Following his side’s disappointing collapse to Argentina in a 43-20 defeat at the Millennium Stadium, Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt has admitted that his side were naive in their approach towards the South American side.
And with a lack of leaders on the pitch after a week where a number of players including Paul O’Connell, Peter O’Mahony and Jonny Sexton were ruled out with injury whilst Sean O’Brien was suspended the national side struggled in the opening stages to deal with the intensity of the Pumas.
But despite trailing by two tries after only 10 minutes Ireland were inspired by the introduction of Luke Fitzgerald who replaced the injured Tommy Bowe early in the first half as he scored and assisted Ireland’s two tries.
“It’s very tough to take the final margin because I was incredibly proud,” admitted Schmidt after the game (Irish Independent).
“We struggled to win collisions either side of the ball. When we were carrying they put a lot of pressure on us.
“We were committing two, maybe three to the tackle in that early part of the game. They got away from us a bit in the first 15 minutes.
“I’m incredibly proud how they fought their way back into the game, It was a very tough situation to find themselves in.”
However, much like Wales coach Warren Gatland yesterday, Schmidt refused to blame injuries for the shortcomings of his side but did admit that it impacted on matters on the pitch.
“You are not making any excuses for that, the tournament can work out like that. I suppose that’s what we kept trying to build over the last couple of years, was to build a squad.
“Unfortunately, we have always had one or two of those guys available, to lose the group that we lost wasn’t great.
“We were probably a little naïve, we missed a bit of that experience and direction in that first quarter. To be down by 10 at half-time and just three and one kick away in the 58th minute, one kick away from drawing level.
“We had given ourselves a bit of a kick of confidence. I always felt watching the players, they felt they had to keep chasing, keep chasing.
“In the end, that’s going to take its toll.
“At the same time, you can’t fault the effort. No one is more disappointed that the players in the changing room.”
