James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
WHEN JOE SCHMIDT was all-conquering Leinster coach, he would make sure to set the tone with his own voice before beginning a tournament, especially a tournament he was the reigning champion of.
Titles, he insisted, were never to be defended. Everything had to be won by right all over again,
That folded in nicely with the day-by-day short-term focus he drilled into his players. Heineken Cup final or a Friday night in Rodney Parade, players were required to be firmly plugged in and paying attention to that infamous detail.
This weekend, Ireland’s first outing in their second ‘defence’ (sorry, Joe. It won’t happen again Joe) of the Six Nations crown under Schmidt could very well prove to be the Championship decider.
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Sunday will be the fourth time in the space of a year that Ireland have met Wales. Warren Gatland’s men have tasted victory both home and away in that period of time and also have the boon of a positive World Cup experience, even if it did end 24 hours before Ireland’s.
The bookies have the two Celtic nations locked together as joint second favourites for the Six Nations behind England. One side will drop significantly from that position this time next week. Obviously, the pressure’s on. But for Schmidt, it’s rarely off.
“There is always pressure. The pressure tends to compress itself around the match week,” says the Kiwi.
“You think about end points, you don’t think about the pressure of trying to win a championship because you don’t win a championship playing the first game.
“You have got to build your way through it so for us even with the team, we stay fairly much week-to-week focused.
“We feel a lot of pressure around that first game because we then have got two big away games, one of those is just six days later. It’s a very complicated start for us.”
James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
That complication comes in the form of little respite after what is sure to be a bruising battle with the familiar foe that is Wales. The quick turnaround takes Ireland to Paris to meet a side doubtless looking for, if not revenge, then an early opportunity to show their return to traditional attacking values. Even a week off between that and a trip to Twickenham doesn’t make things look any easier.
A good start, in this case, could be 90% of the work.
We want to get off to a good start but then so does everybody else.
“Because you know that as soon as you don’t get a good start, you are hugely behind the eight ball because it is very contained within those five games.
“You can can’t afford to lose more than one, so if you don’t start well you put yourself in a very tough situation.”
At Leinster, Schmidt’s tenure was characterised by an astounding comeback, but at Test level he has found success as a front-runner.
In two Six Nations campaigns he has managed to ride out a loss to achieve success, but the defeats came in rounds three and four in 2014 and 2015 respectively. If Schmidt can again guide a team to four points from the first two games, it will be among his most impressive accomplishments yet.
'If you don't get a good start you're behind the 8 ball': Schmidt dealing with familiar pressure
WHEN JOE SCHMIDT was all-conquering Leinster coach, he would make sure to set the tone with his own voice before beginning a tournament, especially a tournament he was the reigning champion of.
Titles, he insisted, were never to be defended. Everything had to be won by right all over again,
That folded in nicely with the day-by-day short-term focus he drilled into his players. Heineken Cup final or a Friday night in Rodney Parade, players were required to be firmly plugged in and paying attention to that infamous detail.
This weekend, Ireland’s first outing in their second ‘defence’ (sorry, Joe. It won’t happen again Joe) of the Six Nations crown under Schmidt could very well prove to be the Championship decider.
Sunday will be the fourth time in the space of a year that Ireland have met Wales. Warren Gatland’s men have tasted victory both home and away in that period of time and also have the boon of a positive World Cup experience, even if it did end 24 hours before Ireland’s.
The bookies have the two Celtic nations locked together as joint second favourites for the Six Nations behind England. One side will drop significantly from that position this time next week. Obviously, the pressure’s on. But for Schmidt, it’s rarely off.
“There is always pressure. The pressure tends to compress itself around the match week,” says the Kiwi.
“You think about end points, you don’t think about the pressure of trying to win a championship because you don’t win a championship playing the first game.
“You have got to build your way through it so for us even with the team, we stay fairly much week-to-week focused.
“We feel a lot of pressure around that first game because we then have got two big away games, one of those is just six days later. It’s a very complicated start for us.”
That complication comes in the form of little respite after what is sure to be a bruising battle with the familiar foe that is Wales. The quick turnaround takes Ireland to Paris to meet a side doubtless looking for, if not revenge, then an early opportunity to show their return to traditional attacking values. Even a week off between that and a trip to Twickenham doesn’t make things look any easier.
A good start, in this case, could be 90% of the work.
“Because you know that as soon as you don’t get a good start, you are hugely behind the eight ball because it is very contained within those five games.
“You can can’t afford to lose more than one, so if you don’t start well you put yourself in a very tough situation.”
At Leinster, Schmidt’s tenure was characterised by an astounding comeback, but at Test level he has found success as a front-runner.
In two Six Nations campaigns he has managed to ride out a loss to achieve success, but the defeats came in rounds three and four in 2014 and 2015 respectively. If Schmidt can again guide a team to four points from the first two games, it will be among his most impressive accomplishments yet.
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6 Nations 6Nations Six Nations Ireland Joe Schmidt Wales