IF ANDY FARRELL needed to ask anyone about how wrong World Cup campaigns can go, he could just turn to Paul O’Connell.
Ireland forwards coach O’Connell was there for perhaps the most miserable of Ireland’s efforts in the tournament. An unhappy camp exited at the pool stage of the 2007 World Cup in France, having lost to Argentina in their last game.
In truth, that defeat had been coming. Ireland had an unenjoyable experience, with their hotel well outside Bordeaux in what was akin to an industrial estate. The vibes were bad, but the players were also fatigued from a huge pre-season.
O’Connell firmly believes that the current World Cup in France is very different, given how well Farrell’s Ireland have prepared.
“One of my experiences would have been in 2007 being over-trained a little bit and probably got the hotel wrong, got the food wrong a little bit, and fuelling is such a big part of preparation so that’s a big part of it,” said O’Connell today in Tours.
“Your temptation as a player is to train as hard as you can but you need to leave something in the tank a little bit as well. And your temptation as a coach is the same. I would say it’s a big strength of Andy’s and Jason [Cowman, Ireland's head of S&C] is managing that and having good feel for where the players are at in terms of their training load.
“We know a lot from a GPS point of view, that’s a really good guide for us to be able to know where we are training-wise relative to where we have been before in terms of the metres [run], the levels of contact we have. That’s been a great guide.”
Another crucial takeway for O’Connell from 2007 was how Ireland attempted to change things up too much. Evolution is key but there’s a fine line between that and ripping up the script.
“Sometimes you feel like you come to a World Cup and you need to reinvent the wheel a little bit,” said O’Connell.
“We want to evolve and get better for sure but it’s not about reinventing anything and those are my two lessons.
“I think Andy, even though he wasn’t involved with Ireland, would have had similar experiences and would be trying to put a similar strategy in place.”
O’Connell was at three other World Cups and said he loved them all, so he’s excited to be back involved now as a coach.
He’s confident that the current Irish team are in a good place a few days out from their opener against Romania in Bordeaux on Saturday.
“I think we have real continuity here with the lads in terms of how we play, in terms of selection, in terms of them knowing each other and knowing what each other are about and knowing how to enjoy themselves and switch off,” said O’Connell.
“That’s probably one of the most enjoyable things about the tour in New Zealand [last year]. Even though we took on those two extra [midweek] games and we had a tough start, I think the players were enjoying it immensely.
“Part of that was maybe how the coaches ran it but a lot of it was because they were able to take a hold of it themselves and know how to work hard and know how to enjoy themselves, know how to enjoy each other’s company.
“We haven’t strayed far from that formula that we’ve had in the last few years in terms of how we run the working week.”
O’Connell has been as busy as ever behind the scenes. Ireland’s lineout had a few wobbles in their last two warm-up games against England and Samoa and while he said it was frustrating, the forwards coach seems calm.
He said unrelated errors – a simple dropped ball, a missed lineout call – can make it appear as if something is wrong with the overall lineout, but he doesn’t believe that’s the case.
“A few of those were frustrating but we haven’t made any major changes,” said O’Connell. “We just need to make better decisions when we’re in there.”
While Ireland are expected to field most of their front-liners this weekend, 22-year-old lock Joe McCarthy, the youngest member of the squad, also looks set for involvement and O’Connell is excited about the Leinster man’s ability.
“He’s a big boy anyway, that’s for sure, which is great,” said O’Connell. “He has great enthusiasm, great energy.
“He’s a bit of a keeno, which as a coach you love to see. You don’t have to tell him anything twice and then he’s trying to figure things out himself. There’s nothing better than players who are trying to figure things out themselves, that aren’t waiting to be coached all the time.
“He’s got some real strong attributes to his game. He’s an excellent lineout jumper but he’s an excellent lineout defender as well in terms of in the air but also in the seam, also defending mauls. Excellent call-carrier, great leg drive in his carry, working really hard on his tackle. He was caught offside in the England game but he made a fantastic low chop tackle, which is great to see in a tall man.
“John Fogarty [Ireland's scrum coach] loves him in the scrum, he’s a big boy and he’s very good on the tighthead side. So he’s a fantastic player and like a lot of these guys, there’s a lot of fantastic coaching gone into him from a young age.
“He’s a lot further down the track when he first comes in at 21 or 22. As I said, his enthusiasm is great, it’s a real joy to behold. So he’s going great for us.”
