Ireland eager to turn page on ‘frustrating’ form with more Chicago heroics

Ireland assistant coach Paul O’Connell is under no illusions that his side has been inconsistent over the past calendar year, and with a Lions series depriving them of the usual July fixtures, there’s been a significant emphasis on hard training sessions in Chicago to get the team back up to speed.

The Irish have returned to the scene of their famous 2016 win over New Zealand, aiming to repeat history. While they’ve claimed plenty more wins over their Kiwi rivals in the time since, the recent unpredictability of the men in green has placed them as slight outsiders in the eyes of bookies.

The All Blacks most certainly have their own consistency woes to navigate, but being on the back end of their season, rather than the very first game, has its apparent advantages.

Ireland are not far removed from a period of historic success, but O’Connell’s reference to that 2022-2023 period, when they held the No. 1 spot in the world rankings, was tellingly in the past tense.

“We were probably a little bit inconsistent,” he said of the team’s recent campaigns. “We had a really good start to the Six Nations. That English game was a really tough game; we weathered the storm and came back. That’s a good English team, and we came back and beat them well. Same against Scotland —we played really well. After that, we were probably a little bit inconsistent.

“In the Welsh game, there were some really good bits of play. We had a really good start against France, and then we were a bit inconsistent after that.

“That’s frustrating for us as coaches, in terms of what we’re doing, and it’s probably frustrating for the lads as well.

“That was probably a hallmark of that good period of form; there was a real consistency to how we played and how we delivered our game. And that’s the challenge for us as players, as the squad evolves bit by bit, that’s the challenge for us, to get back to that.”

Team Form

Last 5 Games

13 - 24

46 - 19

41 - 10

13 - 26

7 - 106

26 - 52

33 - 19

17 - 25

13 - 26

14 - 28

3

Wins

4

1

Streak

1

30

Tries Scored

21

133

Points Difference

47

4/5

First Try

4/5

4/5

First Points

3/5

4/5

Race To 10 Points

4/5

Helping Ireland rediscover their form of yesteryear is inspirational captain Caelan Doris, who is set to return from injury in the heavyweight bout.

“He’s been through a very good return to play period now, and he’s had a good few weeks with very little minding of him or anything like that,” O’Connell said.

“There’s one train of thought that says you start a guy like that, because he could come on after a minute anyway, and then there’s another train of thought that says you bring him off the bench.

“We’ll see. But he’s fine. He’s trained really well, he feels really good, he’s shown no ill effects whatsoever.”

O’Connell added that the Irish side has some insight into how All Blacks coach Scott Robertson thinks, thanks to Crusaders-turned-Ireland assistant coach Andrew Goodman. But he was also full of praise for the multitude of ways New Zealand can attack, highlighting how sound his defence would have to be come Saturday.

“It’s definitely a challenge, and that’s why we came over here a little bit early. It allowed us to get over the jet lag, or get over most of the jet lag, and have two very good, very fast training sessions with a good bit of contact in them, and get lads up to speed.

“It’s certainly a challenge, but the sessions we’ve put in are designed to help the guys on that journey.”