Paul O’Connell hails Joe Schmidt’s coaching clarity ahead of Ireland’s Autumn Nations Series clash with Australia
PAUL O’CONNELL could be forgiven for feeling confused at the Aviva on Saturday.
The Ireland forward coach will be saying farewell Farrell and hello Joe.
The showdown with Schmidt’s Australia will be Ireland’s final match before head coach Faz takes a break to lead the Lions next year to take on . . . Schmidt’s Australia.
O’Connell was a key figure for Leinster’s arch rivals Munster during the Kiwi’s time in charge of the Blues.
When the former teacher stepped up to the Ireland hotseat.
The Limerick lock captained two of Schmidt’s three Six Nations title-winning sides before his retirement in 2015. Schmidt then left Ireland in 2019 and was succeeded by his assistant Farrell.
Having led the Green Army to a historic win over New Zealand, he became attack coach with his native country and was part of the set-up when the All Blacks knocked Ireland out of the World Cup in last year’s quarter-finals.
Schmidt took charge of the Wallabies last January and returns to his old stomping ground seeking a response to his side’s 27-13 defeat to Scotland at Murrayfield.
His former skipper O’Connell warned: “It’s a big challenge and part of that is knowing what they bring because Joe has coached us before.
We know how clear he can be and that clarity allows players to play with a lot of intent and physicality.
“I was older when Joe came to Ireland. One of the things he was good at is letting you know what he expected of you.
“Then you could go and chase that down. You knew that if you delivered A, B and C, you had a good chance of being picked.
“I knew what I had to be good at. I really enjoyed that. He was very clear in how he coached.
“Coaching had moved on a lot, but we were still relying a little bit on emotion at times whereas he was technically very good. Everyone talks about his detail. He has very good teaching principles.
“He wouldn’t just tell you what he wanted you to do, through the sessions he would actually give you a pathway of how to change the habit or get better at something. That was a really enjoyable aspect.”
As for the Ireland team now, Jamie Osborne, Jacob Stockdale, Tadhg Furlong and Ryan Baird have been ruled out of the autumn finale.
Versatile Leinster back Osborne and Ulster wing Stockdale sustained groin and hamstring issues respectively during last Saturday’s 52-17 win over Fiji.
Prop Furlong has not featured at all this month due to a hamstring problem, while lock Baird suffered a head injury in the 22-19 victory over Argentina on November 15.
Although O’Connell acknowledged it was disappointing for Leinster tighthead prop Furlong, 32, to be missing out on Test action altogether, the attack coach does not see his absence being long term.
The former second row said: “I wouldn’t say there is concern. There is frustration for him. He is a young, fit guy, so he will come right.
“I’ve had injuries like that, where sometimes it just takes a little bit of time to figure out what the answer is. We just want to get to the bottom of it.”