IRELAND CAPTAIN JAMIE HEASLIP cut an altogether happier figure after Ireland’s 40-9 win over Samoa than the last post-match briefing he intended in Ireland colours.
The No.8 was part of an Ireland pack that were dominant at scrum and lineout time and who drove the Samoans back 20 metres to score off a statement-sending maul. Heaslip tried to accentuate the positives back in March when Italy secured their first Six Nations victory over his side. On Saturday, he found a receptive audience.
As a forward unit,” he said, “we’re pretty happy that we scored two tries off our setpiece. We were able to attack off our scrum too, which we wanted to do, and provide quick ball for the backs. We got through a lot of work though, at times, I think we made it hard for ourselves, especially in the first-half, with inaccuracies… letting them play a lot more.”
Heaslip then focused on the work of his teammates at collision areas and at the breakdown. Following Ireland’s win over Wales earlier this year, Heaslip name-dropped the entire Ireland pack. This time, he settled for lauding a quartet of players that were key in breaking Samoa’s early resistance. He said:
Pete [O'Mahony], straight out the gate, got two really good turnovers. I think Rory [Best] was in there a good bit, causing havoc. So was Chris [Henry] when he was on, so was Seanie [O'Brien].”
Heaslip and Schmidt were in agreement that O’Mahony’s try, scored after Ireland’s rolling maul chewed up 20 metres of ground in the Samoan 22, was the most pleasing aspect of the collective forward performance.
Asked if Ireland’s Saturday performance would be enough to see off the Australians next time up, Heaslip stuck to his ‘one game at a time’ mantra. “I have looked at the Wallabies at all yet. Joe has probably looked at them 20 times at this stage.”
British & Irish Lion Heaslip added, “From playing against them in the summer, you can’t really give them easy ball — be it turnover, penalty or wayward kicks because they’ve got such attacking prowess in the back three, well all over the field, to be honest.
“We’ve got to be very accurate with the ball; be very aware that when we are kicking, that we give a good chase line. Don’t give them easy ball, don’t let them get out; keep a good chain.”
Heaslip should cede the captaincy to Paul O’Connell for next Saturday’s clash with Australia but he knows they are both in for a full-on Monday morning first. He said, “We took a step in the right direction but, as always, there’s a lot of work-ons and I’m pretty sure Joe [Schmidt], Les [Kiss] and John [Plumtree] will have a nice sheet of stuff for us to work on come Monday.”
