A FORMER FITNESS Director of the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) believes Ireland will never be able to compete with the southern hemisphere teams unless the scheduling of the World Cup changes.
Joe Schmidt’s side fell at the quarter-final hurdle last week with defeat to Argentina in Cardiff while Wales and Scotland also suffered elimination at the hands of southern hemisphere sides.
Dr Liam Hennessy was part of the Ireland backroom team for ten years and believes the current schedule puts the Six Nations teams at a serious disadvantage on the world stage.
“Our research shows there’s a spike in injuries at the start of the season,” he told The42. “It’s inevitable that players are going to be more susceptible to injury at that time so we, and the other northern hemisphere teams, go in with an distinct disadvantage.”
“When you’re playing the likes of Rugby Championship teams who are firing on all cylinders, you don’t have much of a chance. They’re spending so much more time together in camp in competition mode before a World Cup.
“And when you’re going into tougher games against the likes of New Zealand and Australia, you just can’t afford to be giving that sort of advantage away.”
Hennessy, who has over 25 years experience in the industry and worked at three World Cups with Ireland, points to the win over Scotland in March as evidence to suggest this team can play a more expansive game.
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Ireland simply ran out of steam against a rampant Pumas outfit last weekend. Billy Stickland / INPHO
Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO
On that occasion, Ireland scored four tries in a 30 point win to win the Six Nations.
However, in the five months between that victory at Murrayfield and the World Cup opener against Canada, Ireland didn’t play what Hennessy describes as a ‘meaningful’ game of high intensity.
Four warm-up games preceded the campaign opener at the Millennium Stadium but Ireland hadn’t had a genuine workout in months.
“If we wind the clock back to the final game of the Six Nations and everybody suddenly sat up and took notice of this Irish team,” Hennessy continued. “It was a fascinating game because it showed us a different side of this Irish team.
“We know they have the workload, speed and ability to compete but we aren’t playing enough games in that fashion for it to become part of our DNA. It’s not practiced enough because we’re not exposed to the high-tempo game on a regular basis.
“It’s not just us. All of the Six Nations teams suffer from the scheduling.”
Now that the dust has settled on Ireland’s World Cup campaign, Hennessy believes blaming the quarter-final exit on ‘wrong tactics’ is a fruitless approach.
Instead, he insists the IRFU and indeed the wider public must look at the bigger picture when evaluating the team’s performances.
“A rational approach needs to be taken,” he says of the investigation into why Schmidt’s side were unable to become the first Irish team to reach the last four.
“We need to look at the overall picture. The southern hemisphere teams come into the tournament on the back of a full season and we’re not prepared to cope with that level of intensity.
“We begin to see trends. Every four years we see it but we have the technology and data now to compare and contrast. The key now is to learn from this and adapt.
“It’s not beyond our capacity to compete with the best but it’s not just about rugby. It’s about ensuring the players are primed and ready for the challenge that awaits. Weeks in camp doesn’t necessarily do that. A competitive environment does.”
“We’re fit enough but the macro-factors such as scheduling and placement of games works against us.”
Dr Liam Hennessy will be speaking at next month’s Setanta College conference on developing and maximising youth athletic potential. For more information click here.
'The schedule works against us while giving the southern hemisphere teams an advantage'
A FORMER FITNESS Director of the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) believes Ireland will never be able to compete with the southern hemisphere teams unless the scheduling of the World Cup changes.
Joe Schmidt’s side fell at the quarter-final hurdle last week with defeat to Argentina in Cardiff while Wales and Scotland also suffered elimination at the hands of southern hemisphere sides.
Dr Liam Hennessy was part of the Ireland backroom team for ten years and believes the current schedule puts the Six Nations teams at a serious disadvantage on the world stage.
“Our research shows there’s a spike in injuries at the start of the season,” he told The42. “It’s inevitable that players are going to be more susceptible to injury at that time so we, and the other northern hemisphere teams, go in with an distinct disadvantage.”
“And when you’re going into tougher games against the likes of New Zealand and Australia, you just can’t afford to be giving that sort of advantage away.”
Hennessy, who has over 25 years experience in the industry and worked at three World Cups with Ireland, points to the win over Scotland in March as evidence to suggest this team can play a more expansive game.
On that occasion, Ireland scored four tries in a 30 point win to win the Six Nations.
However, in the five months between that victory at Murrayfield and the World Cup opener against Canada, Ireland didn’t play what Hennessy describes as a ‘meaningful’ game of high intensity.
Four warm-up games preceded the campaign opener at the Millennium Stadium but Ireland hadn’t had a genuine workout in months.
“If we wind the clock back to the final game of the Six Nations and everybody suddenly sat up and took notice of this Irish team,” Hennessy continued. “It was a fascinating game because it showed us a different side of this Irish team.
“We know they have the workload, speed and ability to compete but we aren’t playing enough games in that fashion for it to become part of our DNA. It’s not practiced enough because we’re not exposed to the high-tempo game on a regular basis.
Now that the dust has settled on Ireland’s World Cup campaign, Hennessy believes blaming the quarter-final exit on ‘wrong tactics’ is a fruitless approach.
Instead, he insists the IRFU and indeed the wider public must look at the bigger picture when evaluating the team’s performances.
“A rational approach needs to be taken,” he says of the investigation into why Schmidt’s side were unable to become the first Irish team to reach the last four.
“We begin to see trends. Every four years we see it but we have the technology and data now to compare and contrast. The key now is to learn from this and adapt.
“It’s not beyond our capacity to compete with the best but it’s not just about rugby. It’s about ensuring the players are primed and ready for the challenge that awaits. Weeks in camp doesn’t necessarily do that. A competitive environment does.”
“We’re fit enough but the macro-factors such as scheduling and placement of games works against us.”
Dr Liam Hennessy will be speaking at next month’s Setanta College conference on developing and maximising youth athletic potential. For more information click here.
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