Keith Wood and the Irish Times' Gerry Thornley joined Ger for Off The Ball's Wednesday Night Rugby. With Ireland due to take on Samoa on Saturday, the lads pored over potential tactics and selections...
Will Sexton and O'Connell start against Samoa?
Thornley: "If you take Joe Schmidt at his word, he said Tuesday would be the cut off point. There was only one more proper training session for the team after Tuesday. Viewed in that light, you would have to feel that Jonny Sexton is probably going to be rested as he took no part in training.
"There will also be some doubt about the extent of Paul O'Connell's involvement, given that he did not take a full part in training. John Plumtree, the forward's coach has openly said that he doubts whether he can play for 80 minutes. You put all that together and you presume that they aren't playing."
Wood: "I don't think either [Brian O'Driscoll or Paul O'Connell] will play the full 80. But I think it's more about getting players game-time under their belt. You need your big game players when you go into the big games. Without casting anything on Samoa, the big games are Australia which is winnable but incredibly tough and the golden chalice that always sits a little bit out of reach, the All Blacks game."
Ian Madigan and Paddy Jackson ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan
Ian Madigan or Paddy Jackson?
Thornley: "You'd imagine that Joe Schmidt had some kind of input into the selection for the summer tour. Even though Paddy Jackson was the resident starting out-half for Ulster in the Heineken Cup and Ian Madigan was not for Leinster, Madigan was clearly rated ahead of Paddy Jackson on the summer tour. That in turn was a change from the Six Nations. You would imagine that Schmidt has a slight leaning towards Madigan. But that the arrival of Jimmy Gopperth at Leinster means Madigan has started only three league games. On that basis, Jackson is more likely."
Wood: "I still think that Madigan is a little further down the line than Paddy Jackson and I know he hasn't had as much time to shine this year, which I find very frustrating. I just thought that he had a really good spark towards the end of the season. I think Gopperth has done an excellent job for Leinster but he hasn't done Schmidt any favours for Ireland."
Style of play
Thornley: "I would argue that Sexton is probably Joe Schmidt's biggest conduit on the pitch. He is the player that is most important in terms of applying the style of play. You look how many times Sexton handles the ball in 9 or 10 phases of play.
"Leinster always seemed very well drilled and that's why they could afford to play with width and still keep a structure. They also did it with a very high premium skill level. Whether that can be replicated immediately is a big ask."
Wood: "If you look back at Schmidt's tenure for Leinster, the attention to detail was the standout element. It was incredibly refined. It was also incredibly aggressive. They are two elements that you would want to put in an international team. But does that qualify as a style? I think he will want to do things very well and very slickly. But it's not going to be slick if you've only had a couple of weeks with the team."
Samoa players gather in a huddle before the start of training ©INPHO/Cathal Noonan
The threat from Samoa
Thornley: "It's a full strength squad with nine Top 14 players, nine Premiership players and they will all be battle-hardened. They've got a couple of Super 15 players and nearly every member of the team that beat Wales is back for this tour.
Wood: "The level of hits we are going to see on Saturday...this is a game to go to in order to see a different standard of physicality. Because this is the game for them, this is a huge opportunity for them. It's going to be unbelievably difficult for Ireland. They cannot let their eye drift towards Australia or New Zealand. Any indecision will be absolutely pounced upon by Samoa and we will be knocked over left and right."
