RORY BEST HAS leapt to the defence of former Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt, following recent criticism levelled at him by Dan Tuohy.
Speaking last month on the Telf Rugby Podcast, Best’s ex-Ulster colleague Tuohy (who earned 11 senior caps for Ireland between 2010 and 2015) said players often felt ‘belittled and scared’ under Schmidt’s watch. The Bristol-born lock also expressed his belief that the New Zealander stifled creativity and discouraged Ireland from offloading the ball.
For his part, Best has a radically different take on Schmidt’s tenure as international supremo. The Poyntzpass man was captain for Ireland’s Grand Slam triumph of 2018 and is adamant this success was made possible because of the methods deployed by the Kiwi.
“Joe Schmidt created an environment that was pressurised, because that’s what international rugby is. He’s not there to please everyone, he’s not there to make friends. He was there to get an Irish team which was inconsistent and didn’t perform on the big occasions, and were always seen as this golden generation that didn’t achieve anything, into a team that achieved. That’s what he did,” Best insisted.
I think some people thrive in those pressurised environments and some people don’t. If he’s nice to us and holds our hand through the week and then all of a sudden, ‘Bang’, you’re in a test match and Wales are trying to knock you backwards and you’re going, ‘Oh, they’re not meant to do this…’ It’s not good for you as a person, you as a player and the team.
“Joe’s environment was always an environment that I loved, because I love to be challenged. I love to try and get better. I never saw it as anything more than him putting pressure on you.”
It is perhaps unsurprising that Best is trying to look at things from Schmidt’s perspective, given the past few months has been him taking his own tentative steps into the world of coaching. At the end of April, he was unveiled as a technical and high-performance skills specialist for Major League Rugby’s Seattle Seawolves.
Former Ulster player and coach Allen Clarke is currently in charge of the Washington-based outfit, who recently finished fifth in the Western Conference of this season’s MLR. Covid-19 ensured Best’s role with the Seawolves was remote in nature, but it is an experience that he has cherished nonetheless.
“I’ve really enjoyed watching the games. You’re not watching it as a pundit, you’re not watching it as a fan. You’re watching it as a coach and you’re looking at it from different angles. It has been frustrating because I would have liked to have been able to get out there and do a little bit of coaching, when really all you can do is give virtual feedback.
“It is what it is and a lot of people are struggling to get the same productivity out of their work given the current situation. You just have to get on with it. I’m not 100% sure where it’s going to go for next season because they don’t start again until January.
“It gives me a lot of time to reflect back and think. When Allen Clarke came in, to have that feedback from him in terms of what I’m producing as a coach or as an analyst, it was really useful for me.”
Since Best bowed out of the international scene, an interesting battle has commenced between Rob Herring and Ronan Kelleher for the number two jersey in the Ireland team. Formerly an understudy of Best at Ulster, Herring has started 11 of the 16 test games that Andy Farrell has been in charge of.
Kelleher has gotten the nod in the five remaining games and came away with an astonishing four-try haul against the USA at the Aviva Stadium on 10 July. Before that, the Leinster front-row had spent time with the Lions at a training camp in Jersey and has subsequently been added fully to Warren Gatland’s squad as additional cover.
Best is in no doubt that the Dubliner possesses all the necessary attributes to establish himself as Ireland’s first-choice hooker for years to come and believes being part of the South African tour can help him to realise that ambition.
“When you look at Ronan, you know that he is a very, very good player currently. Sometimes you just kind of wonder, is there a little bit of confidence lacking to really make him grab a hold of that Irish number two jersey and never let it go until he has to retire,” Best said.
“The two games with Ireland in the summer, I thought he definitely looked like a player that had been given the nod by Andy Farrell and was really thriving by it. Now going out on this tour, you kind of hope that he takes that and really uses it to say that ‘I am now the first choice hooker in Ireland, one of the best four hookers in the British & Irish Lions’.
“Really to drive on now and make sure that he goes from strength to strength. Uses that confidence in the right way because he certainly has all the basics to be a top, top-level hooker.”
Originally published at 0600