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Roof row at Principality Stadium as Wales potentially look to snub Schmidt's wishes
Joe Schmidt has hinted Wales broke protocol in asking Six Nations bosses to close the Principality Stadium roof in Saturday’s tournament decider in Cardiff.
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Under Guinness Six Nations rules, both teams would have to agree for the Principality Stadium roof to be closed in the weekend’s denouement.
Schmidt revealed Wales asked Six Nations chiefs for the roof to be closed due to poor weather forecasts, leaving the Ireland head coach mildly vexed but pledging to adapt either way.
Ireland still should receive the final say on the roof but Schmidt refused to be drawn, simply insisting his team would cope one way or another.
“There’s been a request from Wales that in the interest of the quality of the game and the very poor weather forecast that the roof be closed,” said Schmidt.
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“So they’ve said to the Six Nations directly, ‘can it be closed?'”
When it was put to Schmidt that normally the visitors would be asked to decide on the roof, Schmidt replied: “Yes, normally, normally.”
And when asked what Ireland want, Schmidt continued: “We’ll adapt, we’ll adapt.
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“At the moment I’m not sure about the roof.”
Munster lock Tadhg Beirne will make his Six Nations debut as Ireland bid to deny Wales a first Grand Slam in six years.
Ireland boss Schmidt fears closing the roof could make precious little difference in any case, recalling how he believes Wales over-watered the pitch back in 2017, when the hosts prevailed 22-9.
“For us, last time we said ‘look, we don’t mind, you choose’,” said Schmidt.
“And they chose closed, but made the field incredibly wet at the start of the game.
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“So we will probably be happy enough if it’s open anyway.
“We’ll adapt to whatever conditions the game’s played in.
“And if the Six Nations decide that it’s going to be closed, well it will be closed and we’ll play in those conditions.
“And if they decide that it’s open, then we’ll play in those conditions.
“For us, I think, the last time it was closed we arrived there and there was a lot said about making it good for spectators.
“And then the sprinklers were on for 30 minutes and the ground was very, very damp before the game started.
“So that probably enters into our minds about which closed is it going to be? Is it going to be closed and wet, or is it going to be closed and dry?
“If it’s closed and wet, we might as well have the roof open and let the rain come in.”
Wales boss Warren Gatland confirmed he was waiting on a final decision, but expected Ireland to ask for the roof to be open.
“We have not heard definitively but we understand they want it open, which is not a concern for us,” said Gatland.
“My only concern is that if it is pouring down with rain then we do have a responsibility to the game for a spectacle.
“That’s a decision that is out of my hands. Both teams have to agree to the roof being closed so that means basically the away team decides what happens in our stadium.
“I have made a number of comments in the past about that. It’s our stadium and we should be able to do what we want with it.”
PA
Comments on RugbyPass
And the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
2 Go to commentsMore useless words from Ben Smith -Please get another team to write about. SA really dont need your input, it suck anyway.
264 Go to commentsThis disgraceful episode must result in management and coach team sackings. A new manager with worse results than previous and the coaching staff need to coached. Awful massacre led by donkeys.
1 Go to commentsInteresting article with one glaring mistake. This sentence: “And between the top four nations right now, Ireland, France, South Africa, and New Zealand…” should read: And between the top four nations right now, South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand and France…”. Get it right wistful thinkers, its not that hard.
23 Go to commentsHow did Penny get the gig anyway?
2 Go to commentsNice write up Nick and I would have agreed a week ago. However as you would know Cale & co got absolutely monstered by the Blues back row of Sotutu, Ioane and Papaliti and not all of these 3 are guaranteed a start in the Black jumper. He may need to put some kgs before stepping up, Spring tour? After the week end Joe will be a bit more restless. Will need to pick a mobile tough pack for Wales and hope England does the right thing and bashes the ABs. I like your last paragraph but I would bring Swinton, Hannigan into the 6 role and Bobby V to 8
21 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can still get in to the Play Off’s. The imminent return of outstanding captain Scott Barrett and his All Black team mate Codie Taylor will be a big boost.There are others like Tamaiti Williams too. Two home games coming up. Fellow Crusader fans get there and support these guys. I will be.
1 Go to commentsCant get more Wellington than Proctor.
2 Go to commentsWhy not let the media decide. Like how they choose the head coach. Like most of us we entrust the rugby system to choose. A rugby team includes the coaches. It's collective.
13 Go to commentsHi NIck, I have been very impressed with him and he seems a smart player who can see opportunities which Bobby V _(who must be an international 6_) doesn’t see or have the speed to take advantage of. If he continues to improve and puts on 5kgs then he could be a great 8. He is a bit taller than Keiran Reid at 1.93m and 111 kgs, so his skill set fits his body size and who knows where it will lead. I hope the spate of Achilles tendon issues have been dealt with by the S&C people. It’s been a very long time since Mark Loane and Kefu stood out at 8. The question is will we be able to hold onto him, if he does make it he will be pretty hot property. I disagree with the idea of letting them go to the Northern Hemisphere and then bring them back.
21 Go to commentsBilly Fulton 🤣🤣🤣🤣 garrrmon not even close
13 Go to commentsDoes the AI take into account refs? hahaha Seriously why not have two on field refs to avoid bias?
23 Go to commentsVern challenging this Blues side might be the edge they need to fulfill their potential. Convincing results from strong D and strong carries are hard to argue against.
1 Go to commentsLove seems to add a strong back field defense with speed to close the gap and tackle to his ability to attack, kick and pass (an accurate long pass). This sets him an edge over some of the other names - JRK in particular. Has to be said that Jordan and Stevenson have also been exposed defensively while Love has yet to face test match intensity. Spoilt for choice.
1 Go to commentsHe’s strung together a few strong seasons, I’d like to see him in the ABs and build some depth along with Reiko and ALB. Levi Aumua hasn’t taken the step we hoped to see but time yet.
2 Go to commentsWhere has our good friend Pecos gone!? Similar place to the Crusaders D, the abyss.
4 Go to commentsNice piece Nick. I haven’t seen much of the brumbies this year so will keep my powder dry on charlie, but clearly has the speed and footwork to be damaging in space. Similar to Samu, I’d worry about the size of our pack if the likes of Mcreight and Cale were in the b/row together. Maybe Cale could play a similar finisher role like Samu did for Rennie’s wallabies. Has Cale leapfrogged wilson in your eyes? He obviously has the lineout, but harry probably better (although not great) in the physical stuff and also has great hands in the loose. You’d have to say mcreight and valetini are shoe-ins at 7/8, so the question becomes who matches best with them at 6 and on the bench. I don’t know if he has a high enough ceiling, but id love to see wright given a shot based on how much bad luck he has had with injuries. He may also fit that no-nonsense graft/work rate irish approach…? If schmidt wants size and a 4/6 tweener then I’d probably pick Uru. On the bench I’d have no idea, Wilson if you want to give valetini a rest, and maybe hanigan/wright/uru as 6 replacements.
21 Go to commentsWho the heck is Billy Fulton?
13 Go to commentsCale has all the potential no doubt. So has Harry Wilson except for his dumb arse coach over the last few years who told him just to run at brick walls all the time. Valentini would be devastating at 6. As he was until some idiot thought oh yeah, move our best player to another position. Not mentioning any flightless or thank you names of course. I very much dislike claiming one player is the saviour, because injuries are so prevalent in the game these days as the players are bigger and faster, so the discussion should be who are at least the best two players in one position. For me it’s Harry Wilson and Cale at 8 at the moment with Valentini or Hooper from the Brumbies at 6. Great options. Seru Uru should be in the reserves too. A game changer.
21 Go to commentsScott Barrett is a card waiting to happen, Cane has been out with injury as well as playing in Japan, I think they’ll go with in-Japan-but-still-the-man Savea. Samisoni Taukeaho will be Captain after 2027, so he might get some Captain minutes against an Italy or Japan.
13 Go to comments