more appetising.
While Ireland will carry out their usual review of this win over the Canadians, already Schmidt will be formulating his team selection for the return tie with the All Blacks in the Aviva Stadium.
There will almost certainly be few changes between the team from last weekend and the XV that runs out next Saturday, but Schmidt has close calls to make in a number of departments within his 23.
The openside flanker slot is open after Jordi Murphy’s season was ended by a knee injury, with Josh van der Flier having impressed off the bench in Chicago and Sean O’Brien doing well in tonight’s win over the Canadians. Peter O’Mahony will be hopeful he has done enough to force his way into the squad too.
In the back three, Keith Earls’ return was strong against Canada. Enough to push Simon Zebo out of the first-choice team or displace Garry Ringrose from Ireland’s bench for next weekend perhaps?
Back row, back three, even front row; there’s some tough decisions,” said Schmidt at the Aviva Stadium after Ireland’s win over Canada.
“I think we’ll get together and sort those out and we’ll announce the squad on Thursday and it will have been really, really closely looked at.
“Hopefully, it will be the right squad to give the All Blacks another really good game.”
The second row could be an interesting one for Ireland too, although Donnacha Ryan and Devin Toner’s performances against the All Blacks were excellent.
That said, Ultan Dillane was superb in a man-of-the-match performance against Canada on his first start for Ireland.
“I think he did really well,” said Schmidt. “His ability to carry the ball and then carry it again, and then get up and carry again, was really impressive. He got off the line and made some really good tackles as well, so on either side of the ball he did really well.
“We would probably liked to have got a little more lineout pressure on them. I felt their lineout was probably better than it was in the World Cup, where they didn’t contest as much and we maybe got a little bit more access.
“But across the board, Ultan did really well.”
Schmidt was pleased to report that Ireland came through the game “relatively unscathed” in terms of injury concerns, as he confirmed that Finlay Bealham had been replaced with cramp, and that the entry of John Ryan off the bench had been planned for the 50th minute in any case.
The Ireland head coach was delighted with his eight new caps – Garry Ringrose, Jack O’Donoghue, Billy Holland, Ryan, Dan Leavy, Luke McGrath, Niyi Adeolokun and James Tracy – “all getting a little bit of confidence and a little bit of experience.”
Now he focuses in on the All Blacks again, aware that they are going to be better in Dublin.
“We probably got them at an opportune time,” said Schmidt. “They’d had 18 wins in a row and while they’d spent a lot of time together, a lot of that time they had Brodie Retallick and Sam Whitelock in their second row or, if not those guys, Luke Romano.
“Patrick Tuipulotu hadn’t played a lot, so to have that big reshuffle in their second row, getting three lineout balls in the first half helped us. Then even in the back end of the game, Ryan Crotty has been outstanding for them.
“He’s been the real lynchpin, it’s been him and Malakai Fekitoa, him and Anton Lienert-Brown, or him and George Moala, so he’s been the heart of their midfield attack and defence, organising and striking some really good lines.
“Losing him when we lost Jordi was a blow for them and then losing Moala as well and ending up with Ardie Savea on the wing, it did allow us to manage the end game with a little bit more calmness and a little bit more proactive intent than sitting back.
“Because we did sit back for probably the first 20 minutes of the second half.
I think they’ll come full-strength, fully loaded. Maybe we surprised them a little bit because while a lot of people were referencing 2013, we didn’t have that many starters that were the same as 2013 and they had a lot of changes as well.
“So three years on, it is difficult to use that as a reference point. This time, it was only seven days ago so there’s a very close reference point. They can go back and look at that.
“They will look at us now after their Italy game and they’ll have a really good plan. I think they are incredibly well coached, I think they are incredibly well prepared physically and I think the rate they play at if they have the ball, you’re under pressure if they’ve got it.
“They might have an opportunity to have more access to it if they’ve got their second row back.”
The42 is on Snapchat! Tap the button below on your phone to add!
