Absent friends not missed
Was Simon Zebo missed? Was Ian Madigan missed? Was Marty Moore missed? While the IRFU decision not to pick players based outside Ireland was ruthlessly enacted with Zebo, Joe Schmidt has shown that there are a limited number of players who are absolutely integral to this Irish team. Having made 13 changes to the side that beat South Africa for last weekend's win over Fiji and then brought Adam Byrne in for his first cap along with another rash of changes to the team, the depth of the Irish squad has actually strengthened the IRFU's hand to deal with players who dare ply their trade elsewhere.
Garry Ringrose, Robbie Henshaw and Jared Payne were injured. But in come Chris Farrell, Bundee Aki, Adam Byrne, Andrew Conway and Jacob Stockdale. The more players Schmidt used - and boy did he use them over the last three weeks - the less likely they are to leave.
It’s the carrot and stick approach. Let the players feel they are good enough for a green shirt and give them ambition, but also maintain the right to cut them loose if they leave. Schmidt and the IRFU have played a clever hand in the culling of Zebo.
World in motion
With the Tokyo Rugby World Cup two years away, the Irish management has been looking hard at the age profile of his team. While the experienced players performed for him over the three matches, it won't slip Schmidt's understanding that in two years time the profile will look dramatically different. Ten of the players involved in this squad will be 30-years-old or more in two years time, while Jared Payne, who is currently recovering from a head injury, is 32-years-old now.
Schmidt has been looking at what changes he will have to make and ask whether Rob Kearney (31), Johnny Sexton (32), Conor Murray (28), Cian Healy (30), Rory Best (35), Peter O'Mahony (28), Sean O'Brien (30), Devin Toner (31), Ian Keatley (30), Dave Kilcoyne (28) will be the players they are now when the World Cup comes around.
There's no doubt that talent like Murray and O'Mahony, who will be 30-years-old for the World Cup, should still be excellent. But if Schmidt has half the team on the pitch composed of players ranging in age from between 30 and 37 he may have a problem. With Adam Byrne, Joey Carbery, Jacob Stockdale, James Ryan and Ringrose to return, he has already begun to address that issue.
Wing wonder
Jacob Stockdale now has four tries from four outings. For a left wing that’s quite a way to announce yourself on to the international stage. His second try against Argentina came from another Sexton pass. He then showed awareness, composure and ambition to score. But even then it wasn’t over. Stockdale also had the gas to run around the Argentina defence on the outside and then had the physical strength to straighten up, keep away from the touchline and punch through for the try.
His first try on Saturday was intelligent support of Sexton - a training ground move - and again hitting the afterburners to run away from the chasing defenders. Four caps and four tries and Stockdale has made a strong claim for a spell of residency on the Irish left wing.
Playing by the rules
Whatever people think about the legitimacy of the residency rule, that players can represent Ireland after living in the country for three years, it has worked for Ireland. Had Jared Payne not suffered what is looking like a serious head injury that has kept him out of rugby since returning from the Lions tour last June, he would have been involved in some capacity over the three November Test matches.
That makes three players, Bundee Aki, CJ Stander and Payne, who have done their three years and have earned their place on the Irish team. It’s an excellent return and should send out a message to the IRFU to maximise the next few years when the rule remains three years. After 2020 it becomes five years and while the door doesn’t close, it will definitely make it harder for players to commit. But what they have done so far - like the rule or not - in bringing those residency players into the team has been a success.
Mixed bag
Joe Schmidt will be pleased with three wins from three games and will rightly view November as the glass half full and not half empty. However against Fiji and Argentina, it was highlighted that the Irish team can struggle against opposition that excel in broken play and who are not super structured in the way they play.
Fiji’s counter attacking and Rio Sevens type free style along with Argentina, when they picked up the pace in the second half and showed in flashes how their strength taking up the ball followed by pace and tempo can ruffle feathers, damaged Ireland’s poise.
Schmidt sarcastically referenced how Ireland decided to throw around the ball against Fiji, adding that Fiji really hate that. Of course that’s how they play and illustrated how Ireland can get sucked into playing in a way that doesn’t suit them but suits the opposition.
Ireland also came under pressure from Argentina when the Irish substitutions arrived and different combinations were forced onto the game. A simple thing like Cian Healy and Tadgh Furlong coming off in the second half allowed Argentina dominate the scrum, which had previously belonged to Ireland. It was a valuable experience for all the players but Schmidt, being a perfectionis,t will know three wins is still a work in progress. A mixed bag he called it. As always he is right about that.
