THIS ONE HAS all the makings of a Six Nations opener for the ages, and Rory Best admits Ireland will need to produce their best performance of the Joe Schmidt era to topple England at the Aviva Stadium this evening.
The Ulster hooker, who will win his 114th cap later, has captained Ireland 28 times and last year guided Schmidt’s side to just a third Grand Slam and a historic first home win over the All Blacks — but says they’ll need to reach even greater heights here.
Just one defeat in 12 outings last year saw Ireland rise to second in the World Rugby rankings and their Grand Slam defence starts with a mouthwatering showdown with England under the lights in Dublin.
“I think there is still more and we’ve got to find more,” Best said after Friday’s captain’s run.
“There’s no doubt we’ll need it and this is Six Nations rugby, it’s different to the Autumn internationals. The Autumn internationals are playing against teams that are a little bit unknown. Argentina and New Zealand, we study them but we don’t play against them in Europe in the Six Nations every year.
“You’re not very close neighbours to them. England know us inside out, they probably know us a lot better than the Southern Hemisphere teams do.
“We can gear ourselves up now over the last nearly two weeks and then next 24 hours, we can gear ourselves up to put ourselves in the best position to win it, but ultimately what England are going to bring at us, we can’t control.
“That’s always the little thing that nags at you — you can’t control what they do. For us, it’s about making sure that we get consistency in everything that we do and that we’re able to go out tomorrow at a quarter to five and play the best game of rugby that this group has ever played because, ultimately, that’s what it’s going to take.”
Despite all of the achievements of 2018, Best firmly believes there is much to more to come from this Ireland side, adding: “To improve you don’t want to look at one area or say, ‘We have to be better here, here, here, here.’ It’s about trying to be better right across the board.
“Can we be more dynamic with our carries? Can we be quicker with the ruck? Can we get more useful ball off our set-piece, scrum and lineout? Can we be more accurate with our kicking game? Can our passes be exactly where we want them instead of just checking someone for a millisecond?
“All of these things, and if you can get one or two per cent improvement from everyone, if that’s everyone’s aim, even if you’re having one of those days where you don’t quite get it as well as you want and someone else does, it balances out.”
Out of contract with the IRFU after this year’s World Cup, the 36-year-old said he has set no time limit on the end of his career and is yet to consider if he will be in the same seat — as Ireland captain — this time next year.
“Not really,” he said, when asked if he has thought about his future.
“It’s something that I get asked a lot and to be honest I’m contracted to the World Cup and it’s the same answer. I’m really happy with how much I’m enjoying playing at the minute, even moving from Ulster to come down into here. This squad is a cracking squad to be a part of and I’ll probably not make too many decisions until nearer the time.
“But I think when you get to 30 or beyond every year is a bonus and every year you get to sit here as captain of this squad is a year when you can thank your lucky stars, because it is a really privileged position to be in with this great group of players, and to be honest I’ll just keep taking it game by game and judge by how much I’m enjoying and how much I feel I’m playing well.
“Ultimately, the pressure that comes from the way other people in your position are playing makes you drive on to try to be better and to try to improve your performance.”
The focus for now, however, is on England, as Ireland bid to record their third straight win over the Red Rose. Best knows a fast start will be essential.
“I think the danger of a sluggish start is that we lose and with England and the form that they’re going to be bringing, that will be the long and short of it,” he added.
If we start slow we know that they will start with a bang. We have to be good and that is why it is important, and we said it right at the very start, two weeks ago that we can’t waste a day.
“We can’t go ‘ah, we weren’t quite good today but we’ll pick that up tomorrow.’ Because come tomorrow at a quarter to five there won’t be a tomorrow, and it’s got to be about being nailed on because England are a quality side, and I keep saying it because they are. If we give them access points into the game then it is going to be a long day for us.”
Simon Zebo joins Gavan and Murray for a special live recording of the podcast in Dublin’s Liberty Hall Theatre to preview Ireland’s Six Nations opener against England:
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