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Schmidt’s Ireland: A Winning Team

They are back-to-back Six Nations champions, on a nine match unbeaten run at home and have a squad of players with genuine world class talent at their disposal, but are Ireland realistic Rugby World Cup contenders?

The World Cup only comes around every four years, and the past has shown that it hasn’t been kind to Ireland. They have never made it to a semi-final of a World Cup before and it baffles not just the Irish public but the whole rugby universe. I remember back in 2007, in the months leading up to the Rugby World Cup in France, Ireland captain Brian O’Driscoll had mentioned how well prepared the team were heading into the tournament. He said that this was the most organised squad Ireland had been able to select in terms of personnel and quality within the squad. O’Driscoll, who had played in two previous World Cups in 1999 and 2003 which had both ended at the Quarter Final stages, had the majority of Irish people convinced that this campaign was going to be different. There was no change unfortunately.

Schmidt’s Ireland: A Winning Team

Improvement did lay ahead for Ireland in New Zealand four years on, as they beat Australia in their Pool C clash to finish top of the group for the first time. In the Quarter Finals, Wales were waiting patiently. Again, Ireland had the chance to change the script but Wales had other ideas and knocked Ireland out to book their Semi Final place and dash Irish hopes. So, what gives me the impression that this year Ireland are going to change the record once and for all?

It hasn’t been easy watching Ireland at Rugby World Cups, but this time I think they can make history. My reasons for this are down to one individual, Joe Schmidt. The Kiwi, who has been Ireland’s Head Coach since 2013, is quite outstanding. Coming from New Zealand, a nation that eats, sleeps and drinks the game, he naturally makes winning a habit. In every coaching position he’s had, from coaching the New Zealand schools to his present job with the Irish Rugby team, he’s always made winning his main focus. Being a former school teacher, he’s able to use these techniques to teach and get the very best out of every player he’s worked with and the results speak for themselves.

When Schmidt left his native homeland in 2007, he took up the role of backs coach at French outfit Clermont Auvergne. In the Top 14 (French Rugby’s domestic league), they finished runners-up twice in 2008 and 2009, and won it eventually in 2010. The following year he accepted the job of Head Coach for Leinster Rugby and took them to new heights as they became Heineken Cup champions in 2011 and 2012, as well as adding the Amlin Challenge Cup and Pro12 titles in 2013 to his growing list of achievements.

Now in his new role with Ireland, he’s already added two Six Nations championships to his C.V. and one gets the impression he wants more. What he’s done for Irish Rugby has been nothing short of remarkable. When you consider the player pool that Ireland are selecting from, and compare it with other countries like England, France, South Africa and Australia, who have a wider spectrum of choice for their teams, you would think that Ireland would be struggling. When you hear comments from the Irish players themselves and what it’s really like to work and train under Schmidt, it enhances his reputation even greater. In fact there are comments from Joe Schmidt which tell you that morale couldn’t be better and there’s a great respect between coach and player. Schmidt has no specific way of playing. He is a very innovative coach, with countless number of ideas and game plans put in place for certain teams. He builds his philosophy on each individual player doing their job to the best of their ability for the team. For Schmidt it’s about doing the basics of catching, passing, kicking, tackling and probably most importantly, communicating correctly. If all these fundamentals are up to scratch, he can then put his strategies in place for the team to execute. The word ‘team’ is vital to Joe Schmidt’s thinking. If his players come together and perform to their absolute maximum, he knows they have a great chance of getting the right result.

This whole team ethos that the Joe Schmidt and the team have built up in the last two years has proven crucial in Ireland rising to number two in the IRB world rankings, which is the highest they have ever been ranked since it’s inception. They are undoubtedly the most improved team in world rugby and I have no queries that they’ll want to continue to get better. It’s why I think no team in the 2015 Rugby World Cup will hope to meet Ireland when the spectacle gets under way this October. Expectation is growing and will only become greater as the weeks and months pass by.

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