Ireland’s cruise to the World Cup hit its first patch of choppy water on Saturday when Joe Schmidt’s side went behind three times in the second half of their warmup match against Scotland, a side who were 30-points worse the last time they met and are only just starting out on the business of whittling down their 46-strong training squad.
Scotland, the side ranked 12 in the world against Ireland, recently elevated to second behind the All Blacks, could easily have been written off and for most of the first half they were distinctly second best. However a scrum-half’s try from their temporary captain Henry Pyrgos and another from the centre Peter Horne had Schmidt sending for the cavalry.
In the end tries from the quick men, Simon Zebo and Luke Fitzgerald and one of a more plodding variety from the hooker Sean Cronin, did the trick – Ian Madigan kicking all four conversions and missing just the one late penalty.
“One of the real positives is that it was a Test match and we were tested,” Schmidt said. “We had to show character and composure to get back, but we can report a clean bill of health.” Not so Scotland. The prop Ryan Grant is likely to be out for at least a fortnight with what looked a nasty ankle injury.
More will be known after tests but there are also concerns for Fraser Brown’s hamstring, the debutant Hugh Blake dislocated a finger and Jon Welsh failed a concussion protocol.
Schmidt seemed, as usual, to be getting most things right. Unlike most of the northern nations he eschewed mountain tops and extremes of temperature, keeping his players feet firmly planted at home. It paid dividends against Wales a week ago and on Saturday he will have learned a lot against a side who have the happy knack of beating the Irish in the runup to World Cups, even if not in the Six Nations.
Schmidt has given starts to 29 players in the two warmup games. Next week he and his coaching staff will go a long way towards identifying the 31 he wants to take into the tournament proper. The plan then is to add possibly five or six names to play a return against Wales in Dublin in a fortnight and finally England at Twickenham six days after the 31 are revealed and in a game in which the favoured matchday squads are likely to appear.
By comparison, Schmidt’s fellow Kiwi, Vern Cotter, was starting the process of trimming the Scotland squad; experimenting but at the same time hoping to banish memories of the 40-10 drubbing on the final day of the Six Nations.
The points differential that March day helped Schmidt to successive championships while Cotter was left smarting from a whitewash in his first Six Nations. Ireland started six of their Murrayfield victors while Cotter selected four and different faces across the backline and at half-back.
However the fact so many were auditioning for a World Cup spot lent the match its edge. Madigan was intent on proving he could run a game from fly-half and understudy Jonathan Sexton, one of those wrapped in cotton wool so far, as well as being second play-maker at inside-centre. If enthusiasm earned brownie points Schmidt would have picked him on his first-half form, confirmed later on by a precise cross kick for the Fitzgerald try.
Likewise Zebo, probably third in the pecking order for full-back behind Rob Kearney and Felix Jones. He finished up with the man of the match award and if there were any arguments it reflected another try to add to the one in Cardiff.
The game was especially important for Gordon D’Arcy. The 35-year-old has already announced he will retire after the World Cup. The question was would his 82nd cap be his last.
After blending well from the off last autumn, Robbie Henshaw and Jared Payne, look bolted on as the World Cup centre partnership and D’Arcy needed a big day. He will play on, but when decoy rather than playmaker seemed the chosen role it seems unlikely it will be in green; more likely he will go out playing for Leinster as World Cup cover.
However, the question in the Irish camp is whether the first-choice loosehead prop, Cian Healy, very much a cornerstone of the scrum will make the plane. A month out he is at least training with the squad – if not getting involved in contact sessions – but the odds on him making that final England warmup seem slim which is why Munster’s Dave Kilcoyne needed just the kind of start he was looking for. Not all was to the liking of the referee, Pascal Gaüzère, but there was plenty of back-slapping from his team-mates. He also accepted the Healy wrecking-ball role, twice getting involved as Ireland punched their way forward for Chris Henry’s opening try.
For the Scots, there were plenty in the backline who could easily have played themselves out of contention. Ruaridh Jackson, the Wasps stand-off returning after a badly broken leg, was auditioning as a potential understudy for the British Lion Stuart Hogg at full-back.
Sean Lamont has 93 caps and bags of experience but is perhaps too old at 34, while on the other wing Tim Visser needed tries to restore his reputation as an attacking threat.
However, Cotter’s blend in the back row was particularly eye-catching. None is a Scot by birth and Hugh Blake’s Kiwi credentials brought considerable flak when he was included in the Six Nations squad for playing for Glasgow, but the fashionable formula of playing two openside flankers worked and kept Scotland in the game in the first half before David Denton’s hard running opened up the line for Blair Cowan to level the scores at 7-7 before the interval.
