JOE SCHMIDT WILL make the toughest phone calls of his rugby career on Sunday afternoon. Or Sunday evening. Or Monday morning.
The timing of those heartbreaking conversations with the players who have missed the cut for Ireland’s final 31-man World Cup squad will depend on how long it takes Schmidt and his coaching team to select that elite group.
Schmidt has a difficult weekend ahead. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
Schmidt, Les Kiss, Simon Easterby, Greg Feek and Richie Murphy will go into a quiet room following Saturday’s clash with Wales and probably won’t emerge until the next day, a list of 31 players finalised.
Delivering the bad news to those who haven’t made it will fall to Schmidt, the head man.
“How do you tell someone that’s worked incredibly hard?” said the Kiwi at Carton House yesterday.
“I know they’ve worked incredibly hard for the last eight, nine weeks, but some of these players have worked incredibly hard for four years since the last World Cup and are desperately keen to be involved. You tell them as honestly as you can, that’s all you can do.
I really enjoy our environment because it’s a very honest environment, player to coach and coach to player. I just think that’s the only way you can do it. You’d like to meet them face to face, but that’s probably not going to be practical.
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“It’s probably going to be phone calls and as a coach, it’s probably the least desirable part of my job.”
There is a ruthless edge to Schmidt’s coaching approach of course, but as he sighed his way through the above answer we got a real glimpse of his human side too, the empathy he will have for the men to whom he brings an unwanted message.
Schmidt will at least be armed with a well-reasoned explanation for each of his decisions, particularly with the coaching team around him having considered all possibilities in the make-up of the final 31.
“I think the one thing I’d say is that it’s a really good coaching group and our discussions are pretty robust,” said Schmidt. “We have different areas that we specialise in but we are very much collective in the final decision-making process.
Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
“I think the decisions will be thrashed out and well fought out, different perspectives will be taken into account. At least when those calls have to be made, the player can feel that we’ve tried to be as thorough as we possibly can be.”
There are multiple calls still to make. Three scrum-halves or just two? Marty Moore or Nathan White at tighthead, or both? Michael Bent to cover both sides of the front row?
The back three is incredibly competitive, to the point where even the experienced and proven Tommy Bowe is no longer a certainty, particularly after a pre-season in which the likes of Dave Kearney have impressed Schmidt more.
“The front row decisions obviously,” said Schmidt. “Losing Tommy O’Donnell and Rhys Ruddock has made the back row probably a little easier to select, but disappointingly so because I think those two have done super things in the group.
One thing I’d say is that Jack Conan has really come on as well, so he’s come in to put some pressure on there.
“Across the board, that conundrum around the scrum-half, out-half, that’s still difficult for us. Some of them probably have a good idea that they’ll go and some will be in a state of flux.
“An obvious place is the back three, even the back five, and those decisions. Part of the ingredients for any decision that gets made there will be performances this weekend, which is a real pressure cooker for players. But that’s what the World Cup is going to be.”
Right now, the focus as always for Ireland is on the next task at hand – performing against Wales tomorrow. Then Schmidt and his staff will lock themselves away, before that final World Cup squad returns to camp on Monday.
Billy Stickland / INPHO
Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO
Rather than bringing a sense of relief at the hardest decisions having been made, that next phase will only see things move up another notch.
“Once the 31 are in, you’re in the World Cup,” said Schmidt. “I think I’ll be even more anxious.
There won’t be too many sighs of relief, I think there’ll be apprehension about making sure that we can prepare as well as we can, hoping that guys stay sound, that we don’t pick up injuries.
“The worst part of the selection is not naming the 31, it’s speaking with the 14 or 15 others.”
Schmidt: 'How do you tell someone that's worked incredibly hard?'
JOE SCHMIDT WILL make the toughest phone calls of his rugby career on Sunday afternoon. Or Sunday evening. Or Monday morning.
The timing of those heartbreaking conversations with the players who have missed the cut for Ireland’s final 31-man World Cup squad will depend on how long it takes Schmidt and his coaching team to select that elite group.
Schmidt, Les Kiss, Simon Easterby, Greg Feek and Richie Murphy will go into a quiet room following Saturday’s clash with Wales and probably won’t emerge until the next day, a list of 31 players finalised.
Delivering the bad news to those who haven’t made it will fall to Schmidt, the head man.
“How do you tell someone that’s worked incredibly hard?” said the Kiwi at Carton House yesterday.
“I know they’ve worked incredibly hard for the last eight, nine weeks, but some of these players have worked incredibly hard for four years since the last World Cup and are desperately keen to be involved. You tell them as honestly as you can, that’s all you can do.
“It’s probably going to be phone calls and as a coach, it’s probably the least desirable part of my job.”
There is a ruthless edge to Schmidt’s coaching approach of course, but as he sighed his way through the above answer we got a real glimpse of his human side too, the empathy he will have for the men to whom he brings an unwanted message.
Schmidt will at least be armed with a well-reasoned explanation for each of his decisions, particularly with the coaching team around him having considered all possibilities in the make-up of the final 31.
“I think the one thing I’d say is that it’s a really good coaching group and our discussions are pretty robust,” said Schmidt. “We have different areas that we specialise in but we are very much collective in the final decision-making process.
“I think the decisions will be thrashed out and well fought out, different perspectives will be taken into account. At least when those calls have to be made, the player can feel that we’ve tried to be as thorough as we possibly can be.”
There are multiple calls still to make. Three scrum-halves or just two? Marty Moore or Nathan White at tighthead, or both? Michael Bent to cover both sides of the front row?
The back three is incredibly competitive, to the point where even the experienced and proven Tommy Bowe is no longer a certainty, particularly after a pre-season in which the likes of Dave Kearney have impressed Schmidt more.
Bowe will need a big performance for Ulster this evening to remove the doubts, but there are many other decisions for Schmidt to ponder.
“The front row decisions obviously,” said Schmidt. “Losing Tommy O’Donnell and Rhys Ruddock has made the back row probably a little easier to select, but disappointingly so because I think those two have done super things in the group.
“Across the board, that conundrum around the scrum-half, out-half, that’s still difficult for us. Some of them probably have a good idea that they’ll go and some will be in a state of flux.
“An obvious place is the back three, even the back five, and those decisions. Part of the ingredients for any decision that gets made there will be performances this weekend, which is a real pressure cooker for players. But that’s what the World Cup is going to be.”
Right now, the focus as always for Ireland is on the next task at hand – performing against Wales tomorrow. Then Schmidt and his staff will lock themselves away, before that final World Cup squad returns to camp on Monday.
Rather than bringing a sense of relief at the hardest decisions having been made, that next phase will only see things move up another notch.
“Once the 31 are in, you’re in the World Cup,” said Schmidt. “I think I’ll be even more anxious.
“The worst part of the selection is not naming the 31, it’s speaking with the 14 or 15 others.”
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31 Man Group difficult Ireland Joe Schmidt Phone Calls world cup squad