Andy Farrell: 'Gutted for him, because he wouldn’t normally do that'

Ireland head coach Andy Farrell praised his side’s resilience after their 20-13 Guinness Six Nations victory over Italy at the Aviva Stadium, admitting there were errors but insisting the character shown would stand to a developing group.

Italy led at half-time in Dublin for the first time in Six Nations history, yet Ireland recovered to secure the win.

Farrell said the bigger picture was the manner in which his side responded under pressure.

“We were playing against a very good Italian side that was never gonna go away, because the recent history shows us how they’ve been performing,” he said.

“They were trying to batter the door down at the end there. So the resilience that we showed to win the game was fantastic to see.

“Obviously, there’s too many errors within our game at certain times. But the character shown to come back and have the courage to play the type of rugby that we did at times was very encouraging, to say that we was under a bit of pressure.

“The try there that we scored with all those phases was as good a try as we’ve ever scored. It just shows that we’re able to back ourselves.”

Captain Caelan Doris admitted there was calm rather than panic at the break despite trailing.

“Not overly,” he said when asked about concern at half-time. “There was a pretty good feeling, despite the result at halftime. There was lots of good intent. And when you’ve got intent, it’s just little fix-ups that you can get on top of.

“It was a different feeling to last Thursday. When you have the intent, you can build on that.”

Farrell reserved special praise for Ireland’s man of the match Robert Baloucoune and was delighted to see him grasp his opportunity after a stop-start Test career.

“The talent’s there for everyone to see when he puts the Ulster jersey on,” Farrell said. “To get the opportunity now, coming back into fitness and to show what he can do at this type of level is very pleasing for him and for the rest of us.

“To see him believe in himself and backing himself, not just beating people and scoring tries, but winning balls in the air, and very good defensive decision-maker as well.”

Stuart McCloskey’s distribution also caught the eye, notably in the build-up to Jamie Osborne’s and Baloucoune’s try.

“There’s more to his game than that,” Farrell said. “He certainly addressed that this week as far as how he made others feel around the park as well with his ability to not just take the ball to the line, but to offload.”

Farrell admitted Ireland struggled at times with Italy’s scrum, but highlighted the impact of Tom O’Toole from the bench.

“That scrum under our post, five metres out, that was rock solid,” he said. “That had been under pressure all afternoon. For Jamie Osborne to put that ball out near halfway was a big moment in the game for us.”

Farrell also had a word for Jack Crowley, who shone after replacing Sam Prendergast on 55 minutes. Crowley, despite playing well, put Ireland under pressure when he shanked a touchfinder just minutes from the end.

“I thought Jack played outstandingly well when he came on,” he said. “So actually gutted for him, because he wouldn’t normally do that.

“I mean, there’s a few things to check there as far as offside, and jumping up and down in his eye line for the kick. But still, it was a bit of a shank. But that wouldn’t be the overriding thought of what I take from Jack’s game. I thought he was outstanding when he came on.”

Attention now turns to Twickenham, but Farrell was clear about the immediate priority.

“We need to celebrate Edwin’s [Edogbo] first cap.”