Joe Schmidt’s plans up in the air again

Joe Schmidt's plans for his first assignment as Ireland coach against Samoa in the opening match of the Guinness Series at the Aviva Stadium this Saturday (kick-off 5.45) appear very much up in the air again after it emerged Johnny Sexton took no part in training at Carton House yesterday, while Paul O'Connell's contribution was restricted.

Sexton sat out a competitive Racing Metro match for the first time since his summer move in Biarritz last Saturday after playing 13 games in the previous 12 weeks, all but two as the starting “10”.

However, his inactivity in Biarritz was partly attributed to a tight hip flexor muscle which in turn was attributed to a two-hour kicking session with Dave Alred at Carton House last Wednesday.

Playing and travel load
Given his playing and travel load, his slight injury concern, and now sitting out yesterday's session, Sexton's participation next Saturday – with the Australia and New Zealand games in mind – must be in question.

Likewise, there must be a concern about the participation of the 34-year-old O'Connell, and by extension his captaincy prospects, after forwards coach John Plumtree confirmed his light load yesterday.

“He had a pretty light week in camp last week. Over the weekend his calf got better and he had a good run out. We reduced his running intensity yesterday and he trained really well. Just did a bit today and loaded that calf with a bit of scrummaging.”

Plumtree did describe O’Connell, who has missed Ireland’s last 15 matches dating back to Paris 19 months ago, and last played for Munster three weeks ago, as “available”.

But when asked if O’Connell could play a full Test match tomorrow, Plumtree responded: “That would be a medical decision. Today was the first time he trained but whether he can do 80 or not, I’m not sure.”

Schmidt attended an IRB meeting in London yesterday with the head coaches and referees involved in the November Test window, which would also suggest Les Kiss and Plumtree focused much of the work on defence and set-pieces.

“We’ve got a good lineout but we know that individually everyone has to perform their role perfectly,” said Plumtree. “At times the problem is you get a guy that does a poor lift or a poor jump or a poor throw, and that just lets the whole lot down.

“So it’s just making sure everybody understands their role, that they execute their role. They have to do that perfectly if we want that line-out to function the way we want it to, and it’s the same with the drive.

“Everybody has got to put their head in the right place, understand what they need to do, make sure they don’t fight individual battles, and that’s something we’ve been really focussing on in the last eight or nine days.”

Plumtree will be particularly interested in Schmidt's feedback on the revised scrum laws and Saturday's match referee Steve Walsh.

Good outcome
"Obviously the referee comes into play a lot in deciding the outcome of a scrum and hopefully the weekend will see Steve Walsh have a good game in that area, and we'll see two packs comply with what he wants, and that we get a good outcome, because we want a launch from our scrums.

“We want to get that percentage (of completed scrums) up because from what we’re seeing in the Rabo and the Heineken Cup, that percentage is very low.”

Looking ahead to Saturday, the Samoans are sure to place their customary premium on the physical collisions which the new Ireland forwards coach admits has to be met head on if the home side are to employ the kind of high tempo game associated with Schmidt’s Leinster.

"You can't avoid that confrontation. It's there. It's in your face. But I don't think that's going to be a problem for the Irish boys. They're renowned for that. They've been doing that for years; physical and tough. We want to play a style of game that the people who come to the stadium at the weekend will enjoy. I think that's hugely important and obviously it's a style of play that Joe Schmidt likes to coach."

“But to do that we will need quick ball and that will mean confrontation, and obviously with their big ball runners there’s going to be a lot of big tackles as well going in to stop them. So it’s going to be a big test for us.”