Share

Six Nations Grand Slam 'scary' for Schmidt

Maynooth - Joe Schmidt says he is "scared" at the thought he could become only the third coach to lead Ireland to a Grand Slam if they beat England in their final match in the Six Nations on Saturday. 

The 52-year-old New Zealander, who secured his third Six Nations title in the past five years last week with a game to spare, admitted his players would need to reach new levels of excellence to complete a clean sweep. 

Apart from the three titles under Schmidt, who took over a demoralised squad after the 2013 Six Nations, the Irish have recorded their first-ever victory over world champions New Zealand, a record home win against South Africa and are on a record national winning run of 11 Tests going into the England game. 

England may have lost their past two matches and seen their hopes of a third successive Six Nations title dashed but they are unbeaten at Twickenham since Eddie Jones took the reins following the 2015 World Cup debacle and would love to do to the Irish what they did to them in Dublin last year - deny England the Grand Slam. 

"I'd be more motivated and scared by that than thinking about how fantastic it would be to do something that would be another step for this group into kind of stretching themselves beyond what they've done before," said Schmidt, referring to the Irish teams who swept the board in 1948 and 2009. 

Schmidt, who is likely to bring the curtain down on his tenure after the 2019 World Cup in Japan and return to New Zealand, said while he is a "glass-half-full person", he is not immune to thinking about how the dream might turn into a nightmare. 

"I wouldn't say that you can control that emotional rollercoaster that preparing a high-level sports team kind of engenders," said Schmidt. 

"Because there are times where you inevitably imagine the worst-case scenario. Worst-case scenario is that England hit the ground running and they actually win with a bit to spare 

"It would be a crushing way for us to finish a year of being unbeaten."

Teams:

England


15 Anthony Watson, 14 Jonny May, 13 Jonathan Joseph,12 Ben Te'O, 11 Elliot Daly; 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Richard Wigglesworth; 8 Sam Simmonds, 7 James Haskell, 6 Chris Robshaw; 5 George Kruis, 4 Maro Itoje; 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Dylan Hartley (captain), 1 Mako Vunipola


Substitutes: 16 Jamie George, 17 Joe Marler, 18 Dan Cole, 19 Joe Launchbury, 20 Don Armand), 21 Danny Care 22 George Ford, 23 Mike Brown

Ireland  


15 Rob Kearney; 14 Keith Earls, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Jacob Stockdale; 10 Johnny Sexton, 9 Conor Murray; 8 CJ Stander, 7 Dan Leavy, 6 Peter O'Mahony; 5 Iain Henderson, 4 James Ryan; 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Rory Best (captain), 1 Cian Healy


Substitutes: 16 Sean Cronin, 17 Jack McGrath, 18 Andrew Porter, 19 Devin Toner, 20 Jordi Murphy, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 Joey Carbery, 23 Jordan Larmour

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Voting Booth
Should Siya Kolisi keep the captaincy as the Springboks build towards their World Cup title defence in 2027?
Please select an option Oops! Something went wrong, please try again later.
Results
Yes! Siya will only be 36 at the next World Cup. He can make it!
26% - 1272 votes
No! I think the smart thing to do is start again with a younger skipper ...
29% - 1469 votes
I'd keep Siya captain for now, but look to have someone else for 2027.
45% - 2240 votes
Vote
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE