Paul O’Connell believes that the three-game suspension which has ruled Johnny Sexton out of Ireland’s three World Cup warm-up games can be a silver lining, not only in keeping the Irish captain injury free but in allowing the other outhalves in the squad to assume more control of the position.
Ireland play the first of three preparatory matches against Italy at the Aviva Stadium next Saturday (kick-off 8pm), with England to follow a fortnight later and Samoa in Bayonne seven days subsequently before the 33-man World Cup squad is finalised.
The Irish forwards coach intimated that Ross Byrne, Jack Crowley and Ciarán Frawley will all see some game time over the course of these three games, as well as running the team in training during match weeks.
“They haven’t been informed ‘this is how we’re selecting for the next four weeks, that’s for sure’. They’re all playing for places, but Johnny’s selection allows those guys own it a little bit.
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“It puts us in a good position heading into the World Cup, because those guys get to accumulate more experience; not just of playing on the big day, but of owning it and running the week; driving some of the detail as well. Johnny’s suspension is unfortunate for us, but there’s a real good silver lining for us as well.”
O’Connell also highlighted Sexton’s proven ability to recover from extended absences and hit the ground running.
“You meet Johnny on a Monday or a Tuesday and he can talk about any match that was on TV. I don’t know how he gets away, but he seems to watch an awful lot of rugby. He thinks a lot about rugby. I think that kind of helps him hit the ground running when he comes back.
“I’d say it’s a worry for him. He wants to finish playing really, really well, and I’d say he’d love to have a few more games under his belt. But it is what it is.
“It’s not something I’m worried about,” said O’Connell, who said “I would imagine” that all 41 players in the current training squad will see game time in these three matches.
Anything less than a 14th win in a row against Italy would be a disappointment, and ideally it should come with a commanding performance as well.
“We’re hoping to hit the ground running,” said O’Connell. “We’ve a big body of work done even before preseason starts. We’re not starting from scratch. We weren’t hoping to make massive changes to our game-plan, we were hoping that it would evolve a little bit and I suppose we’d hope to see some of that come out at the weekend.
A four-time World Cup player himself, O’Connell also speaks from experience when stressing that there can be no holding back for fear of injuries either.
Training was “normal”, he stressed. They weren’t trying to “break” the players, before adding: “Come the match, we’re trying not to worry about injuries.
“All of these guys want to go to the World Cup in good shape, match fit and ready to play. You have to train, you have to get ready for the physical aspects of the game and you have to play games. You have to be physical in those games.
“Will some of the guys fall down over the next few weeks? For sure we’ll lose one or two. But we’ll need to be in a good place heading into the World Cup because it’s going to be a physical battle,” who cited the “lucky” two-week gap between their third and fourth Pool B matches against South Africa and Scotland in Paris.
“That will be good for us, but all the guys need to be in the best shape going into the World Cup. That isn’t just being injury free, it’s being able to play as well.
The team’s forwards coach was blissfully unaware that they are seeking to extend the record Irish home run of 14 matches.
“We’ve been focusing on our game and how we deliver our game, whether that’s the ruck or attack or defence or lineout or maul; how we look after each other during the week and prepare in the week. We hope that that puts us in a good position to achieve good results.
“Having said that, the players really do enjoy playing at the Aviva, the experience of Carton House and heading into the Shelbourne Thursday evening, playing at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday, the lads get a massive buzz out of it. Part of how much they enjoy it probably contributes to our home record.”
Having been through a playing career’s worth of preseasons, including four in World Cup campaigns, this is his first as a coach and has been an eye-opener.
“It’s been an interesting experience for me, even the way it’s changed. There would have been a lot of running without a ball in the early years, and then it would have been a lot of games, so you’re building a skill set around handling a ball but you’re not getting better at your game; you’re getting better at ‘Fiji-touch’ or the other games you’d have played.”
Over the last few weeks, O’Connell added: “We stuck to playing our game against each other with various constraints, numbers-up or numbers-down, or wider pitches and things like that. I think that’s the most enjoyable for us. The players are getting used to the pictures they’ll see in a real match rather than the pictures they might see in a small-sided game.
“I think preseason for coaches and for players is enjoyable because you haven’t got the game hanging over you. You know on a Saturday you can work really hard Monday to Friday, and you can go home on a Friday and take a bit of time off and recharge.
“From that point of view as a player I always enjoyed preseasons, and I enjoy it as a coach now. You haven’t had the opposition to focus on as well, so you’re solely working on getting your unit better or an individual player, or better at certain aspects of our game.”
