WHATEVER ABOUT IRELAND’S form this autumn, there has been no debate about Josh van der Flier’s displays.
The openside flanker was excellent in defeat to New Zealand, must have been close to player of the match in the win over Argentina, and put in another strong shift against Fiji before making way in the 48th minute.
Between his breakdown work, powerful tackling, aggressive ball-carrying, and some tidy handling, van der Flier has been somewhere near his best this autumn. He’ll look to cap it all off with another big performance against Australia on Saturday.
“I’m feeling good,” says the 31-year-old. “When the body feels good that’s the first thing. It feels fresh.
“There’s always different things we’re all trying to work on and I probably had a bit of a think over the off-season. I talked to a few people about how I could improve, things I could get better at.”
One area he looked at was his work in attack. Van der Flier realised that he had often been carrying close to the ruck, trying to offer the sort of pick-and-goes that heavier players like Andrew Porter excel at.
Van der Flier is at his best when he has a chance to run onto the ball, using his acceleration, choice of running line, and sense of where a sliver of space might be to punch over the gainline.
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“I would find myself more effective in that area,” he says. “That’s something I’ve tried to work on.
Van der Flier knows his strengths. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
“I was probably a bit inefficient in some games, trying to work hard all throughout but probably burning more energy than I needed to and then not having the energy at times it was needed.”
Van der Flier has been using his fuel wisely in recent weeks, invariably delivering a positive action when he has been involved.
On Saturday, van der Flier will be up against the coach who gave him his Ireland debut in 2014.
Joe Schmidt had a major influence on the Leinster flanker’s career and van der Flier has fond memories of working under the Kiwi.
“I found him brilliant, his attention to detail and his focus on players getting good habits and being good as individuals is something I developed hugely from,” he says.
“A lot of it with Joe was fitting into the system, trying to get really good with each area of the game which I found really helpful, so he pushed a lot at being very technically good with your tackling, being very technically good at the ruck, technically good at passing, so it was all the the real basic things that he made sure everyone was very good at.
“I developed hugely with those and on my journey as a rugby player it was a hugely helpful time. Even things like the discipline he brought, both on and off field, was very, very helpful and I modelled a lot of how I do things on the way he coached us.”
Van der Flier has started all three games so far. Tom Maher / INPHO
Tom Maher / INPHO / INPHO
In the years since, van der Flier hasn’t stayed too far from Schmidt’s mantra that rugby is about the basic things done well consistently.
Ireland play a different brand of rugby now under Andy Farrell, but van der Flier remains totally focused on doing the simple things as well as possible.
“You want to come up with good lineout and scrum plays and great backline moves. All these areas you work on to capitalize on the rules or whatever, but when it comes down to it, if you do all those things and you’re not physical or you don’t make your tackles then you won’t do very well.
“You have to do the basics or the rest of it is irrelevant. That’s where you start. You do that then it is the added extras, the moves, the trick plays, the bits of individual skill.
“That’s how I see it. Make sure as an individual that you are on top of your detail, know what the opposition is about, then keep it simple in the game, make your tackles, make good decisions.”
It’s a philosophy that continues to work for van der Flier.
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Josh Van der Flier has been a standout for Ireland this autumn
WHATEVER ABOUT IRELAND’S form this autumn, there has been no debate about Josh van der Flier’s displays.
The openside flanker was excellent in defeat to New Zealand, must have been close to player of the match in the win over Argentina, and put in another strong shift against Fiji before making way in the 48th minute.
Between his breakdown work, powerful tackling, aggressive ball-carrying, and some tidy handling, van der Flier has been somewhere near his best this autumn. He’ll look to cap it all off with another big performance against Australia on Saturday.
“I’m feeling good,” says the 31-year-old. “When the body feels good that’s the first thing. It feels fresh.
“There’s always different things we’re all trying to work on and I probably had a bit of a think over the off-season. I talked to a few people about how I could improve, things I could get better at.”
One area he looked at was his work in attack. Van der Flier realised that he had often been carrying close to the ruck, trying to offer the sort of pick-and-goes that heavier players like Andrew Porter excel at.
Van der Flier is at his best when he has a chance to run onto the ball, using his acceleration, choice of running line, and sense of where a sliver of space might be to punch over the gainline.
“I would find myself more effective in that area,” he says. “That’s something I’ve tried to work on.
“I was probably a bit inefficient in some games, trying to work hard all throughout but probably burning more energy than I needed to and then not having the energy at times it was needed.”
Van der Flier has been using his fuel wisely in recent weeks, invariably delivering a positive action when he has been involved.
On Saturday, van der Flier will be up against the coach who gave him his Ireland debut in 2014.
Joe Schmidt had a major influence on the Leinster flanker’s career and van der Flier has fond memories of working under the Kiwi.
“I found him brilliant, his attention to detail and his focus on players getting good habits and being good as individuals is something I developed hugely from,” he says.
“A lot of it with Joe was fitting into the system, trying to get really good with each area of the game which I found really helpful, so he pushed a lot at being very technically good with your tackling, being very technically good at the ruck, technically good at passing, so it was all the the real basic things that he made sure everyone was very good at.
“I developed hugely with those and on my journey as a rugby player it was a hugely helpful time. Even things like the discipline he brought, both on and off field, was very, very helpful and I modelled a lot of how I do things on the way he coached us.”
In the years since, van der Flier hasn’t stayed too far from Schmidt’s mantra that rugby is about the basic things done well consistently.
Ireland play a different brand of rugby now under Andy Farrell, but van der Flier remains totally focused on doing the simple things as well as possible.
“You want to come up with good lineout and scrum plays and great backline moves. All these areas you work on to capitalize on the rules or whatever, but when it comes down to it, if you do all those things and you’re not physical or you don’t make your tackles then you won’t do very well.
“You have to do the basics or the rest of it is irrelevant. That’s where you start. You do that then it is the added extras, the moves, the trick plays, the bits of individual skill.
“That’s how I see it. Make sure as an individual that you are on top of your detail, know what the opposition is about, then keep it simple in the game, make your tackles, make good decisions.”
It’s a philosophy that continues to work for van der Flier.
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Ireland Joe Schmidt Josh Van der Flier VDF Wallabies