Wolfhounds give Ireland coach Joe Schmidt plenty of food for thought

England Saxons 8 Wolfhounds 14

Ireland coach Joe Schmidt said that while there are a lot of benefits to be gleaned from Wolfhound matches he just can't see where more of them can be slotted into the busy rugby calendar.

Schmidt agreed he faces a few selection dilemmas ahead of his first RBS Six Nations match in charge and Saturday's surprisingly competitive and exciting clash at Kingsholm in Gloucester will probably have contributed more questions than answers.

Schmidt said that while places are up for grabs it is just not possible to fit in more Wolfhound games where fringe players can stake a claim for the big stage.

"I guess there is just not the window for it. We're on the back of a big Heineken Cup weekend last weekend. This is really the only window. I know Scotland have a team out against the Saxons next weekend but for us to double up we don't quite get the game opportunity and our minds wouldn't be fully focused on our job in the Six Nations.

“If you look between games in the Six Nations, the Pro12 and Premiership are back between games being played so again the opportunity closes. But what does open is at least we can get game time for guys. And we can get footage and watch players or watch them live if that’s an opportunity that presents itself,” he said.

Ian Madigan may have lost out in Leinster since Schmidt departed but he sent a timely reminder in the opening half to the Irish coach of what he is capable of on Saturday.

Madigan may have thought the way was clear to the No.10 shirt in Leinster when Jonathan Sexton left for Paris but the arrival of Jimmy Gopperth has meant disrupted game time.

An impact
Madigan didn't waste much time in making an impact in Gloucester on Saturday evening when the Wolfhounds made the most of the openings they created and then withstood anything the Saxons had to throw at them.

Madigan scorched in for the second Irish try after 30 minutes and that proved to be the decisive score of a well-contested and exciting clash.

And the excellent defensive display of the Wolfhounds did not go unnoticed with Schmidt again making it clear that guys were playing for places and that he had not finalised his side to play Scotland next Sunday.

“Yes, it will be difficult. I think there are some positions that the majority of people have a fair idea about and there are some positions that have been well documented in the media that are very much wide open.

“That’s part of the reason why myself John Plumtree and Les Kiss are here tonight. We’ve divied up a number of players that we are trying to keep an eye on both on and off the ball and try to make some tough decisions.

“There’ll be some tight decisions that maybe, you know, they’ll exist for the next two weeks and then we’ll maybe reshuffle the deck and go again without trying to remix too many things and lose continuity,” he said.

Schmidt, who said he was delighted to see Richardt Strauss return to an Irish shirt after heart surgery, only had a watching brief in the Wolfhounds game with Anthony Foley and Neil Doak coaching the side, but the Irish coach said he can't wait for the RBS Six Nations to kick off next week.

" I can't wait to get started, it's exciting, I think I described it during the week as an event not a match. It's just all the excitement around it.

Expectation building
"But at the same time there is a little bit of expectation building and that excitement and expectation is great to have. I think it's allowed us to have sold-out grounds and hopefully a vocal crowd and on the back of that hopefully we can meet expectation, but that lends a bit of weight or expectation and I'm a bit nervous about that," said Schmidt.

He will have been impressed with the Irish defence on Saturday evening, with Isaac Boss racing in for a fifth minute try and then Madigan crowned a fine performance with a try from a tapped penalty ten minutes from the break. The Leinster man landed both conversions.

Robbie Henshaw and Fergus McFadden also excelled at the back, while up front Tommy O’Donnell, Rhys Ruddock and replacement Jordi Murphy caught the eye, with Robin Copeland recovering from a slow start.

Anthony Watson broke for an intercept Saxons try after an overcooked pass from Felix Jones to Craig Gilroy to leave it 14-5 at the break but all the home side could manage after the restart was a penalty from Freddie Burns after the Gloucester man hit the woodwork with a conversion and penalty in the opening half.

Wolfhounds coach Anthony Foley praised his men for the way they carved out the win on English soil in windy conditions on a sodden pitch.

“There were a few issues there around some of the decisions that were being made but the boys never dropped their heads, even when they got that breakaway try.

“They dug in, played the game in the second half basically without the ball at times and managed to hold on at the end.

“Playing them and beating them away from home, you don’t take that for granted and that’s credit to the players. . .

“They had reasons to think it wasn’t their day and they just stuck at it and they get what they deserve.”

ENGLAND SAXONS: E Daly; A Watson, M Hopper, S Hill, C Sharples; F Burns, J Simpson; A Waller, J George, T Mercey; C Matthews, G Kruis; C Clarke, L Wallace, D Ewers. Replacements: H Slade for Hill (31), R Miller for Hopper (40), S Wilson for Mercey (40), E Stooke for Matthews (50), S Dickinson for Ewers (50), N Catt for Waller (60), D Ward for George (63), D Lewis for Simpson (83).
IRELAND WOLFHOUNDS: F Jones; F McFadden, R Henshaw, D Cave, C Gilroy; I Madigan, I Boss; D Kilcoyne, R Herring, M Moore; I Henderson, D Tuohy; R Ruddock, T O'Donnell, R Copeland. Replacements: R Strauss for Herring (40), J McGrath for Kilcoyne (50), S Archer for Moore (50), S Zebo for Gilroy ( 50), I Keatley for Henshaw (60), J Murphy for O'Donnell (60), R Diack for Henderson (70), K Marmion for Boss 70. Attendance: 8,200
Referee: I Davies (WRU).