Joe Schmidt says Ireland cannot afford to make the errors they made against Argentina when they face the All Blacks in Dublin on Saturday.
The Irish were given a good test of their abilities against an Argentina side that never seemed to fall away until the closing moments of the match last weekend.
While their dominant scrum allowed Ireland to score two of their three tries, Schmidt will be concerned that his side’s faulty lineout and set-piece defence allowed Argentina to stay in the game.
‘I think it demonstrates that we need to get the car tuned,’ Schmidt said following the 27-18 victory. ‘We’re going to need the cohesion that a smooth-running vehicle has.
‘I just think that if we’re as untidy as we were, it’s going to be a very tough day at the office. We have to tidy up a number of elements of play.’
Schmidt believes that any mistakes Ireland make will be punished by the All Blacks.
‘What we can’t do is have untidy elements of the game because they love to play off those when things become unstructured.
‘At one stage, I can’t remember the [England] player, but he chipped over the top and Kieran Read gave it to Damian McKenzie with jets on, going in the other direction. Now, Owen Farrell got back and managed to knock the ball out of his hands.
‘It’s the ability to bounce back which makes you a good rugby side. We saw a bit of that character yesterday [against England], going down 15-0 and then coming back. So there’s plenty of character in the All Blacks jersey.
‘And I’d say there’s plenty in the Irish jersey too at the moment.’
Photo: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
