1 The loss of Paul O’Connell
Talking to tomorrow afternoon’s Calcutta Cup referee, John Lacey, about a range of issues before the World Cup kicked off, Paul O’Connell’s name cropped up. It was like a dark cloud passed overhead. “The stuff he does on the training field is almost as important as what he does on match day,” Lacey, a former team-mate, said, with much reverence. “He’d just sidle up to fellas and have a word in their ear at exactly the right time. And the effect would be massive. He’s the last man you’d want to let down.”
Not any more. At least not for men in Munster’s red or Ireland’s green. The talk now is of how Ireland are blessed to have so many leaders in the group; this is partly spin to cover over the great chasm left by O’Connell. He is inimitable. The blow is softened by having, in Rory Best, a man who has the experience and savvy not to go down that road.
2 Injuries up front
To compound the loss of O’Connell, it feels as if the rest of the first choice pack have managed to slip out another exit. The injured Mike Ross and Cian Healy have vacated their propping berths – although Ross will be available again to face England in round three; Iain Henderson managed to pick up the same hamstring injury as O’Connell; and the back row is missing Peter O’Mahony long term and Sean O’Brien in the short. Including the departed captain, that is five starters from the forward eight, while it could be argued that Henderson brings that number to six.
The standard line is that it offers a great opportunity to those coming in, including the debutant CJ Stander. This might be the case if there were just one or two of them slipping into a settled pack but the forwards who will kick off the chase for a unique hat-trick of titles are well removed from that.
3 World Cup hangover
Fresh air and exercise might be the go-to remedy for the morning after the night before, but in Ireland’s case both were tried and failed. The scene for this routine was the European Champions Cup, which slowly developed into an Irish‑free zone by the time the pool stages were completed last month. Given that it is the first time this has happened since 1998, you can see how the post World Cup headache turned into a full-on migraine.
Typically this gave a boost to the introspection that always follows Ireland’s failed World Cup efforts. If it was Dad’s Army then permission to panic would have been granted. Yet it had no negative impact on ticket sales for the three home ties in the Championship. Ireland’s last three post-World Cup efforts saw them finish third, fourth and second respectively, so something unspectacular is likely.
4 Calm the fears
If one good thing came out of Ireland’s World Cup failure it is that Joe Schmidt has lost his Mother Teresa status. The reverence with which the coach had been treated was unhealthy, albeit typical of a nation craving success and then finding someone whose record in delivering it was phenomenal. And Schmidt’s record of six trophies in five years – between Leinster and Ireland – is just that. Then along came Daniel Hourcade and his Pumas, who were able to mix hard edges with pretty pictures. Overnight the tolerance dissipated for Schmidt’s hitherto successful tactic of low-risk rugby. If Ireland’s first route now is the aerial one – and it drops like a stone – then the reaction among the paying public will be interesting.
5 The departure of Les Kiss
After seven seasons in the job of defence coach, Les Kiss’s farewell was like the going-away party that turned into a brawl. One in which he came off second best. On his watch, over 82 Tests, Ireland were the third-best tier one nation in terms of tries conceded. And then they wave him off with a whopping five leaked to the Pumas? Nice. Coincidentally, the last time Ireland’s defence had looked so soft was against Wales in the 2012 Six Nations – the opening round, in Dublin, where the home side were supposed to make amends for Wales having dumped them out of the World Cup four months earlier. In any case Kiss – now head coach with Ulster – is a huge loss, and commanded great respect in the group. Simon Easterby has added the defence portfolio to his duties with the pack – he started his coaching career with Scarlets as a defence coach – but it would be unusual if Schmidt didn’t have an input as well. Micromanagement is his thing, so wait and see.
