Ronan O’Gara believes information passed on by Joe Schmidt this week might benefit New Zealand but he doesn’t see the former Ireland coach having a big impact on what happens tomorrow.
The early drafting in of Schmidt, who was due to join Ian Foster’s management team after the Irish tour, following a Covid outbreak among the All Blacks’ coaches this week has added another layer of intrigue to this clash.
O’Gara said: “In a week or five days it’s very difficult but, you can assume from when he was working with the Blues, word gets around very quickly and if it is the same Joe we know for the last 15 years his nuggets of information will be very powerful.
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“That’ll give New Zealand an awful lot of confidence during the week. He’s a professional coach, a competitor and he wants to win every week. That’s very normal, some people struggle with that.
“I think the fact Joe is at pitch level is a very interesting dynamic,” added O’Gara, speaking from his home in La Rochelle as a brand ambassador for Benetti Menswear.
“If he can put a little bit more structure on their attack and capacity to naturally play, especially at home – I was probably shocked by their change of speed and tempo in a five-second period the other night with a wet ball.
“You can imagine if you get the structure of Joe Schmidt with the chaos of their transition and turnover game, it could make them really interesting to watch.”
O’Gara believes the opportunity for a first Irish win in New Zealand rests on the All Blacks having an unsettled team.
He said: “In a long, long time watching New Zealand, it’s very hard to select their team, probably five positions aside. You look at the back line and it’s a team that would never really, I suppose, had even trained together.
“I think over the years their strength was probably their consistency of selection.
“Now it seems it’s a team that will change and does change frequently, epitomised by Beauden Barrett at out-half. It was probably his jersey a number of years ago, then it was Richie Mo’unga and now Beauden Barrett is back steering the ship.”
O’Gara doesn’t agree with the downbeat fallout from Ireland’s midweek 32-17 loss to the Maoris and feels it will have no impact on what happens at Eden Park.
He said: “I don’t see in the space of 48 hours why the mindset or the goals have shifted. I remember not so long ago the strength of Irish rugby, according to some people, was the strength in depth.
“Now all of a sudden there is a little bit of panic without a ball being kicked in a Test match.
“I think we will have a much better idea on Saturday night. But also I think you have to factor in the fact the games at home are very, very different to Test matches away from home.”
He’s also concerned about the fallout of Leinster’s loss to his La Rochelle side in the Champions Cup final and then their URC exit to the Bulls a week later.
“A lot of them, 12 starters, are going into the tour without momentum,” he said. “But, that usually is a great reminder for big players. I was surprised that after they lost the European Cup final that there was another loss.
“So, there are a few question marks. There’s no doubt about that, but answering that in Eden Park is a huge ask. But, it’s a challenge that so many boys in green will enjoy."
Award winning Irish designer, Benetti Menswear, has launched their new seasonal collections for Spring Summer ‘22 with La Rochelle Head Coach and former Munster, Ireland and British & Irish Lions star Ronan O’Gara. The new Spring Summer collections are available at featured retailers nationwide and exclusively online at Benetti.ie.
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