Joe Schmidt’s Ireland ready to go to war as World Cup year looms

"If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle." Sun Tzu, The Art of War

This article should not be misconstrued as a mere comparison of Joe Schmidt's tenure to that of Eddie O'Sullivan and Declan Kidney's. The previous three World Cup cycles occurred under different circumstances and are not comparable due to the Kiwi's advanced coaching methodology.

Evidence of that comes from the increasingly impressive performances regardless of personnel and also the self-deprecating attitude of players and backroom team in assessing those performances.

"There's always a weight of expectation," said prop Mike Ross, when it was implied that Ireland might struggle yet again under the weight of success. "Going into the Six Nations as title holders, everyone is going to be queuing up to knock you over. It just goes with the territory and we're aware of it. It's a challenge we have to make sure we're ready for."

Schmidt’s Ireland undoubtedly know themselves, while the ways of their enemies are under constant review.

And yet, in Irish rugby, history has a bad habit of repeating itself. In November 2002, Ireland also achieved a clean sweep, beating Australia, Fiji and Argentina. Form was maintained into the Six Nations until Martin Johnson’s truly great England team came to Dublin. That finished 42-6.

The 2003 World Cup pool decider against Australia was another of those could-have-been moments as David Humphreys’ drop goal veered right of the posts. A one-point defeat. France devoured Ireland in the quarter-final.

Another unbeaten November happened in 2006, as South Africa, Australia and the Pacific Islands were overcome before O’Sullivan’s much-coveted Grand Slam was ultimately denied by a system error (failing to regain the 78th-minute restart against France at Croke Park) and a mismatch in midfield (Vincent Clerc versus John Hayes) that led to a heart-breaking late try.

The World Cup that followed proved one long nightmare.

November 2010, under Kidney, was different. South Africa won 23-21, New Zealand a more convincing 38-18, but Samoa and Argentina were put away by a few scores. Despite a messy Six Nations, losing to France and then Wales, fear of regression was allayed by a rabid Irish pack destroying England’s plan to complete another slam in Dublin.

Off to New Zealand World Cup they marched with Australia battered at Ellis Park before the Welsh defence chopped down Ireland’s attacking timber.

"We didn't really have a good understanding of what we were trying to do in attack," wrote Brian O'Driscoll about the 2011 World Cup in his autobiography, The Test.

Later he added that "the buck stops with the guy who picks the team. One way or another, his rugby philosophy is going to be the single biggest influence on a squad." "If the mind is willing, the flesh could go on and on without many things." Sun Tzu, The Art of War

Now we are here. Six Nations champions, despite losing Seán O’Brien and victories over South Africa and Australia. Those wins came without O’Brien and Cian Healy, an under-cooked Ross having to play 154 minutes and new midfield pairings, all of which provided further evidence that the collective must always out-weigh the individual – even O’Driscoll – if Ireland are to capture the ultimate prize.

Tries like Clerc’s don’t happen anymore.

"Discipline," is what defence coach Les Kiss has found most satisfying of late. Only five penalties were conceded against Australia. Kiss also mentioned the improved "technique at the breakdown", alluding to Tommy Bowe and Ian Madigan turning over Adam Ashley-Cooper, as opposed to the vastly improved Jack McGrath's ruck penalty against New Zealand last year.

They’ve become a shrewder team with Paul O’Connell making them appear strong when so they were so obviously weakening in the face of Australia’s late blitzkrieg. Leakage of a late try, or a score of any kind, has also been plugged.

“We just kept at the guys about the mental toughness that comes with those last minutes,” said Kiss on the ‘Down the Blind Side’ podcast.

Kiss was Ireland defence coach during Kidney’s five seasons, switching to attack in 2012 and briefly head coach on the 2013 summer tour, as Schmidt settled in.

That’s 70 Test matches and he worked with the Springboks in 2001-02 before a six-year stint assisting the Waratahs. Regardless of how it came to pass, he’s earned the Ulster director of rugby position while still remaining vital to Ireland’s defensive structures in his double-jobbing capacity until after next year’s World Cup.

But O’Driscoll, on his most crushing career loss to Wales in Wellington, lamented: “You can’t rely on your defence to win a World Cup. You have to have an attack game and we just didn’t have one of them. That curtailed our capabilities, you look back on that now, for sure it did.”

"So in war, the way is to avoid what is strong, and strike at what is weak." Sun Tzu, The Art of War Ireland kicked 27 times from hand against South Africa, 34 times against Australia. It was undoubtedly the game plan, revealing a marked departure from the thrilling Schmidt offensives we saw from Clermont Auvergne and Leinster and, when the moment demanded it, during last season's Six Nations.

“I think Joe would be first to say it – what he did at club level might not be good enough internationally,” Jonathan Sexton told ‘Second Captains’ podcast. “You got to play a little differently. His philosophy on rugby is still the same.

“Teams in international rugby are so afraid of teams attacking them, they play flatter. Due to Joe and the reputation he has, [the opposition] play with 13, 14 men in the line (so there is) a little bit of space in the back field.”

Hence Sexton’s prodded balls in behind Wallaby and Springbok lines.

“It’s where the space was. We’re not kicking just for the sake of it. If there is space in front of us, we’ll run it. Often there is no space in front or the back field, so you’ve got to kick high and contest. Put teams under pressure that way. It is not set in stone. Joe doesn’t tell us to kick or not to kick.

“It’s the hardest part of rugby deciding when to kick or run. Often it is left to nine and 10.”

That is perhaps the most reassuring aspect of Schmidt’s Ireland. Conor Murray and Sexton are trustworthy, cerebral halfbacks who possess qualities the Peter Stringer and Ronan O’Gara combination didn’t: physicality in defence and a constant running threat.

Sexton also agreed that marked progress is evident since the Six Nations.

“I think so. Especially with the injury profile with the squad at the moment – the amount of guys that we are missing. Probably the most pleasing aspect is that we got two big results against southern hemisphere teams, and the level of performance against Georgia, with guys that might or might not been there if everyone had been fit.

“We’re building a strength in depth that we have not had for a long time.”

If ever. The 2007 squad had an impressive spread of reserves but the coach, ultimately to Ireland’s detriment, refused to dive beneath the surface until it was too late. “It’s just exciting to see what we can do when these guys come back,” Sexton said.

O’Brien and Healy are the world-class element but Andrew Trimble, Iain Henderson, Jordi Murphy, Fergus McFadden, Marty Moore and even Nathan White should strengthen the group. Luke Fitzgerald’s sustained return would be of enormous benefit too. In the meantime, we know that Schmidt will always reward form, Dave Foley being the latest example.

"Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win" Sun Tzu, The Art of War More than at any time before, the language coming from the Ireland camp feels streamlined. That could be what happens to a platoon that marches forward in unison.

“There won’t be wholesale changes come the Six Nations, we’ll just have to be smarter with what we do.”

That was Sexton last Tuesday but Rory Best uttered the same sentence three days before him. They do not seek another Grand Slam or the William Webb Ellis trophy, they are trudging through the jungle picking off each and every enemy position.

Generals – Sexton and O’Connell – sculpt the strategy, officers – Rob Kearney, Peter O’Mahony, Best, Bowe and Jamie Heaslip – lead by example, while the rest solider and toil. An hour after hanging on to the 26-23 win over Australia, a shattered Rhys Ruddock spoke about going to “dark places mentally”.

Kiss used the same phrase on Wednesday. Dominic Ryan mentioned the selfless "deep clean" at a ruck and "unseen work that Joe sees". Within days, Madigan repeated both lines.

Simon Zebo seeks to sparkle less as he tackles and rucks like never before.

The word “bittersweet” was employed after the Springboks were defeated. Ross said it, Simon Easterby repeated it, O’Connell too, as they mourned the malfunctioning lineout, the struggling scrum.

O’Connell even exonerated Seán Cronin – in the form of his life but still prone to a floater or two – of lineout blame against South Africa; the captain insisted it was his poor calling that Victor Matfield and Eben Etzebeth were able to read.

Point is, the players firmly believe this lessened their scope to attack in the manner befitting a Schmidt team.

“Couple of times we went to launch and the first phase was disrupted so we didn’t get to fire all the shots in our arsenal,” said Ross. “It’s a work in progress.”

"Treat your men as you would your own beloved sons. And they will follow you into the deepest valley." Sun Tzu, The Art of War

“There’s a December camp next,” Ross said, almost excitedly. “Joe is a bit of a perfectionist. We’re happy to have him like that.”

Already, in Schmidt’s first 12 months, a squad of genuine depth has been constructed, with 14 men capped since Samoa in November 2013. They are: Rodney Ah You, Robin Copeland, James Cronin, Robbie Diack, Dave Foley, Rob Herring, Dave Kearney, Jack McGrath, Kieran Marmion, Marty Moore, Jordi Murphy, Jared Payne, Noel Reid and Dominic Ryan. Kiss blooded Robbie Henshaw, Stuart Olding and Tommy O’Donnell the previous summer.

And still, perhaps remembering 2007, the main World Cup contenders leave this hemisphere largely unconcerned by Ireland. "They pretty much did what we have seen beforehand and has proved a very successful formula for them," said Australia coach Michael Cheika.

Yet the Wallabies, moulded in Cheika’s own image, could not break the green line when it mattered. He knows as well as anyone that all warfare is based on deception. Kiss challenged the predictable tag: “We don’t want to be a one-trick pony by any means and I don’t think we are.”

A very un-Irish yet encouraging train of thought permeates through November and beyond. The strategists and generals, officer class and grunts are perhaps the most impressive Ireland has ever assembled.