Joe Schmidt has thrown his support behind under fire Rory Best, after naming him as captain for his fourth World Cup.
The 37 year-old will retire at the end of the tournament in Japan where he is likely to take his Test cap tally beyond 120.
The hooker came under intense scrutiny after Ireland’s record defeat to England two weeks ago, but bounced back with a solid 30 minute performance in the confidence building win over Wales last Saturday, making 13 tackles – a figure only surpassed by Iain Henderson, who played the full 80 minutes.
“Without taking all of the responsibility off the players, I knew we were heavy legged, I knew we wouldn’t be at the top of our game,” Schmidt said.
“If you’re trying to get the balance you think ‘when do we most need to play well’ and it’s in three weeks time. Nobody wins the World Cup in a warm up match.
"I still feel that Rory, despite the lineout, he did a good job around the park. The last 10 minutes at the weekend, he led the scrum, made a dozen tackles in 30 minutes – that’s not a guy who’s a million miles away from being at his best.”
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