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Madigan celebrates with Simon Zebo at the Aviva. Dan Sheridan/INPHO
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Ian Madigan's display pleases Schmidt as new Ireland caps impress

The Kiwi head coach has strong belief in the playmaker, despite his lack of games at 10 for Leinster.

JOE SCHMIDT WAS encouraged by the performances of debutants Dave Foley, Dominic Ryan and Robin Copeland in Ireland’s 49-7 win over Georgia yesterday, while out-half Ian Madigan also came in for praise.

Second row Foley was named man of the match for a hard-working display in which he also ran Ireland’s line-out, while Leinster flanker Ryan impressed in the back row. Copeland came off the bench in the closing quarter to demonstrate his ball-carrying threat.

“There was a little bit in all three of them that will keep up interested in the future, I would think,” said the Kiwi post-match.

Schmidt credited Foley for calling the shots at line-out time, while also indicating that the 26-year-old Clonmel man had got through copious amounts of work around the pitch.

As for Ryan, the Ireland coach felt “his performance was good, he had some solid ball carries over the gain line and his work rate was high. It’s what we were looking for from him.”

Copeland added dynamism as a replacement for Mike McCarthy, although that impact came as the game broke up late on. Nonetheless, Schmidt was enthused by what he saw from the Wexford-born number eight.

“Robin came on and delivered something just a little bit outside the box,” said Schmidt. “He got a couple of good offloads away and he’s a guy who can just change the shape of a game a little bit, in that he’s such a good athlete that it allows him to either get into space or to dominate collisions and free the ball up.”

Robin Copeland and Muraz Giorgadze Robin Copeland had some nice touches for Ireland late on. James Crombie / INPHO James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO

Ulster’s Stuart Olding was another to stand out as a final-quarter substitute, slotting in at fullback to score a try and provide the assist for Felix Jones’ first. Schmidt again offered praise to the versatile back, but also indicated the role of others in creating Olding’s five pointer.

“Stu obviously finished that try nicely,” outlined Schmidt, “he hit a nice angle. It was a set play where other guys helped Stu get the gap.

You don’t probably put it down to one player, but the way he shaped and changed direction was pretty impressive.”

Darren Cave was among Ireland’s weaker performers, and will likely have been disappointed with some of his passing and decision-making. His head coach refused to be drawn into offering any criticism of the player, however.

“I guess with any of those assessments, I’d like to take my time. I have a gut feeling that Darren was solid… so we’ll have a look at the footage and try to make some assessments about all sorts of players.”

At out-half Ian Madigan demonstrated why he is second to Johnny Sexton in Schmidt’s depth chart at 10, playing the full game and providing many moments of attacking class.

Stuart Olding runs in for a try Olding scorched clear for a try in the second half. Dan Sheridan / INPHO Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO

With an 80% success rate off the tee, and some of those kicks from demanding positions, Madigan also tackled well and passed superbly. Despite his lack of game time at out-half for Leinster, Schmidt has belief in the 25-year-old’s ability there.

“I’ve coached and had a relationship with Ian for four years,” began Schmidt. “That coach-player relationship means that he knows what we expect as a coaching group and he is very driven to try to be as accurate as he can be.

I think he’s added length to his kicking game, I think he’s added variety to his kicking game. We’ve always known his running game and what he’s capable of there.

“I thought his game management was pretty good today, because we did want to stay structured for as long as we could.

“I think Ian managed the game very well and defensively, he’s very good under the ball. I think we saw him take a couple of balls in the air, back over his shoulder. His skillset is good. I think if he gets the training time there, he’s pretty comfortable [at out-half].

“I would say that he was relatively comfortable, especially with Eoin [Reddan] inside him today. They’ve played a lot together at club level and they form a pretty good combination.”

Schmidt: First-half efforts laid foundation for Ireland’s second-half tries

In pics: Ireland score six second-half tries to thump Georgia

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