How Ireland got its act together under not so average Joe

The genesis of Joe Schmidt's winning Ireland can be traced to a series of unfortunate events in the 2015 World Cup.

The train wreck of England's campaign might have averted Australians' attention there but a nightmare was unfolding for the men in green as well.

In their pool-topping win against France in Cardiff, Ireland lost four of their biggest names: Johnny Sexton, Paul O'Connell and Peter O'Mahony fell to injury, while man of the match Sean O'Brien was later banned for a week for punching Pascal Pape. Without them, Ireland folded 43-20 in their quarter-final against Argentina.

Back here, the narrative was dominated by an all-southern hemisphere semi-finals line-up and referee Craig Joubert running from the pitch after a controversial hand in Australia's quarter-final win over Scotland. At IRFU headquarters, however, Schmidt was vowing his side would never again be so undone by injuries.

He was joined in that sentiment by David Nucifora, an Australian who had joined the IRFU as high performance head 18 months earlier. Nucifora dug out the organisation's review of Ireland's 2011 campaign, yet another World Cup where the country had failed to progress past the final eight. The former Brumbies coach, who ran Australia's high performance unit during the Robbie Deans era, found the country was repeating the same mistakes.

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Schmidt and Nucifora embarked on an aggressive campaign to identify, develop and cap new Test players with a view to having three options in every position. Three years later, the New Zealander's win rate has not changed much pre- and post-World Cup (a healthy 73 per cent), but he has kept it stable with a much broader crop of players.

Joey Carbery is that transformation in action. Carbery will start at No.10 as a relative unknown to Australian eyes in Saturday's opening Test in Brisbane but at home he has been used as something of a political football in the tussle between national interest, provincial power and player preference.

Last week the Leinster playmaker was announced as a marquee signing for provincial rivals Munster. Schmidt denied any hand in the move but insiders say it has his – or at the very least, Nucifora's – finger prints all over it. At Leinster, Carbery was stuck behind veteran five-eighth Sexton. The IRFU, driven in its quest to build legitimate depth in all positions, wanted the 22-year-old to move out of Sexton's shadow and get regular game time at No.10. Ulster came up initially, but Munster won out.

Carbery is one of a host of young players rounding out Ireland's playing stocks. He joins Jordan Larmour, Tadhg Furlong, James Ryan, Keith Earls, Jacob Stockdale and Rob Herring, who is stepping into cover for injured captain Rory Best.

In a broader sense, Schmidt's reputation as a steely-eyed stickler for detail is credited with Ireland's impressive ascent to second spot in the world rankings. As former Ireland captain Donal Lenihan told Fairfax Media: "Ireland place a huge emphasis on their game around the breakdown and Schmidt demands absolute attention to detail from his players. You could be the best attacking winger in the world but if you do not get your detail right around the ruck and breakdown he will not pick you."

He is sometimes – less and less these days – criticised for layering so much structure over Ireland's game that players' individual creativity is stifled. But the record speaks for itself. History-making wins against the Springboks and All Blacks in 2016, three Six Nations titles in three years, including this year's grand slam, and 12 wins on the trot.

The Wallabies, all of a sudden, feel like a fly in Schmidt's ointment.

Georgina Robinson is a Sports Reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald

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