JAMIE HEASLIP SAYS he is feeling positive about his role as vice captain of Ireland this season, shrugging off suggestions that he would be bitter at losing out to Paul O’Connell in the full-time role.
The Leinster No. 8 claims that there was no news to break this morning when Joe Schmidt came to speak to him, but rather that he has been “given the honour” of serving as vice captain.
Any efforts by those present at Carton House this afternoon to push the 29-year-old into admitting to disappointment were laughed off by a laid-back Heaslip.
The Lions back row was appointed captain last season under Declan Kidney, leading the side in seven games. The fact that Ireland only won two of those fixtures has been held up as evidence of Heaslip’s failings, but within the group he remains respected. The strong suggestion last night was that Heaslip would continue as captain, but Joe Schmidt has instead gone for the experience of Paul O’Connell.
The No. 8 points out that the captaincy of Ireland didn’t simply belong to him because he had undertaken the job last season. In that vein, Heaslip says that he hasn’t lost the role but merely that it has been passed on.
The role itself isn’t something you own or hold onto, so I don’t think it’s taken off you. You’re just looking after it, just like the green jersey to be honest. When Joe asked me to step up to the role as vice captain of the squad, I embraced it with both hands and very quickly just started pestering him with questions about this week and what we’re doing, the focus on the next two days.
“That’s how quickly it was over and done with. I’ve played with Paul plenty of times with him as captain and hopefully I’ll get the chance to do it again.”
Heaslip is insistent that there will be no hard feelings between himself and O’Connell over Schmidt’s decision. Instead, the Isreali-born forward says he was quick to congratulate the Munster lock.
“I just went up to him, shook his hand and said, ‘Well done Skip.’ That was it really.”
Schmidt has stressed that it was not an easy decision, particularly given the fact that the likes of Brian O’Driscoll, Jonny Sexton, Rory Best and Peter O’Mahony were all thought to be realistic candidates.
Heaslip did admit that O’Driscoll had ruled himself out of the running, commenting that “it was a difficult decision” for the Leinster centre, who now had to think about his family and life after rugby.
Regardless, there were still a number of options for Schmidt to choose from, and the Kiwi says he had a troubling time coming to this long-awaited solution. The former Leinster coach is pleased with the duo he has picked, pointing out that there is a good chance that Heaslip will skipper the side often, given O’Connell’s recent injury history.
It was a tough decision. We’ve got a very good group, who are really steering the ship, so to speak. To have two guys at the helm just allows us to cover our bases. Just with Paul, he’s had an intermittent two years now where he has had a number of injuries, whereas Jamie’s incredibly durable. So he’s going to line up for every training and game. It just allows us to cover both bases.”
Schmidt backed up Heaslip’s own assertion that he had taken the decision well, claiming that much of their discussion had been on immediate targets this weekend.
“Jamie just said he was delighted. We chatted, to be honest, more about what’s happening this weekend than what’s happening going forward. Because I think we’re both reasonably short-term focused.”
That short-term focus is centered on the Samoan challenge in Dublin on Saturday, a game in which Ireland will need all the leadership they can muster. Heaslip will be expected to excel on that front.
