STAND-IN IRELAND skipper Jamie Heaslip insists the squad are completely focused on the challenge of Fiji in Limerick this week.
The Leinster man will lead Declan Kidney’s side out for the second week on the trot for the non-cap game against the South Pacific outfit on Saturday.
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The game comes a week before what could be a crucial showdown with Argentina in terms of World Cup seeding.
“It’s like any other week for us,” Heaslip told the press in Limerick yesterday however. “We still stick to the same process that we use.
“So Sunday and Monday lads — the backroom team, staff and the coaches looked at the video, we reviewed it, looked at what we did right, what we did wrong and and then we simply moved on, we simply looked towards Fiji come Monday evening.
He continued: “And in a way with Fiji with have to somewhat focus on ourselves. They’re the Sevens world champions so they like an expansive game at times, sometimes the game can get a little bit fractured which they strive on. We’ll focus on ourselves and our structures and our patterns and the basics. That’s what we’ve been doing this week with a new faces. That’s been the main focus this week, we really hit the ground running Monday, Tuesday and today (Thursday) we had a really, really good training session.
“Everyone’s really focused, they know what they have to do ad I can’t wait to get out there,” the Kildare native added.
Asked if the Fijians were the ‘calm before the storm’ in the capital next week against one of Ireland’s modern rugby rivals, the skipper replied: “We’re all about Fiji. I know it’s a bit of a cliche but we are all about Fiji this week.
“Personally, I haven’t even thought about Argentina. I glanced at them last weekend and I saw Felipe [Contepomi] come off the pitch and that was the only reason I was watching to be honest — to see Felipe play. I’m all about this week and I’ll worry about that afterwards.
“This is the third week of a really good camp. It’s buzzing. Everyone’s looking forward to getting out training, there’s a lot of excitement about it and it’s a really, really good place to be.”
We’re all about Fiji, says Jamie Heaslip, as Argentina await
STAND-IN IRELAND skipper Jamie Heaslip insists the squad are completely focused on the challenge of Fiji in Limerick this week.
The Leinster man will lead Declan Kidney’s side out for the second week on the trot for the non-cap game against the South Pacific outfit on Saturday.
The game comes a week before what could be a crucial showdown with Argentina in terms of World Cup seeding.
“It’s like any other week for us,” Heaslip told the press in Limerick yesterday however. “We still stick to the same process that we use.
“So Sunday and Monday lads — the backroom team, staff and the coaches looked at the video, we reviewed it, looked at what we did right, what we did wrong and and then we simply moved on, we simply looked towards Fiji come Monday evening.
He continued: “And in a way with Fiji with have to somewhat focus on ourselves. They’re the Sevens world champions so they like an expansive game at times, sometimes the game can get a little bit fractured which they strive on. We’ll focus on ourselves and our structures and our patterns and the basics. That’s what we’ve been doing this week with a new faces. That’s been the main focus this week, we really hit the ground running Monday, Tuesday and today (Thursday) we had a really, really good training session.
“Everyone’s really focused, they know what they have to do ad I can’t wait to get out there,” the Kildare native added.
Asked if the Fijians were the ‘calm before the storm’ in the capital next week against one of Ireland’s modern rugby rivals, the skipper replied: “We’re all about Fiji. I know it’s a bit of a cliche but we are all about Fiji this week.
“This is the third week of a really good camp. It’s buzzing. Everyone’s looking forward to getting out training, there’s a lot of excitement about it and it’s a really, really good place to be.”
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Declan Kidney Fiji Ireland IRFU Jamie Heaslip Limerick November internationals Sevens Thomond Park