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'It makes you feel alive': Under pressure Ireland boss Andy Farrell comes out fighting
Under-fire Ireland coach Andy Farrell has come out fighting, insisting that life wouldn’t be worth living if he didn’t feel the pressure that goes hand-in-hand with being a rookie Test level head coach. Farrell developed a hugely respected reputation as a defence coach over the years with England, Ireland and the Lions but he has encountered teething problems since taking over from Joe Schmidt as the Irish head coach.
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Last Sunday’s defeat to France meant that Ireland had lost their opening two matches in the championship for the first time since 1998 when the Six Nations was still the old Five Nations set-up.
He now has a record of six wins from eleven games in charge and with whispers growing about whether he has the tools to go on and become a successful head coach at international level, Farrell has come out strong in the lead-up to the must-win February 27 round three game away to Italy.
“I have dealt with it all my life,” he said about the pressure he is now enduring. “You either embrace the pressure or you get buried by it. I enjoy it. It makes you feel alive. You know that when you are taking the gig on. I believe if you have not got pressure in your life it’s not living anyway, so it goes with the territory I suppose.”
Asked if there were any comforting signs of encouragement for him from the respective 16-21 and 13-15 losses to Wales and France, Farrell added: “I suppose the character in the side the Welsh game and the disappointment that it was there to be won. We didn’t quite get over the line but the character and the work and the will and the fight to try and achieve that was there for all to see I would have thought.
1?? thing has really stood out for the ex-Ireland skipper under Faz #GuinnessSixNationshttps://t.co/wyGaV3CwYi
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) February 2, 2021
“And then in the French game, everyone was talking about just how good a team that they are but the game takes a different course if it goes after 23 minutes we are ten points up, but having said that we have got to be better. We have got to be better. There are no excuses. We have got to be better at imposing our game on the opposition and that is what we want to do against Italy.
“I’ll do what is right for the team and what is right for the team is making sure we get the best performance out of them. We’ll pick the strongest side that we need to to make that happen.”
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Having made do without veteran half-backs Johnny Sexton and Conor Murray and talisman lock James Ryan in the loss to the French, Farrell expects Ireland to travel to Rome with a full deck to deal from. “I’m sure by the start of next week we will have a full bill of health,” he said, although he later added that Caelan Doris, who dropped out of the squad in the week of the Wales game, is out for the foreseeable future due to investigations into concussive symptoms.
“Caelan is getting well looked after, seeing the right people and getting the right advice and making sure that he is comfortable on his return to play. That is still in process but we don’t expect to see him back any time soon.”
With three members of the France management – including head coach Fabien Galthie – having tested positive for Covid-19 in the wake of last weekend’s round two match in Dublin, Farrell and his squad will undergo an extra round of testing this week to ensure they continue to be all clear.
“We have all been thoroughly tested. We normally get tested twice a week. We had some downtime on Monday and we got tested in our own time there and all that has come back negative and then all the lads got tested again on Wednesday to come into camp on Thursday and we are getting tested again on Friday, so we’re literally up to the nose in it regarding testing. We’re doing everything that we can to make sure we are doing the right thing.”
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ANALYSIS: @heagneyl ??? looks back on Andy Farrell's first year in charge of Ireland #ICTYMI https://t.co/kLL7qJ2PZ8
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) January 3, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
It’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
2 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
24 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
1 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
1 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
2 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to commentsAnd the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
3 Go to commentsMore useless words from Ben Smith -Please get another team to write about. SA really dont need your input, it suck anyway.
264 Go to commentsThis disgraceful episode must result in management and coach team sackings. A new manager with worse results than previous and the coaching staff need to coached. Awful massacre led by donkeys.
1 Go to commentsInteresting article with one glaring mistake. This sentence: “And between the top four nations right now, Ireland, France, South Africa, and New Zealand…” should read: And between the top four nations right now, South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand and France…”. Get it right wistful thinkers, its not that hard.
24 Go to commentsHow did Penny get the gig anyway?
3 Go to commentsNice write up Nick and I would have agreed a week ago. However as you would know Cale & co got absolutely monstered by the Blues back row of Sotutu, Ioane and Papaliti and not all of these 3 are guaranteed a start in the Black jumper. He may need to put some kgs before stepping up, Spring tour? After the week end Joe will be a bit more restless. Will need to pick a mobile tough pack for Wales and hope England does the right thing and bashes the ABs. I like your last paragraph but I would bring Swinton, Hannigan into the 6 role and Bobby V to 8
24 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can still get in to the Play Off’s. The imminent return of outstanding captain Scott Barrett and his All Black team mate Codie Taylor will be a big boost.There are others like Tamaiti Williams too. Two home games coming up. Fellow Crusader fans get there and support these guys. I will be.
1 Go to commentsCant get more Wellington than Proctor.
2 Go to commentsWhy not let the media decide. Like how they choose the head coach. Like most of us we entrust the rugby system to choose. A rugby team includes the coaches. It's collective.
14 Go to commentsHi NIck, I have been very impressed with him and he seems a smart player who can see opportunities which Bobby V _(who must be an international 6_) doesn’t see or have the speed to take advantage of. If he continues to improve and puts on 5kgs then he could be a great 8. He is a bit taller than Keiran Reid at 1.93m and 111 kgs, so his skill set fits his body size and who knows where it will lead. I hope the spate of Achilles tendon issues have been dealt with by the S&C people. It’s been a very long time since Mark Loane and Kefu stood out at 8. The question is will we be able to hold onto him, if he does make it he will be pretty hot property. I disagree with the idea of letting them go to the Northern Hemisphere and then bring them back.
24 Go to commentsBilly Fulton 🤣🤣🤣🤣 garrrmon not even close
14 Go to commentsDoes the AI take into account refs? hahaha Seriously why not have two on field refs to avoid bias?
24 Go to comments