Former Ireland international Alan Quinlan was on Friday’s OTB AM and talked about how Saturday's game against Wales could be make-or-break for many players.
Ireland were unimpressive against Italy and downright atrocious against England so a number of players need to impress in Cardiff to earn a spot on the plane to Japan.
“What he’s doing behind the scenes to get the players right and ready, I’m sure they’re in fear for their lives this week. The squad is picked on Sunday and it has to be submitted to World Rugby by Monday.
“It’s last chance saloon for some guys. You look at Italy, England and this Welsh game. The way the team has changed.
“There’s a certain number of players who I think are playing for a lifeline here to get on that plane. If they underperform on Saturday he has no choice [but to drop them]. And I think he will,” Quinlan said.
Schmidt’s show of leadership
After Ireland’s record loss to England last weekend someone needed to step up and take responsibility and Schmidt made no excuses for his side’s sorry performance.
“When leadership is questioned in any group or if it’s possibly waning and there are problems, you need someone to come out and take hold of the reins and say, ‘Look this is what happened. We take responsibility and this is our plan and this is our focus.’
“To be fair to Joe, sometimes he bats off stuff - and he’s good at that. But he was pretty honest from last Saturday. Right from the first interview, he did right through to the press conference.
“It was unacceptable that the players were really, really poor and they let themselves down. So I look at it differently. I was glad he was coming out because he’s showing leadership,” Quinlan commented.
Ireland will be hoping to put that England performance to bed this Saturday when they take on Wales in the Principality Stadium.
A good performance will put Schmidt’s side back on track for the World Cup but another abject performance could seriously affect the team’s confidence heading to Japan.
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