Ireland and Schmidt rocked as World Cup hopes suffer big hit

Inside Track with John McIntyre

JOE Schmidt’s halo has slipped a little further in the wake of Ireland’s shock World Cup defeat to Japan in Shizouka on Saturday. Suddenly, a dreaded quarter-final against the All-Blacks is now almost inevitable unless there are further unexpected results in Pool A.

It’s a scenario Ireland probably thought that they had avoided when easily dismissing Scotland’s disappointing challenge in the opening round. That performance gave the men in green the ideal platform for the rest of the tournament, only for the wheels to come off in spectacular fashion against the brilliant Japanese.

After their Six Nations struggles, a record-breaking pummelling from England in the build-up to the World Cup, several controversial omissions from the final squad and ongoing concerns about Johnny Sexton’s fitness, there was something of a cloud hanging over Ireland in advance of their long trek to Japan.

But all of that appeared to be left behind after putting Scotland to the sword. This was deemed as the key fixture of the pool and Ireland had got the job done very efficiently, with their physically imposing pack to the fore. The assumption now was that the Irish would drive on ahead of a knock-out collision against South Africa.

Well, that prospect has been virtually kicked to touch after Saturday’s calamitous loss to the host nation. Initially, we were led astray by the action in really demanding humid conditions. Ireland established a 12-3 lead in the opening quarter, with Connacht’s Jack Carty the creator of their tries from Garry Ringrose and Rob Kearney.

Incredibly, Ireland would not score again – a period of nearly 60 minutes – as the Japanese stormed back into the contest. Ya Tamura kicked his penalties, while they created a superb second-half try from Kenki Fukuoka to turn the match completely on its head. It says everything about Ireland’s collapse that they were content to settle for a losing bonus point in the end.

Some Irish players were out on their feet long before the finish on a chastening day when individual inspiration was sadly lacking as the game progressed. Some chickens came home to roost as well. Rory Best’s lineout accuracy again was a problem, Conor Murray is simply not the player he was, while Peter O’Mahony’s lack of discipline also hurt the team.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.