NO SIGN OF storm clouds gathering over Ireland’s Maynooth base just yet, the forecast of doom and gloom inside the Carton House bubble a long way off as Joe Schmidt’s squad return to work ahead of France.
As the inquest into another sub-standard performance in Rome filled the empty space during the fallow week, Ireland’s three-day get-together in Belfast allowed Schmidt’s side get through an encouraging body of work up north.
Upon their return to Carton House on Monday evening, there appears to be a renewed sense of focus heading into the penultimate round of championship action, which sees Ireland return to the Aviva Stadium for the visit of the dangerously unpredictable Les Bleus.
Joey Carbery was the only member of the 37-man squad who did not take a full part in Wednesday’s training session and while confidence has almost certainly taken a hit in the first three rounds of the Six Nations, the players enter this week with clear minds and firm intentions.
The much talked about downtime in Belfast towards the end of last week, including a black cab tour of the city, allowed Ireland step off the carousel and hit the reset button as they seek to rediscover their form and swagger in the final weeks of this campaign.
Put all that has gone before aside and focus on the next 80 minutes on Sunday afternoon, has been one of the key messages coming from Carton this week.
“The mood is pretty good,” Cian Healy says. “A few tough sessions under our belt and we’re starting to get some nice cohesion in what we’re doing.
“There are little bits in different areas of the pitch that have put us a little bit behind the play but we’ve put a lot of good things together, just a final pass or something that hasn’t gone right.
I think in the last two weeks of training hard and putting ourselves under pressure, we’ve started to see that come good for us in training and we’re starting to really enjoy what we’re doing. It feels like a good place to be in at the moment.
The Leinster prop rejected the suggestion there are any underlying issues which exist within the environment.
“It’s not hell in here, we do have fun together,” he laughed. “We have enough downtime to enjoy each other. It’s not a case of needing to go on the pints, we’ve had glasses of wine at dinner together. Chill out, enjoy each other’s company.
“It’s a good group of lads who all get on. There’s nothing wrong there.
“I think there is a good understanding of how controlled [the environment] is, but we’re not in meetings 24/7. We have a lot of meetings but we also have a bit of spare time when we sit around with each other and enjoy each other’s company as well.”
After being rested for Ireland’s last outing against Italy in Rome, with Munster’s Dave Kilcoyne handed a starting opportunity at loosehead, Healy is set to return to the front row to win his 87th cap this weekend.
The down week allowed him to get valuable fitness and conditioning work under his belt and watching events from the stand in Rome has not only made the 31-year-old eager to pull on the jersey again, but has put him in a strong position to produce a big performance against Jacques Brunel’s side.
“I’ve a view on it from the other side as well when it went in my favour and you have to understand that has to happen when we’re building such a unit,” he says of squad rotation.
“Us that aren’t involved, we get taken away and you get run, you get trained and you get that extra bit of fitness work. You turn that bit of negative into a positive that can boost you on for that next opportunity.
“Everyone comes in and they’re clearly focused and they know what they have to do.
You don’t want to back up a negative with a negative, it has to go from a negative to positive to go forward to the next play. That’s the sort of process we want to go through from a mistake.
Healy admits it’s hard to pinpoint exactly why Ireland have been off-colour during their Grand Slam defence, but Schmidt’s side are not tweaking too much this week in search of a much-needed spark.
“Just reinforce what we stand for and everything we do,” he adds. “Simple things like handling, to tackles, to breakdowns. Just reinforce everything and get people drilled on that. That extra bit of focus it might take.
“The next two games are massive. It could come down to defining the whole tournament and we’re aware of the importance of them and what it means to each other to put in good performances. And what it means to people outside.
“The heads are down, we’re doing the work and getting everything ready. We’re tight in here and we know what we want to achieve. Everyone is doing those little groups and doing everything to achieve that.”
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