IRELAND HEAD COACH Joe Schmidt says his side’s tag as favourites to win the upcoming Six Nations is an unnecessary distraction.
Paul O'Connell and Schmidt with the new Six Nations trophy. James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
The New Zealander will attempt to lead Ireland to a second successive title in the next seven weeks, but underlined that he and his players won’t waste time buying into others’ perceptions.
Stuart Lancaster’s England had been tournament favourites in many quarters until their recent spate of injuries, with Ireland having now edged ahead with many bookmakers.
Advertisement
Schmidt’s men start their campaign against Italy in Rome on 7 February, before welcoming France to Dublin a week later. England at home follows on 1 March, with trips to Wales and Scotland to come on the closing weekends of the championship.
I think being labelled favourites or otherwise, we were unaware of that until this morning, to be honest,” said Schmidt at today’s Six Nations launch in London.
“You do live in a little bit of a bubble. We’ve had a couple of days preparation looking to the Wolfhounds – Saxons game [in Cork on Friday] and then looking ahead to the Italian game, and for us favourites is a distraction.
“Because it’s somebody’s speculation about what might happen across five games, when I think we try to stay one game focused. If I was to speculate, I might come up with a different favourite, as may a number of people in this room.
“I think it can be a distraction that we don’t necessarily need to focus on at all.”
Schmidt with out-half Johnny Sexton at yesterday's training session. Ryan Byrne / INPHO
Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO
Schmidt is as narrowed in on the processes behind the winning as ever, ensuring all the elements that have made Ireland favouries continue to function at world-class levels.
Wins over South Africa and Australia in November moved Ireland up to third in the World Rugby rankings, another status that Schmidt had little time for. Unsurprisingly, he remains intent on improving his team as much as possible.
I think you just try to get a little bit better at what you’re doing,” said Schmidt. “The peripheral things that occur, whether it’s a ranking or it’s a tag of favourites, I don’t think either of those are tangibly going to add value to what your performance is.
“They can be distractions or you can stay focused on what might help. Whether you can be a little bit better in the set-piece or you can defend a little bit better in an area of the pitch.
“I think it we remain focused on those things that can tangibly help us add value when we do perform, I think it’s a lot better than being distracted by rankings or speculation.”
Joe Schmidt isn't buying into Ireland's status as Six Nations favourites
IRELAND HEAD COACH Joe Schmidt says his side’s tag as favourites to win the upcoming Six Nations is an unnecessary distraction.
The New Zealander will attempt to lead Ireland to a second successive title in the next seven weeks, but underlined that he and his players won’t waste time buying into others’ perceptions.
Stuart Lancaster’s England had been tournament favourites in many quarters until their recent spate of injuries, with Ireland having now edged ahead with many bookmakers.
Schmidt’s men start their campaign against Italy in Rome on 7 February, before welcoming France to Dublin a week later. England at home follows on 1 March, with trips to Wales and Scotland to come on the closing weekends of the championship.
“You do live in a little bit of a bubble. We’ve had a couple of days preparation looking to the Wolfhounds – Saxons game [in Cork on Friday] and then looking ahead to the Italian game, and for us favourites is a distraction.
“Because it’s somebody’s speculation about what might happen across five games, when I think we try to stay one game focused. If I was to speculate, I might come up with a different favourite, as may a number of people in this room.
“I think it can be a distraction that we don’t necessarily need to focus on at all.”
Schmidt is as narrowed in on the processes behind the winning as ever, ensuring all the elements that have made Ireland favouries continue to function at world-class levels.
Wins over South Africa and Australia in November moved Ireland up to third in the World Rugby rankings, another status that Schmidt had little time for. Unsurprisingly, he remains intent on improving his team as much as possible.
“They can be distractions or you can stay focused on what might help. Whether you can be a little bit better in the set-piece or you can defend a little bit better in an area of the pitch.
“I think it we remain focused on those things that can tangibly help us add value when we do perform, I think it’s a lot better than being distracted by rankings or speculation.”
Niamh Briggs has been named the new Ireland Women captain
Schmidt hopeful that O’Brien will be ‘involved in first half’ of Six Nations
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
6 Nations Six Nations Ireland Joe Schmidt Launch London Steady Hand