IRELAND’S OWN INQUEST will be more brutal than anything on the outside.
The hurt Joe Schmidt and his players suffered on Saturday as England came to Dublin and romped to a bonus-point win will make sure of that.
The Ireland boss’ pain was evident post-match at the Aviva Stadium as he fronted up to the media for his standard 25 minutes of picking through the facts and the regrets.
Ireland watch on as England convert one of their four tries. Source: Billy Stickland/INPHO
Unfortunately for Ireland, there weren’t too many positives to highlight as Schmidt admitted his team had been physically bullied and deservedly beaten.
There were slight gripes around some of the officiating but Schmidt was honest in outlining the concerns he has after his side’s underperformance in the first game of their Grand Slam defence.
Among those worries is the fact that Ireland have started another international window slowly, as they have done frequently in the past under Schmidt, who admits it’s “a bit of a concern looking further ahead,” i.e. towards the World Cup later this year.
Rarely has an Ireland team as close to full strength as Saturday’s delivered such a disappointing display.
“There is always a risk of having slow starts when you first get guys together because it is never quite as cohesive as you would like it to be,” said Schmidt.
“I thought our tight five did well today, we have got a loose forward trio that know each other well enough. The only significant change was Robbie [Henhaw to fullback].
“It was more around… we were very quiet before the game. I didn’t sense the same kind of energy levels that I would have noticed in November when the All Blacks came.
“And if you don’t have those energy levels and have that mental preparation done, it is pretty difficult to get a foothold back into the game.
“I didn’t sense it, I didn’t feel it… you almost get this vibrancy from the group and we didn’t quite have it tonight. It’s disappointing and difficult to put your finger on exactly what it was, but you are talking about human beings here.
A dejected Ireland fan. Source: Dan Sheridan/INPHO
“There is emotional energy that needs to be switched on collectively and it’s very hard if that’s not quite present to suddenly generate it if it doesn’t begin at the very start. I’m not sure quite why but is disappointing that we didn’t have that same vibrancy that we normally do have.
“We did get back… we got up 10-7. Then came their second try – Jacob [Stockdale] was back for that, but the ball slips away, and they get a great boost of oxygen from a try where they didn’t have to do too much and that always gives you a spring in your step.
“It was a little similar to the one we got [through Garry Ringrose] last year in Twickenham. We got a try on the back of something we did not have to work as hard for.”
To say England didn’t have to “do too much” for Elliot Daly’s score is a little disingenuous from Schmidt, who knows better than anyone what goes into pressuring errors from defences.