HISTORY BECKONS, AND so too a form of rugby immortality, yet within the confines of the Carton House bubble, all week the party line has been well-rehearsed — the same processes, the same systems, just another match.
Joe Schmidt’s Ireland are a well-oiled machine, the players — utterly professional — are fully aware of what’s at stake but outwardly too focused to let that muddy their thought process in the build-up to Saturday.
They’ve tried to remove the emotion from this week as much as possible, except a Grand Slam tilt against England at Twickenham, on St Patrick’s Day, means this is a match of added significance. Of added pressure. Of added hype. Of added emotion.
Schmidt yesterday referenced Sir Alex Ferguson when he said he would accept a lucky or boring win in London on Saturday, fully aware that while passion and emotion are big drivers, a good performance guarantees nothing at England’s Twickenham citadel.
“I think your passion and emotion drives you forward in a game,” the Ireland head coach says. “It makes you as determined as you can be. But it has a lifespan in a match, there’s got to be something that’s contagious about getting you further motivated during a game.
“For us, we were lucky last year, because it was three-all, we went up 10-3 and that first try that got scored was the only try of the match in the end. Getting that try in the first quarter, that sparked a bit of confidence and a real determination that, if we could stay in front, obviously you get the result at the end of the day.
“I think it’s got to be, that passion and determination, it’s got to be balanced with a degree of confidence and a degree of building through the match.
“Not just, ‘right we’re going to be passionate at the start’, because that will start to fall off if things go against you and you’re under pressure the whole time because mentally it is very hard to stay up all the time.”
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Schmidt added that he has taken confidence from his side’s performance in the corresponding fixture 12 months ago, when Ireland finished an otherwise disappointing campaign on a high with victory over England in Dublin.
The roles are reversed this weekend, with England — unbeaten at home under Eddie Jones — gunning for revenge and the incentive to derail Ireland’s Grand Slam bid.
“I suppose I referenced the character that was shown this time a year ago,” he continued.
Billy Stickland / INPHO
Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO
“Those characters who demonstrated that are still heavily involved. We’re missing some of them and the guys who’ve come in have demonstrated a similar level of commitment, of the ability to be accurate and stay tuned in during those real pressure moments that happen in these really big test matches.”
“So that gives me a bit of confidence, but it’s always tempered in these really big games. “We could actually play really well. I remember four years ago we went to England, and I felt it was our best performance of the Six Nations, and one of the greatest ironies for me was that when we won that championship it was described as four super performances, and just that one poor performance against England.”
“When we looked at it, who were up against and how well we performed, for us it was probably our best performance, and one of the things you don’t get safeguarded by is the level of your performance when you’re playing against a really good team. Because if Anthony Watson or Jonny May or Elliot Daly slip away, they’re gone. They’re too quick. If Mako Vunipola doesn’t get put down in the first tackle, you are going to be under pressure. Kyle Sinckler the same, the ball carry they bring.”
“Not only does it have to be a really good performance. Even Sir Alex Ferguson said ‘you want to put all those good things together and they you just need an ounce of luck when it comes to those really big games.’”
It doesn’t come much bigger than England at Twickenham, with a Grand Slam on the line, and on the national holiday. For this generation, for this team, Saturday presents an exciting, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make history.
“I don’t know about the players, but I would be very much a glass half full person,” Schmidt says of daring to dream.
“I get excited about the group we have and how hard we work, but I’d be very balanced from the perspective of being a pragmatist at the same time.
“There is no point in dreaming beyond this Saturday, because this Saturday is a finite point for us where a number of things have to happen and go right.
Billy Stickland / INPHO
Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO
“I wouldn’t say that you can control that emotional rollercoaster that preparing a high level sports team kind of engenders, because there are times where you inevitably imagine the worst case scenario.
“Worst case scenario is that England hit the ground running and they actually win with a bit to spare.
“That would be a bit of a crushing scenario. It would be a crushing way for us to finish a year of being unbeaten.
“A potential opportunity that has only been done twice before, I’d be more motivated and scared by that than thinking about how fantastic it would be to do something that would be another step for this group into kind of stretching themselves beyond what they’ve done before.”
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Passion and emotion key but Schmidt knows Ireland will need luck at Twickenham
HISTORY BECKONS, AND so too a form of rugby immortality, yet within the confines of the Carton House bubble, all week the party line has been well-rehearsed — the same processes, the same systems, just another match.
Joe Schmidt’s Ireland are a well-oiled machine, the players — utterly professional — are fully aware of what’s at stake but outwardly too focused to let that muddy their thought process in the build-up to Saturday.
They’ve tried to remove the emotion from this week as much as possible, except a Grand Slam tilt against England at Twickenham, on St Patrick’s Day, means this is a match of added significance. Of added pressure. Of added hype. Of added emotion.
Schmidt yesterday referenced Sir Alex Ferguson when he said he would accept a lucky or boring win in London on Saturday, fully aware that while passion and emotion are big drivers, a good performance guarantees nothing at England’s Twickenham citadel.
“I think your passion and emotion drives you forward in a game,” the Ireland head coach says. “It makes you as determined as you can be. But it has a lifespan in a match, there’s got to be something that’s contagious about getting you further motivated during a game.
“For us, we were lucky last year, because it was three-all, we went up 10-3 and that first try that got scored was the only try of the match in the end. Getting that try in the first quarter, that sparked a bit of confidence and a real determination that, if we could stay in front, obviously you get the result at the end of the day.
“I think it’s got to be, that passion and determination, it’s got to be balanced with a degree of confidence and a degree of building through the match.
“Not just, ‘right we’re going to be passionate at the start’, because that will start to fall off if things go against you and you’re under pressure the whole time because mentally it is very hard to stay up all the time.”
Schmidt added that he has taken confidence from his side’s performance in the corresponding fixture 12 months ago, when Ireland finished an otherwise disappointing campaign on a high with victory over England in Dublin.
The roles are reversed this weekend, with England — unbeaten at home under Eddie Jones — gunning for revenge and the incentive to derail Ireland’s Grand Slam bid.
“I suppose I referenced the character that was shown this time a year ago,” he continued.
“Those characters who demonstrated that are still heavily involved. We’re missing some of them and the guys who’ve come in have demonstrated a similar level of commitment, of the ability to be accurate and stay tuned in during those real pressure moments that happen in these really big test matches.”
“So that gives me a bit of confidence, but it’s always tempered in these really big games. “We could actually play really well. I remember four years ago we went to England, and I felt it was our best performance of the Six Nations, and one of the greatest ironies for me was that when we won that championship it was described as four super performances, and just that one poor performance against England.”
“When we looked at it, who were up against and how well we performed, for us it was probably our best performance, and one of the things you don’t get safeguarded by is the level of your performance when you’re playing against a really good team. Because if Anthony Watson or Jonny May or Elliot Daly slip away, they’re gone. They’re too quick. If Mako Vunipola doesn’t get put down in the first tackle, you are going to be under pressure. Kyle Sinckler the same, the ball carry they bring.”
“Not only does it have to be a really good performance. Even Sir Alex Ferguson said ‘you want to put all those good things together and they you just need an ounce of luck when it comes to those really big games.’”
It doesn’t come much bigger than England at Twickenham, with a Grand Slam on the line, and on the national holiday. For this generation, for this team, Saturday presents an exciting, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make history.
“I don’t know about the players, but I would be very much a glass half full person,” Schmidt says of daring to dream.
“I get excited about the group we have and how hard we work, but I’d be very balanced from the perspective of being a pragmatist at the same time.
“There is no point in dreaming beyond this Saturday, because this Saturday is a finite point for us where a number of things have to happen and go right.
“I wouldn’t say that you can control that emotional rollercoaster that preparing a high level sports team kind of engenders, because there are times where you inevitably imagine the worst case scenario.
“Worst case scenario is that England hit the ground running and they actually win with a bit to spare.
“That would be a bit of a crushing scenario. It would be a crushing way for us to finish a year of being unbeaten.
“A potential opportunity that has only been done twice before, I’d be more motivated and scared by that than thinking about how fantastic it would be to do something that would be another step for this group into kind of stretching themselves beyond what they’ve done before.”
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