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How 'true Irish grit' was Andy Farrell's calling card after a near 62-week wait to start his new job

By Liam Heagney
(Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)

One Saturday into the Six Nations it’s all systems normal. A Welsh stroll, Italian demoralisation, Irish efficiency and Scottish hand wringing – same as ever then in this Six Nations. 

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Despite everyone coming into the tournament politely claiming they hadn’t a clue what might transpire, the same old largely predictable results unfolded. 

As in Cardiff, where Wayne Pivac was ushering in a new era post-Warren Gatland with Wales, there was no interruption either to the established pattern in Dublin. New man in charge of Ireland, typical home result against Scotland – thanks in part to Stuart Hogg’s incredibly botched handling over the try line.   

For Andy Farrell, it meant the extraordinarily long wait for his coronation was finally over. It was nearly 62 weeks ago – November 26, 2018 – when he was first confirmed as Joe Schmidt’s successor but only now – February 1, 2020 – did he finally experience what it was like to coach Ireland to a victory as the boss man. 

After a 432-day wait between then and now, it would have been understandable if he openly basked in the warm glow of his first W, that there was an I in team. After all, some celebratory glimpses of emotion had been caught on camera from the coaches’ box during the Test, reactions not seen during the Schmidt era. 

(Continue reading below…)

Andy Farrell and Johnny Sexton speak after Ireland’s 19-12 win

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But down in the stadium bowels, giddiness from the man himself that the Faz era had at long last got going was kept in check. “Well, honestly it’s nothing to do with my first game or whatever,” insisted the Englishman who until Saturday had spent years earning his stripes in the background, not only on defence duty with Ireland but also with England and on two tours of duty with the Lions. 

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“I’m just pleased as Johnny (Sexton) said – in this competition we all know what it is all about, you need to get off to a winning start to try and roll on. We have done that, we have plenty to do. I think it’s a decent start.”

It was, all things considered. While genuine edge-of-seat moments were in short supply as both attacks largely spluttered and stuttered, inaccuracy traditionally typical of the championship’s opening round, this was a proper bruiser of a Test match featuring a whole host of unflinching tackles and juddering collisions.

Farrell, the gritty English northerner, summed it up well. “We asked the boys to stand for something and it was true Irish grit out there. We will keep building on it. We didn’t have much field position but when we got into the 22, I thought we looked quite dynamic. 

“We had to fight and dig deep plenty of times, certainly in the first half… but our performance, you could sum it up in the last five minutes really. 

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“We asked the lads all week to make sure they stand for something and you could easily see the true grit, especially some of those tight five boys who had to dig deep. We had a couple of injuries nice and early and that makes it tricky as far as your substitutes are concerned. 

“Some people were staying on a lot longer than they have in the past and there were leading the way in the last few minutes. That was outstanding.”

It was encouraging to hear Farrell stay on message in his post-mortem. It’s very easy for coaches to throw out a snazzy line at one media event and have forgotten about it all too quickly by the next. 

But when in London ten days earlier, he had made a similar refrain to what he referenced on Saturday, stating his target was: “Making sure that we come out of each particular game and stand for what we said we were going to stand for in the days before that.”

Epitomising the ‘true Irish grit’ mantra was another honorary Irishman, CJ Stander, his penalty-winning poaches in either half crucial to keeping the Scots try-less, just as they were 19 weeks earlier at the World Cup. 

James Ryan and Tadhg Furlong were also line-in-the-sand snarlers, defiance that was definitely required given how Scotland’s pack were much more of an obstacle than in Yokohama. 

Their starting eight made 133 metres off 59 runs at the Aviva compared to a shabby 44 metres off 64 runs in the previous encounter, a ball-carrying threat that caused the overall Irish tackle rate to soar from 143 (eight missed) to 190 (26 missed) in the respective fixtures. 

Defence does win championships – nine of the last ten Six Nations champions conceded the least amount of points – the attack is the sector where Farrell can over time be a point of difference where he can stamp his own Schmidt-free influence on proceedings. 

Their training ground move try, with Cian Healy selflessly popping and taking punishment to allow Conor Murray the space to send in Sexton, was encouraging as it created a rare easy walk-in. 

But other than sparks of counter-attacking finesse from Jordan Larmour, one canter even stemming from a try-saving intercept, Ireland were limited in what they managed. The hope with rookie Caelan Doris selected was that he would add ball-carrying heft in the tight, something that had been generally missing at the World Cup.

Doris made 82 metres off 18 carries when he last appeared at the Aviva, playing for Leinster versus Northampton. However, ambition for a repeat was crushed by his head clash with Adam Hastings, leaving Ireland dependant on Peter O’Mahony’s alternative non-carrying attributes  

It all played a part in why the Scots still had a sniff of snatching a draw until the final whistle. That scoreboard closeness meant Farrell’s maiden outing as Ireland boss was a touch more anxious than how his predecessors fared when they first started. 

Schmidt’s class of 2014 defeated the Scots 28-6, Declan Kidney’s crew downed the French 30-21 while Eddie O’Sullivan’s opening selection hammered the Welsh 54-10 way back in 2002. Schmidt and Kidney both went on to lift trophies in their first seasons and Farrell will privately feel his team can do likewise despite cock-a-hoop champions Wales coming to Dublin next Saturday. 

More will be needed from the Sexton/Murray axis if a second W is secured. If John Cooney was ever to start a big Test, it was Saturday versus Scotland. The nine jersey will now remain Murray’s and Farrell’s desire will be to see this long-standing partnership with his inspire-with-actions skipper Sexton step up a few notches.

Them two playing well together has always been important and it remains that way in the honeymoon period with new man Faz. His long wait is finally over and a new reign 62 weeks in the making has successfully started. 

WATCH: Stuart Hogg faces the media after a tough day for Scotland in Six Nations

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J
Jon 5 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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j
john 8 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

33 Go to comments
A
Adrian 10 hours 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

33 Go to comments
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