Farrell on what happened between Gatland, Ryan and the Lions
Andy Farrell admitted Warren Gatland enquired about the possibility of James Ryan replacing Alun Wyn Jones for the British and Irish Lions tour of South Africa but an injury to the Leinster lock scuppered his chances.
Ryan was heavily tipped to take the place of injured Wales captain Jones in the Lions squad earlier this week but it was revealed the 24-year-old was suffering with an adductor complaint after Adam Beard got the nod instead.
The issue placed Ryan’s availability for Ireland’s opening summer Test against Japan on Saturday at the Aviva Stadium in doubt but Farrell has marvelled at his stand-in captain’s progress in his recovery.
He will therefore lead the side out and take his place in the second row alongside Ultan Dillane against Japan, but there remained speculation about whether Gatland had asked Farrell about drafting Ryan into the Lions mix.
“Myself and Warren have communicated quite a lot, I know that Warren really rates James but the injury was a little bit of a setback, we didn’t quite know where we were up to with that,” Ireland head coach Farrell said.
“I informed (Gatland) that there was something going on and the medics took over from there. James, over the last day or so, in particular, has surprised everyone with the speed of his recovery.
“I’m delighted for James that he’s able to captain the side. It’s something that he’s unbelievably passionate about. Hopefully that stands us down the years as well as far as the captaincy and the leadership is concerned.”
Asked if Ryan would have been available for the Lions if he was fully fit, Farrell said: “I don’t know whether that would have been the case but there’s always conversations that have to happen before decisions like that are made.”
Seven Ireland players are on Lions duty while regular captain Johnny Sexton, along with Cian Healy and Keith Earls, is sitting out the Japan fixture as well as next weekend’s clash against the United States.
Stuart McCloskey will earn his fifth cap as he joins Chris Farrell in the centres for a game where around 3,000 spectators are expected in Dublin, the first time fans have been allowed into the stadium since February last year.
Hugo Keenan starts at full-back with Leinster team-mate Jordan Larmour and Ulster’s Jacob Stockdale on the wings, while Jamison Gibson Park and Joey Carbery are at scrum-half and fly-half respectively.
Peter O’Mahony will be at blindside flanker, joined in the back row by Josh Van Der Flier and Caelan Doris, while Ronan Kelleher and Finlay Bealham will sit alongside Dave Kilcoyne in the front row.
Gavin Coombes is among the replacements – joining Rob Herring, Ed Byrne, John Ryan, Ryan Baird, Craig Casey, Billy Burns and Shane Daly – and the Munster back rower is the only uncapped member of the 23-strong squad.
“I’m excited across the board to see how the team performs because there’s so many different ramifications that are happening throughout the side,” Farrell said.
Only Keenan, Stockdale, Kilcoyne and Van Der Flier have been retained from the Ireland side that last took the field in a 32-18 win over England in the Six Nations in March.
Ireland were memorably defeated by Japan in their most recent encounter at the 2019 World Cup pool stage, and Farrell is once again wary of a Brave Blossoms side that has had plenty of time together ahead of this game.
“By all reports they’ve been together for six weeks, it’s a big block,” Farrell said. “We’ve been together for 12 days come matchday. That’s not us complaining because that’s the world we’re living in in the northern hemisphere.
“If you look at the Japanese side, I though it was the best prepared team at the World Cup bar none and their performances showed that.
“I believe they had an unbelievably long stint together before that and the players they’ve picked to come over on this tour, a lot of them were in that squad.”
Japan have made three changes to the side that were beaten 28-10 by the Lions at Murrayfield last weekend, with the uncapped Semisi Masirewa starting on the wing, allowing Kotaro Matsushima to replace Ryohei Yamanaka at full-back.
Naoto Saito is set to feature at scrum-half while Kazuki Himeno will be Japan’s number eight.
Japan head coach Jamie Joseph said: “We know at home (Ireland are) very strong, a lot stronger than when they’re away, so it’s a different kettle of fish and that’s something that we’ve been consistently talking about all week.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Beautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to comments