Andy Farrell's take on Elliot Daly's selection at 13 and why Ireland must be 'couragous'
Andy Farrell says Ireland must be courageous to halt their losing streak against England and end an underwhelming Guinness Six Nations campaign on a high.
Head coach Farrell is still searching for the first major scalp of his tenure, with his side twice outclassed by Eddie Jones’ World Cup finalists in 2020.
Ireland have not beaten the English since their Grand Slam success of 2018 and have lost 10 of the last 13 meetings, including four on the bounce.
The winners of Saturday’s Dublin showdown will strengthen their hopes of finishing second at the end of topsy-turvy tournament in which both sides have already been beaten twice.
Asked how the Irish can end the poor run of results against their rivals, Farrell replied: “Through people learning the lessons from the games you’ve talked about.
“I feel that the last outing – it was a physical game like it always is, certainly at Twickenham – we were within ourselves a little bit regarding playing the game that’s in front of us.
“We’ve got to have courage to go out there and win the game and the statement that we want to make, to ourselves first and foremost.
“I think the mental state of the squad is very strong. They’re very buoyant this week, in a determined mood.
“They know that this is the last game of the competition, where we get a chance to put our best performance out there for 80 minutes, which is something that we haven’t quite achieved yet.
“But we’ll need to do that to win and they’re in a determined mood to make that happen.”
Farrell has made six changes to his starting XV as he seeks to build on successive wins over Italy and Scotland.
Jack Conan, Josh Van Der Flier and Bundee Aki have been selected in place of injured trio James Ryan, Will Connors and Garry Ringrose, while Dave Kilcoyne, Conor Murray and Jacob Stockdale are preferred to Cian Healy, Jamison Gibson-Park and James Lowe.
England’s only change to the team which started their enthralling win over France sees Elliot Daly make his first international start at outside centre for almost five years in place of Henry Slade, who has a calf issue.
"Will make it a great match up with Henshaw"https://t.co/16c3V679v7
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) March 18, 2021
Farrell has inside knowledge of the opposition, having served as England defence coach between 2011 and 2015, and does not expect the enforced alteration to unduly trouble the visitors.
“I don’t think it will change that much. Elliot will just be himself. He always flows into that channel anyway,” he said.
“He started out as nothing but a 13, so he’s very experienced in that regard and they’ve obviously put Elliot back in there and they’re very comfortable to do so because he’s able to use his left foot, and that’s what Henry Slade used to do as well.”
Back-to-back victories, including at Murrayfield last weekend, have seen Ireland recover from their worst start to a Six Nations campaign, which swiftly extinguished any title ambitions.
8?? weeks in England camp and not even a sniff of a debut Test cap for Paolo#SixNations #IREvENGhttps://t.co/QpWxHeJt3G
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) March 19, 2021
While it has been a frustrating Championship for his team, Farrell feels it has been enjoyable fare for impartial spectators .
When reminded the weekend result will determine which half of the table Ireland finish in, he replied: “That’s the reality and that’s why we love the Six Nations, don’t we?
“It’s been a great campaign for a neutral I would have thought, because nobody quite knows who’s going to win what game.
“I suppose that’s what people would want.
“As far as we’re concerned, obviously there’s a couple of defeats that got away from us in the end but we’re in a determined mood to finish off this campaign well.”
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