Former outhalf Ronan O’Gara has sought to temper expectations following Ireland’s November Internationals success, saying Joe Schmidt’s side should have expected to beat South Africa and Australia.
An injury-depleted Ireland stunned South Africa in the first of three Tests before going on to a comprehensive victory over Georgia and a three-point win over the Wallabies. The wins over two of the Southern Hemisphere’s rugby super-powers puts Ireland in good position and leaves them ranked third in the world.
Speaking about the wins to RTÉ Sport, O’Gara was full of praise for Ireland’s consistency and confidence, but sounded a note of caution about what the wins might indicate in the year coming up the 2015 World Cup.
“The most pleasing thing for me now, after a few days’ reflection, is how consistent Ireland are,” O’Gara said.
“Ireland have been good for a long time, obviously. Before Joe took over there was a big disappointment, losing away to Italy [in 2013], which Ireland should never do. But after that, you’d like to think normal service has resumed.
“But also, you have to be aware of the fact that South Africa and Australia, at the end of long seasons: Ireland should be beating them at home. That’s the standard that has been set, I hope, over the years. It hasn’t happened that often but it has happened quite a bit, to be fair, so if there’s a time to beat them it is that time.
“So, yes we should be very excited, but there has to be a small bit of calmness, too, I think, in the realisation that we beat Australia by three points, and they’re probably two weeks into a new campaign.”
"Yes we should be very excited, but there has to be a small bit of calmness, too" - Ronan O'Gara
O’Gara highlighted the atmosphere during the Australia game as another positive, saying “it was real old-school; it was really brilliant support. Because sometimes, I’ve been back once or twice, obviously, and it’s been a little bit calm, but that was properly Saturday afternoon, edge of the seat stuff.”
He was also impressed with how Ireland had reacted to losing a number of important players to injury, and the way in which others had put their hands up for inclusion.
“That’s the biggest plus,” he said, when asked whether Ireland were developing a strength in depth in a range of positions. “It takes a few games, I think, for patterns to be established. You cannot judge, we’ll say, Henshaw and Payne together until they’ve played together probably five times.
“As a coach ... you see so much more Monday to Friday, than sometimes you see on a Saturday. So much gets hidden on game-day that could be exposed during the week.
“Some people mightn’t have to pass left to right during the game at all, while in training they have to do that every day. You need to see the nitty-gritty of how the players react together.”
“[Robbie] Henshaw was probably the biggest success of the Autumn Series for me ... what we saw 12 months ago to what we see now is just like a completely different player.
“The biggest thing that a player needs, no matter how experienced [he is], is confidence. And the Irish players are confident now.
"[For instance], you look at Rob Kearney; maybe we haven’t seen that drop goal [Kearney’s long-range effort against Australia] that often, but I’ve seen that in training so often ... it belted off the post from 50 yards!”
Kearney’s effort was the sign of a confident player thriving in a environment of success and belief, O’Gara suggested.
“The players are playing to the peak of their power, no doubt about it, but there is more in the tank"
“The players are playing to the peak of their power, no doubt about it, but there is more in the tank. But that comes from top down, when the boys are inspired by the management. At the minute it’s a great place to be involved in.”
Ireland’s players are now back with their provinces, and there promises to be no let-up over the coming weeks, with many in Pro12 and then European Champions or Challenge Cup action. O’Gara would have it no other way.
“For Munster and Ulster, the fixtures couldn’t work much better,” he said. “Munster play Ulster in Thomond Park, then they’ve Clermont back to back.
“If you consider, so, [Paul] O’Connell’s matches, Peter O’Mahony’s, [Conor] Murray’s, [Simon] Zebo’s, would be South Africa, Georgia, Australia, Ulster, Clermont, Clermont. That’s a fantastic time to be an Irish rugby player when the structure is like that. It’s hard to pick out the games there that you want to miss.
“I’d say in an ideal situation those lads would be playing five out of those six games or four out of those six games, but it’s great rugby to be involved in. And I think that’s obviously a tribute to how the IRFU have structured their key players and how they peak for these matches.”
