Ireland tackle speculation that Rory Best's captaincy is under threat
Joe Schmidt insists there is “no internal noise” regarding Rory Best’s captaincy despite Ireland’s record 57-15 loss to England on Saturday. Head coach Schmidt took the unusual step of addressing the media on Tuesday, accounting again for Ireland’s “unacceptable” eight-try hiding at Twickenham.
Ireland will announce their final 31-man World Cup squad on September 8, with boss Schmidt insisting places are still up for grabs. Asked if 37-year-old hooker Best’s role as skipper was under threat, Schmidt refused any guarantees but said: “To be honest, if there is external noise of that nature then there is no internal noise of that nature.
“Probably for Rory it is that internal noise that is most relevant to him because that is where the decisions are going to be made and – at this stage – there are no decisions that have been made in that direction. So, there are guys who are going to get an opportunity this weekend and if they perform better than any player who played last weekend, then there is always a contest and you have got to keep that contest live.
“It’s an unacceptable result for us. It was a performance beneath where we’d like to be. It’s a performance beneath where we need to be. The whole group are very, very conscious that we have a short period of time to make sure we accelerate what is part of our progression.
“We did try and have a very rigorous pre-season and the pre-season really ran up until the Portugal camp. We tried to taper a little bit towards the end of the week but, really, we looked flat, we looked slow. To throw everything out would be a mistake. There were a couple of aspects that weren’t too bad.
Having watched Ireland get torn asunder by England, the legendary Brian O'Driscoll has stated his preferred midfield partnership for the World Cup
https://t.co/vdKfCFJhxz— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) August 27, 2019
“I felt we found a little bit of space in behind them a few times, there were a couple of glimpses of some pretty good structure and getting over the advantage line. And some pretty good defence a few times.”
Schmidt insisted star fly-half Johnny Sexton does not have a serious leg injury but admitted Ireland will not take any risks with their premier playmaker. Sexton might not feature against Wales in Cardiff on Saturday – though Conor Murray is fully clear of any concussion worries after a head injury check on Saturday.
Asked if Sexton has a leg problem, Schmidt said: “No he doesn’t have a leg injury per se. He’s got a bit of (muscular) stiffness and soreness. If we wanted to pick him this weekend we could pick him.
“If you had seen him out there and how hard he was running, it’s a progression for him. He is very keen to be involved this weekend but we are not going to be silly about that. If we don’t think he is 100 per cent and ready then he won’t be involved this weekend.”
Fergie described it as the biggest mistake of his career. @CiaranKennedy_ looks at the similarities between the Man U legend and Joe Schmidt's impending departure https://t.co/lb7ou4GdOt
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) August 27, 2019
Cian Healy suffered an ankle injury against England while Keith Earls is battling a knee issue, but Schmidt expects both to be back in plenty of time for the World Cup. “Cian, he is bullish. Cian was involved in the first game and the second game. He probably wasn’t on the radar for this game anyway,” said Schmidt.
“We are probably just going to stick with that plan anyway. He is unlikely to play this Saturday and will play the Saturday after. I would be gobsmacked if he is not available for that. It’s really frustrating for Keith Earls. He looked super sharp.
“He got a little bit, I suppose you’d call it tendonitis in the knee, just above it. It’s just niggling away more than anything else. It is about playing the long game with Keith and making sure that he is 100 per cent ready to go. I know that he will be ready for the weekend after this one. I doubt whether he will be involved this weekend.”
– Press Association
WATCH: Ireland coach Joe Schmidt and captain Rory Best speak at after their’s side 57-15 loss to England
Comments on RugbyPass
🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
27 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusades , you can keep going.
1 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
27 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
27 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
27 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
27 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
11 Go to comments