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Andy Farrell's Ireland preparing for England to 'kick a lot'

By PA
Michael Lowry, Johnny Sexton and Andy Farrell /PA

Ireland head coach Andy Farrell is braced for a full-throttle Twickenham showdown with England and acknowledges his side must improve.

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The long-standing rivals each retain hope of overhauling pacesetters France in the battle for Guinness Six Nations glory on the back of weekend wins.

Ireland had the luxury of a two-man advantage for an hour of Sunday’s emphatic 57-6 victory over Italy, while Eddie Jones’ men survived a late scare in defeating Wales 23-19 the previous day.

Farrell – who was impressed by the English display against the reigning champions – believes both camps have much to consider ahead of attempting to keep their respective title hopes alive in a pivotal round-four clash.

“We know that they’re going to come hard at us,” he said of England.

“Italy came hard off the line at times and we weren’t composed enough, so we need to be a little bit more accurate there.

“We know that they like to kick the ball for territory a lot, the same as what they’ve done for the last couple of seasons.

“I thought they were good (against Wales). I thought in the first half they were very dominant as far as territory is concerned and they kept the scoreboard ticking over.

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“They thoroughly deserved their half-time lead and I suppose there will be plenty for them to ponder on in the next couple of weeks, the same as ourselves.”

Ireland and England have each registered two wins and a loss so far, with the former higher in the standings courtesy of an additional bonus point.

Farrell’s men eventually ran in nine tries against the depleted Italians, who were reduced to 13 men in just the 19th minute due to a dubious law.

The loss of Gianmarco Lucchesi and replacement hooker Hame Faiva to injury and a red card respectively led to uncontested scrums in Dublin and necessitated the removal of an additional player.

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Toa Halafihi was the man sacrificed, while a late yellow card for Braam Steyn meant the Azzurri completed the match with just 12 players.

Despite being satisfied with a substantial boost to his team’s points difference, Farrell felt the performance could have been more convincing.

“It took us a while just to calm down and see the game for what it is,” said the Englishman, whose side finish the tournament at home to Scotland.

“We thought there was space everywhere and we were making poor decisions on the back of that.

“We’re talking about us but at the end of the day we said to the players that 57-6, we’d have certainly taken that before the game.

“It puts us in a good position now as far as the points difference is concerned, now onto the next two matches that we need to win to be in contention for winning the competition.”

A brace apiece for debutant Michael Lowry and James Lowe, plus further scores from Joey Carbery, Jamison Gibson-Park, Peter O’Mahony, Ryan Baird and Kieran Treadwell did the damage against the Azzurri.

Carbery also added two of his five conversion attempts, while substitute Johnny Sexton was flawless with his four.

Ireland go into the second two-week break of the championship with a couple of injury issues sustained against Italy.

Prop Andrew Porter, who was substituted just after half-time, is nursing an ankle strain and centre Robbie Henshaw is undergoing a head injury assessment.

“He went over on his ankle slightly,” Farrell said of Porter. “He was running it off and he would have been able to carry on but we thought we’d get him off at that stage.”

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Adrian 18 minutes ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

6 Go to comments
T
Trevor 3 hours ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

21 Go to comments
B
Bull Shark 7 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

Of the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.

29 Go to comments
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