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Andy Farrell brushes off Eddie Jones remarks
Andy Farrell is wary that “praise makes you weak” after England coach Eddie Jones installed Ireland as favourites for Saturday’s Guinness Six Nations showdown.
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Jones also hailed the Irish as the most cohesive side in world rugby ahead of a tantalising Twickenham encounter which will lead to the losing side being eliminated from title contention.
The Australian is renowned for seeking to pile pressure on opponents by attempting pre-match mind games but, on this occasion, bookmakers agree England are underdogs.
Ireland head coach Farrell referenced one of Jones’ long-established maxims as he dismissed the significance of his counterpart’s comments.
“It doesn’t bother me whatsoever,” the Englishman said on the subject of being favourites.
“I don’t see what it does for and against, it’s just about us preparing properly.
“I also know that Eddie has said plenty of times in the past as well that ‘praise makes you weak’.
“We make sure that we just take care of our own house and prepare properly over the next coming days and be ready to perform.”
Ireland have lost on seven of their previous eight trips to London.
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While Jones attempted to burden the Irish with the tag of favourites, prop Joe Marler disagreed with his coach, saying he has never regarded England as underdogs for a game, particularly on home soil.
“We respect every team that we play,” continued Farrell. “But we certainly respect the challenge ahead of us this weekend going to Twickenham.
“Listening to Joe Marler’s comments during the week regarding he’s never thought of being anything but a favourite at Twickenham, and rightly so – their record is very good there.
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“It’s a massive challenge for us this weekend and something we’re looking forward to.”
Ireland and England are each playing catch-up to Grand Slam-chasing France following two wins and a defeat apiece.
The evolving English – who endured their worst Six Nations campaign in 2021 – have grown into this year’s tournament, bouncing back from an opening-weekend loss to Scotland by beating Italy and Wales.
Farrell has won only two of seven away matches in charge of Ireland and wants his players to scale new heights in order to disrupt the recent progress of their rivals.
“We’ve got to make sure they’ve got a bump in the road,” said Farrell, whose side suffered a pair of Twickenham losses in 2020.
“You say that they’re building through the competition but we’ve got to put a little bit of a stop to that.
“That’s our intention, to go over there and prove to ourselves that there’s a performance in there from us that’s a step above what we’ve shown already.”
Ireland began the tournament by brushing aside defending champions Wales before recovering from a narrow Paris loss to Les Bleus with a comfortable victory over Italy.
Farrell has made six changes to his starting XV from the Azzurri game, including recalling captain Johnny Sexton.
Fly-half Sexton is potentially poised for his final outing at the home of English rugby having announced he will retire following next year’s World Cup.
Farrell insists Sexton’s probable Twickenham swansong will not serve as an additional incentive for victory.
“It’s not something we’ve talked about,” he said. “We just care about our preparation for this game, how we best prepare our team, Johnny’s central to that.
“He’s a team player first and foremost. He’s driven to be as good as he possibly can be and that’s why you get longevity in any walk of life.”
Prop Cian Healy will win his 115th cap in place of the injured Andrew Porter, while there are also recalls for full-back Hugo Keenan, wing Andrew Conway, centre Bundee Aki and lock James Ryan.
Comments on RugbyPass
A wallaby front-row of Bell, Blake and Tupou…now that would be hefty
1 Go to comments“But with an exceptional pass accuracy rating “ Which apart from Roigard is not a feature of any of the other 9s in NZ. Kind of basic for a Black 9 dont.you. think? Yet we keep seeing FC and TJ being rated ahead of him? Weird if it’s seen as vital to get our backline beating in your face defences.
1 Go to commentsThanks BeeMc! Looks like many teams need extra time to settle from the quadrennial northern migration. I think generally the quality of the Rugby has held up. Fiji has been fantastic and fun to watch
13 Go to commentsLets compare apples with apples. Lyon sent weak team the week before, but nobody raised an eyebrow. Give the South African teams a few years to build their depth, then you will be moaning that the teams are too strong.
41 Go to commentsDid footballs agents also perform the scout role at some time? I’m surprised more high profile players haven’t taken up the occupation, great way to remain in the game and use all that experience without really requiring a lot of specific expertise?
1 Go to commentsSuper rugby is struggling but that has little to do with sabbaticals. 1. Too many teams from Aust and NZ - should be 3 and 4 respectively, add in 2 from Japan, 1 possibly 2 from Argentina. 2. Inconsistent and poor refereeing, admittedly not restricted to Super rugby. Only one team was reffed at the breakdown in Reds v H’Landers match. Scrum penalty awarded in Canes v Drua when No 8 had the ball in the open with little defence nearby - ideal opportunity to play advantage. Coming back to Reds match - same scrum situation but ref played advantage - Landers made 10 yards and were penalised at the breakdown when the ref should have returned to scrum penalty. 3. Marketing is weak and losing ground to AFL and NRL. Playing 2 days compared with 4. 4. Scheduling is unattractive to family attendance. Have any franchises heard of Sundays 2pm?
11 Go to commentsAbsolutely..all they need is a chance in yhe playoffs and I bet all the other teams will be nervous…THEY KNOW HOW TO WIN IM THE PLAYOFFS..
2 Go to commentsI really hope he comes back and helps out with some coaching.
1 Go to commentsI think we are all just hoping that the Olympic 7s doesn’t suffer the same sad fate as the last RWC with the officials ruining the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsPersonally, I’ve lost the will to even be bothered about the RFU, the structure, the participants. It’s all a sham. I now simply enjoy getting a group of friends together to go and watch a few games a year in different locations (including Europe, the championship, etc). I feel extremely sorry for the real fans of these clubs who are constantly ignored by the RFU and other administrators. I feel especially sorry for the fans of clubs in the Championship who have had considerable central funding stripped away and are then expected to just take whatever the RFU put to them. Its all a sham, especially if the failed clubs are allowed to return.
10 Go to commentsI’m guessing Carl Hayman would have preferred to have stayed in NZ with benefit of hindsight. Up north there is the expectation to play twice as many games with far less ‘player management’ protocols that Paul is now criticising. Less playing through concussions means longer, healthier, careers. Carter used as the eg here by Paul, his sabbatical allowed him to play until age 37. OK its not an exact science but there is far more expectations on players who sign for Top 14 or Engl Prem clubs to get value for the huge salaries. NZR get alot wrong but keeping their best players in NZ rugby is not one of them. SA clubs are virtually devoid of their top players now, no thanks. They cant threaten the big teams in the Champions Cup, the squads have little depth. Cant see Canes/Chiefs struggling. Super has been great this year, fantastic high skill matches. Drua a fantastic addition and Jaguares will add another quality team eventually. Aus teams performing strongly and no doubt will benefit with the incentive of a Lions tour and a home RWC. Let Jordie enjoy his time with Leinster, it will allow the opportunity for another player to emerge at Canes in his absence.
11 Go to commentsLove that man, his way to despise angry little men is so funny ! 😂
4 Go to comments“South African franchises would be powerhouses if we had all our overseas based players back in situ. We would have the same unbeatable aura the Toulouses, Leinsters or Saracens of this world have had over the last decade or so.” Proof that Jake white does not understand the economics of the game in SA. Players earning abroad are not going to simply come back and represent the bulls. But they might if they have a springbok contract.
24 Go to commentsA lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
4 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
10 Go to commentsWell that’s the contracts for RG and Jordie bought and paid for. Now, what are the chances we can persuade Antoine to hop over with all the extra dosh we’ll have from living at the Aviva & Croke next season…??? 🤑🤑🤑
35 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
35 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
17 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
4 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to comments