1
'He's gutted, Bundee. He is good mates with Billy as well'
Andy Farrell has claimed he will need to review the video footage further before definitively having an opinion on whether referee Mathieu Raynal was correct in his decision to red card Bundee Aki in the 64th minute of Saturday’s Guinness Six Nations win by Ireland over England in Dublin.
ADVERTISEMENT
Red-carded at the World Cup for Ireland against Samoa 17 months previously for a high tackle, Aki found himself in a similar sort of bother when he tackled Billy Vunipola in the second half at Aviva Stadium.
Ireland were comfortably leading 26-6 when they suffered their second red card of this Six Nations campaign, Peter O’Mahony having been red-carded and banned for three weeks for his elbow to the head of Tomas Francis in the round one loss to Wales.
Despite ‘losing’ the closing 16 minutes of play by 12-6, with England grabbing a pair of consolation tries, Ireland comfortably held on to their lead without having Aki in the midfield.
Asked for his take on the red card decision, Farrell said: “It’s a tough one. I have just been speaking with the referee who was asking my thoughts and obviously I will analyze it properly to have a good look at it.
Sit back and enjoy, @IrishRugby fans! ??
Here are the highlights from their 32-18 win over England at the Aviva Stadium. #GuinnessSixNations #IREvENG pic.twitter.com/AIeD03M8DI
— Guinness Six Nations (@SixNationsRugby) March 20, 2021
“It’s tough, isn’t it? The rules are the rules but at the same time, it is very tough. I’ll look at it again but Billy seemed to be on a downward motion certainly with his head, but if there is any contact they are stringent with that at this moment of time.
“He’s gutted, Bundee. He is good mates with Billy as well. He is in the tunnel making sure they are still friends which they definitely are.”
ADVERTISEMENT
England arrived into the 2021 Six Nations with their coach Eddie Jones claiming he wanted 20 of his players chosen by Warren Gatland for the upcoming Lions series versus South Africa. That bloated number will now be revised downwards with Ireland’s potential representation likely to enjoy a generous spike.
“100 per cent,” beamed Farrell. “Warren came in during the week and watched our training session. It was a great tonic for us. There were a lot of good individual performances at the start of the competition and some lads have just carried that on. Some lads are dead certain to get on the plane and I have no doubt there will be one or two more headaches after this game.”
Under pressure last month following the worst start to a championship by Ireland since 1998, Farrell rebounded with three wins on the bounce to put them in second place before next Friday’s final fixture featuring France versus Scotland.
It has left the coach with a pep in his step that was difficult to foresee following the early-round losses to Wales and France. “To win any last game in the tournament is always pleasing because it is a long time between drinks until the next one.
ADVERTISEMENT
“To finish off with a W is pleasing but I’m just delighted for the lads. They have come in for a bit of stick, we have lost a couple of games, but the lads have always believed in how they are progressing and they always felt a performance like that in them. There is still a lot to work on but I’m so pleased for them. They got over the line with a nice victory against a very good side.
Plenty of 9s here following a supreme Irish performance#SixNations #IREvENGhttps://t.co/P1O0ZBIWQ5
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) March 20, 2021
“The lads really believe they are making good strides and attack is always the one that gets put under the most pressure. It’s always the last piece of the jigsaw and I’m delighted they went through so many phases and held onto the ball and broke them down.
“I thought Jack Conan was very good. He has not started an international for quite some time, but he was just himself and it was pretty fitting that he finished that try off.”
Switching to the opening Ireland try, a peach of a lineout move that sent Keith Earls through the England cover, Farrell added: “It’s something that we have worked on all week. You are always trying to find a way to, first of all, win the lineout cleanly and, secondly, how you can manipulate a defence on the back of that.
“We worked all week and we practised it hard on Friday with our timing with Keith Earls. I thought Jack Conan was outstanding too to deliver the ball because Tom Curry had read it very well. That was very pleasing. And I actually thought if Keith Earls’ second try had stood (early in the second half), that would have been pretty special.”
There are now huge questions about the credibility of this England team and the over-reliance of Eddie Jones on a plethora of his favourite players who haven’t been putting it in #SixNations #IREvENGhttps://t.co/Q3pSQpGijV
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) March 20, 2021
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