Connacht head coach Andy Friend was on Tuesday’s OTB AM and spoke about Ireland’s prospects of reaching a first-ever Rugby World Cup semi-final.
While Friend reckons that Ireland are in ‘the top four’ teams in the world at the moment, they certainly have their work cut out for them, with either New Zealand or South Africa their likely opponents in the last eight.
“Well, there was a 16-all draw at the weekend [between NZ and SA] so one’s a crocodile and one’s an alligator. You’ve got to fight them both.
“To me, I reckon there are three really dangerous teams outside of Ireland. The Springboks are one, the All Blacks are one and England’s another one,” Friend commented.
Joe Schmidt will have much more time with the Ireland squad this pre-season than he normally does and Friend thinks this should benefit the team hugely.
“You can see the physicality of their game’s definitely increased. As we know it’s a very confrontational game anyway but they’ve taken it to another notch.
“I’m just interested to see what other little options come out of that. I have no doubt that Joe Schmidt will have something up his sleeve. Whether we’ll see it pre-World Cup, I’m not sure,” Friend said.
As head coach of Connacht, Friend will lose a number of players to the World Cup squad for the start of the Pro14 season, but the Australian insisted he wanted as many Connacht players in the squad as possible.
“We’ve got some really good young talent coming through Connacht Rugby. Which ideally, you get them into the green jersey of Ireland. We still hold the goal of getting five players into the matchday 23 if not more,” Friend said.
While those players would be at his disposal a lot less if they did secure a regular place in the Irish squad, Friend thought that the added intensity of test rugby would improve his players.
“The one thing that comes out is how intense it all is. How intense not just the training is but the whole environment. You’re on the whole time, which is good.
“That’s what your national programme should be. So I think Joe [Schmitd] and the national coaches have done a great job with that,” Friend said.
Ireland’s first Rugby World Cup warm-up match takes place in under two weeks' time when they take on Italy at the Aviva Stadium on August 10th.
Schmidt's side will surely be keeping plenty in their locker for later days. However, it will be interesting to see how the team has changed since a disappointing Six Nations campaign.
Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.
