Gerry Thornley: Ireland’s future feels secure with Joe Schmidt’s hand on tiller

Last Saturday was perhaps final proof, were it needed, that right now Ireland has a head coach who you wouldn’t exchange for any other in the world game. Hence, Joe Schmidt’s recent decision to extend his stay to beyond the 2019 World Cup is a boon that leaves Ireland in a good place for years to come.

It would probably be too much to hope that such a prized asset would then extend his stay beyond that, but Chicago underlined how unnerving and unsettling it would have been had Schmidt decided to move on at the end of the season.

Instead, with his decision to stay, and the possibility of Stuart Lancaster extending his stay beyond this season at Leinster, a period of relative calm off the pitch looks likely, with proven, experienced coaches across the international team and the four provinces.

But Schmidt atop the coaching pyramid is the key. To a degree, while he may not rule by fear, the players are fearful of ever letting him or their team-mates down, especially of being highlighted in Schmidt’s famed Monday morning reviews. But that is healthy.

Schmidt never lets any player feel too secure in their own position, always extolling the virtues of the squad system, even if in his own head he knows right well that Ireland are hugely dependent upon a core of key layers, notably the 8-9-10-12 axis of Jamie Heaslip, Conor Murray, Johnny Sexton and, now, Robbie Henshaw. But he has a way of keeping them on edge nonetheless, and that is also healthy.

Exacting methods

At the same time, the players believe in his exacting methods because they know they bring results. Those methods very nearly helped beat the All Blacks in November 2013 and, indeed, as Steve Hansen readily admitted, by rights Ireland should now be two wins from two against the All Blacks under Schmidt's watch.

But it was why the Ireland players went into Saturday’s game believing they had the ability and the gameplan to become history-makers, and perhaps the near miss of November 2013 actually contributed to last Saturday’s win. It fuelled an inner belief in the squad that they could do it, and refuelled their determination not to let this one slip when the All Blacks again mounted their comeback.

The ballsy bombardment of the All Blacks right-hand corner from penalties up the line were clearly part of the gameplan against a New Zealand pack depowered by secondrow absentees, even before Joe Moody’s yellow card acted as a further incentive.

Post the golden generation, and specifically the retirements of those two totems, Brian O’Driscoll and Paul O’Connell, having Schmidt’s steady hand on the tiller was all the more vital, or else there really could have been an unsteady period in Irish rugby.

At a time when the threat to the IRFU’s retention of their frontline players has never been more real, Schmidt’s contrast extension, coupled with the historic win over the All Blacks which demonstrates how much more can be achieved under his watch, makes it more likely that, for example, the remarkable Heaslip will further extend his career with Leinster and Ireland, as will the other key men when their contractual renewals come up for discussion.

Bittersweet

O’Driscoll and O’Connell, along with plenty of others had great times and wins in Irish jerseys, but the failure to tick the All Blacks box must have made last Saturday’s victory just a little bittersweet.

And while there'll never be another O'Connell or O'Driscoll, the Murray-Sexton partnership is now up there with Peter Stringer and Ronan O'Gara, and Henshaw is becoming a powerful inside centre at the very highest level.

As an aside, for all the premature forecasting of slim Irish pickings on the Lions tour, last Saturday’s game has already gone some way toward altering those perceptions. At a stroke, the aforementioned 9-10-12 Irish trio must have pushed themselves to the forefront of Warren Gatland’s thinking, and they still have one more crack at the All Blacks, which is two more than their home union rivals will have.

It’s rare enough to hear a head coach heap praise on a counterpart as Hansen did with regard to his fellow Kiwi, but that is because the respect for Schmidt is very genuine, and means Ireland go into every game demanding respect.

Co-opting Andy Farrell onto the ticket has only added to the team's line speed, while if anything improving their recognition of when to identify rucks to contest and when to keep numbers out and on their feet, and maintaining the team's excellence at the choke tackle, which was first harnessed under Les Kiss. Granted, they did still concede four tries, but that was against the world's most potent side.

The key was that they resolved to play positively from the start, to continually go up the line in the pursuit of tries. And they re-affirmed that resolve at half-time.

The ability of an Ireland team, no matter its composition, to prepare and enact a gameplan under Schmidt’s watch was amply demonstrated by that first Test win with a somewhat re-modelled team at short notice. But that was founded mostly on a strong kick-chase game.

The manner in which the Irish outside trio of Rob Kearney, Simon Zebo and Andrew Trimble won the aerial battle reflects the famed emphasis Schmidt places on this aspect of the game. But last Saturday's win was most of all the reward for positive running rugby, and scoring five tries and 40 points.

In the process, Schmidt assuredly confirmed his status as a FABC, a future All Blacks coach. But for these next two-and-a-half seasons, thankfully, he’s ours.

gthornley@irishtimes.com