Ireland must get used to being world leaders. This cultural movement is happening before our eyes. Saturday against these All Blacks could provide the latest cautionary tale or modern Irish rugby will make another giant leap.
There’s definitely been an attitude change since my generation, since the ‘Give It A Lash’ era that thirty- and fortysomethings grew up believing was the way our sporting teams should compete.
A collective shift in mindset takes time but the current group witnessed the 2009 Grand Slam in Cardiff. Thereafter we, as a team, felt anything was possible. Rory Best and Rob Kearney provide vital tentacles to those days.
Saturday’s expected victory would confirm Ireland’s place in rugby’s world order – No.2 closing in on No.1. A sustainable rivalry requires more than a solitary victory.
I don’t want to sound arrogant but the players fully believe they can win and those of us watching closely, perhaps a little bit more reticent due to what’s imprinted in our psyche down through history, tentatively agree.
Sift through the evidence and find the unmistakably upward trajectory of Irish rugby.
Now comes the ultimate challenge: ruining the All Blacks tour of Europe. They come north almost every winter since 1905 seeking to emulate unbeaten predecessors. That’s always been their benchmark: invincibility.
As Johnny Sexton said on Monday, Ireland want to live with New Zealand to ensure Chicago is no "flash in the pan". Beating the All Blacks is the only way to command their respect.
What concerns me, three games into November, is Ireland had planned to select three different teams from a full deck but injuries are somewhat spoiling Joe’s meticulous plan.
New Zealand are not without problems. Sonny Bill Williams is ruled out yet he's replaced by Ryan Crotty, but Steve Hansen, I'd venture, did not see England's left hook coming.
The Courtney Lawes offside ruling leaves rugby somewhere between the rules and spirit of the game. Sam Underhill’s try was disallowed because the onside line moved after a ruck was set. One rule does not fit all anymore. When the Kiwi forward takes a step to deepen the ruck and TJ Perenara motions to kick, Lawes goes to block and is technically offside. On every other rugby pitch below the use of technology that is a try. Jerome Garces saw a legitimate block. Rules of the game or spirit of the game, which do we want to keep?
Constant favourites
Is this the new way to earn penalties? Messy, confusing sport these days.
But England wounded New Zealand in much the same way Argentina rattled Ireland. It took an impressive last quarter to prove we are, for the first time ever, clearly the second-ranked team in the world.
They couldn’t shake off England, we eventually broke free of the Pumas.
The route to victory is more and more visible as South Africa, Argentina, the Lions and now England disrupt them, get in amongst their breakdown and force mistakes similar to any other team under pressure.
The next evolutionary stage for Ireland is psychological. Saturday is the one and only occasion in the next 11 months that we will be underdogs. Look how Kieran Read’s gang react to being constant favourites – they relish the sight of their opponents rising above themselves because it makes victory all the sweeter.
That’s the mark of greatness. Be it the All Blacks of 2015, Roger Federer or LeBron James, the tougher the challenge the better they perform.
In Dublin this weekend Ireland have only one more team to knock off their perch until the World Cup quarter-final because thereafter the task is to cope with being defending champions.
What a wonderful place for a professional athlete to exist.
We are genuine challengers to these All Blacks. When a team follows the Grand Slam with a series win in Australia, the ruthless mentality required to win should never drop. England went backwards due to mass injuries (another column on another week).
Look at Kilkenny and Dublin winning All-Irelands. After the second or third title they inevitably targeted the record books. Or their supporters do, it’s human nature, and that seeps into the player consciousness.
Winners are selfish. You embrace it. Your culture becomes about constant improvement.
This is the Irish rugby squad in 2018. James Ryan and Dan Leavy know no other way. Along with Jordan Larmour, Jacob Stockdale and Andrew Porter – not even teenagers when the long Grand Slam wait ended in '09 – their only memory is success.
I can only imagine the benefits of such an ingrained mentality from the moment I picked up a rugby ball and ran. Thanks to great coaching, every day is the same for them just with different challenges: If I perform, the team will improve and we should win.
Prized scalp
No ifs, buts or maybes anymore, with Best, Pete O’Mahony and Johnny Sexton to reel in any hint of overconfidence and encourage a champion’s mentality.
The young brigade see Seánie O’Brien’s inspirational return yet disastrous luck puts him into surgery yet again, so they understand the importance of winning while the going is good. That is the attitude of the modern Ireland rugby players.
Now, this week aside, we are the prized scalp. You learn to cope with that.
New Zealand are in the way of further progress. Warning. These All Blacks, or any previous incarnation, refuse to share the limelight. That’s why they saw the drawn Lions series as failure. Our great victory in Chicago two years ago merely provoked a stunning and vicious – in equal measure – response two weeks later in Dublin.
Ireland are better prepared to deal with an overtly physical New Zealand approach.
What a Test match that was. For 65 minutes Ireland stayed with New Zealand. It was 14-9 until a passage of utter brilliance, with offloads by Anton Lienert Brown, Beauden Barrett and TJ Perenara, put Malakai Fekitoa away for the killer score.
They came with a win-at-all-cost attitude but that’s not what separated the teams. It was Ireland’s lack of composure when executing the basics.
Have we taken the next step? The answer comes Saturday night but I think Ireland are better prepared to deal with an overtly physical New Zealand approach.
Ardie Savea does not desire a dogfight the same way our Munster blindside does. Pete only cares about what happens two inches from the muck while Savea is a powerhouse who’ll seek to damage Ireland – with or without ball – on top of the grass.
Ireland should drag these All Blacks underground. They’ll definitely follow us down but that’s where we win the game; in a nose-to-nose battle, I feel our backrow balance can outlast Read, Savea and Liam Squire.
It won’t come without a heavy cost but, again, the evidence is there.
The front five war of attrition is avoidable with Brodie Retallick aerially so skilful and monstrous all over the Twickenham field. Retallick and Sam Whitelock both missed Chicago. Trust me, that mattered.
Our attack didn’t have the symbiotic relationship of Ryan and Leavy. That also matters. We just have to match them. Our players know they are capable.
Precious gift
I think it’s fair to say the All Blacks have been standing still while other nations close the gap. The Lions in 2017 uncovered flaws and South Africa’s victory in Wellington last September proves they are more beatable now than they have been since 2004.
Of course, they are still the best team around. That’s because they learn their lessons. Exhibit A: Barrett’s drop goal against England.
It’s all about disrupting the calm way they navigate through games. Whatever disruptive forces crept into Carton House last week, or perhaps while travelling back from Chicago, have been identified and banished.
The last few days training will have been tasty
Formally removing the Conor Murray doubt on Monday should sharpen the minds of Kieran Marmion and Luke McGrath. Clarity is a precious gift in Test week. I used to love that as a player. Clouding my mind with selection worry is no way to prepare for any game, particularly this seismic event.
The football mentality is different but I can’t understand the Martin O’Neill methodology of telling a right back an hour before kick-off that he is playing centre-mid.
Sometimes a little doubt feeds the beast. The last few days training will have been tasty with Iain Henderson and Tadhg Beirne throwing their big frames about the place. Last chance to force selection one way or the other. That’s good for the group. I reacted well to the arrivals of Luke Marshall and Robbie Henshaw in the winter of my career.
Can’t wait for kick-off. If it’s Beauden Barrett’s boot watch how Read targets the Irish jumper. See the focus of every player in the opening exchanges. No mistakes. Presumably, an overly physical individual act will present Sexton or Barrett with the first shot at goal before a moment of brilliance astounds the full house.
In 2005 the All Blacks came to Dublin after the Lions tour. Myself and Shane Horgan were in the centre as Brian was, eh, injured. Early in the second half Ma’a Nonu speared me into the turf. Despite what had happened five months earlier in Christchurch, only a warning followed, but that was the difference between us and them – they were dialled up to destroy, it was already 31-0, while we were still unsure about ever reaching their level.
Some close calls on subsequent summer tours altered our mindset but we lacked the confidence that only comes with silverware, and beating them.
Times have changed.
