Murray Kinsella reports from Rome
THERE WAS LITTLE delusion from Joe Schmidt and Paul O’Connell after Ireland beat Italy 26-3 in Rome.
This pair know they’ll need to get better over the coming weeks if they’re to retain their Six Nations title; no need to tell Schmidt and O’Connell that Ireland have to lift their game against France and England in the next two rounds.
There was, as ever, much talk about accuracy, efficiency and improvement at the post-match press conference in Stadio Olimpico. It’s not just lip service – these are the mantras Schmidt’s Ireland live by.
The Kiwi head coach’s rugby philosophy has embedded itself in his players’ minds, his technical demands are now the accepted norms, his mental intensity is welcomed by the leaders in the squad. Even Schmidt’s language has permeated through the entire group.
There’s a whole lot of areas we can improve on,” accepted O’Connell after Ireland’s success. “When you come back after such a long break [since the November Tests], it would have been great to start a little more accurately.
“The first kick off, a lineout early on, a forward pass; just a few very simple things that I think are very easily corrected and don’t need massive work. Being very efficient and accurate in those things can make a big difference to the overall picture.
“When you’re inaccurate like that, it stops you putting the other team under pressure, stops you gaining momentum. From a fitness point of view, it was a slow first half because of that stop-start nature.
“It would be great next week if we could eradicate that, although we’ll probably be under a little more pressure from the French.”
Indeed Ireland will, even if Philippe Saint-André’s side were perhaps not utterly convincing in seeing off the Scots in Paris yesterday.
For Ireland, the likelihood of welcoming at least Johnny Sexton and Jamie Heaslip back into their starting XV will make a notable difference in performance levels. Two world-class players back in the mix against a whole array of French talent.
There were many positives too in Rome, whatever about O’Connell’s insistence Ireland need to get better. The likes of Ian Keatley, Mike Ross, Tommy O’Donnell, Jordi Murphy, Simon Zebo, Robbie Henshaw and Rob Kearney all impressed on an individual basis.
The set-piece fired well for the majority of the game, and O’Connell was also pleased with how Ireland stuck to their task. Schmidt’s side ground the Italian resistance down and eventually got their brace of tries in the final quarter.
“You’d love to have started the game a lot better than we did and given ourselves a bit more confident, but the heads didn’t drop,” stressed O’Connell. “We stuck at it, and we spoke during the week about playing for 80 plus minutes.
“If you’re going to talk about it, you have to be willing to do it and I think we were. In the second half, once we were a little more accurate, once we held onto the ball, we were able to put them under pressure and the penalties told.
They had a man in the bin, we managed to score a try, Tommy [O'Donnell] scored a try, so patience was a good part of it.”
It seems certain Schmidt will make tweaks to the formula ahead of the French clash, even if the ongoing pillars of kicking contestably, chasing hard, running direct off set-piece and working relentlessly in defence remain.
Who knows, Sean O’Brien might even make it onto the pitch next time around. Even if he doesn’t, the next tier continue to show their value when called upon. Onwards and upwards for Schmidt and Ireland.
