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The Ireland 'headaches' Andy Farrell explains he can't get enough of
Andy Farrell sat very prettily last Sunday in the Aviva Stadium media auditorium having just watched his Ireland team go two wins from two in the opening rounds of their Guinness Six Nations title defence.
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There was no getting carried away with his team’s top-of-the-table position; he made sure to suggest on a couple of occasions that the challenge was allegedly set to get much steeper with Wales next up in Dublin on February 25 followed by March assignments versus England (in London) and Scotland (back in Dublin).
What he also mentioned a few times was the current hectic competition for places in his team, headaches he claimed he was happy to have ahead of the task of selecting his round three team in a campaign where Ireland are looking to win back-to-back Grand Slams for the first time since France in 1998 when the tournament was the old Five Nations.
Following a Rugby World Cup quarter-final exit where Farrell was criticised for not rotating his squad enough, leaving some players slow on their feet in the closing stages versus New Zealand, it was January 17 when he confirmed the 34-strong squad he would take to Portugal for warm-weather training heading into the opening round match away to France in Marseille.
With two games now played, that squad must be buzzing with the way Farrell has gone about using more of his resources in the Six Nations compared to France 2023 where 27 players tasted action in the opening September matches against Romania and Tonga, 17 as starters and 10 as sub with six players idle.
Set Plays 
8
Scrums
5
100%
Scrum Win %
80%
13
Lineout
14
100%
Lineout Win %
64%
7
Restarts Received
2
100%
Restarts Received Win %
100%
So far this February, 30 have seen action in the two outings versus France and Italy – 21 as starters and nine off the bench, with only Garry Ringrose, Jacob Stockdale, Tom Stewart and Nick Timoney not featuring.
The fit-again Ringrose is expected to be available for Wales, adding another layer to the midfield conversation, but that won’t be the only area where the midnight oil could be burned as the second row is an especially congested area.
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“Yeah, that is what we wanted,” purred Farrell after watching a round two XV showing six changes from the record win over France see off Italy 36-0, the first time in 37 years that Ireland had nilled an opposition in the championship (1987 when England were beaten 17-0 in Dublin).
“That is what we do it for, to give people the chance because no headaches, we are in the wrong place as a group. We have a few more, haven’t we, after this performance and we welcome that and so do the rest of the squad.”
Just look at Ireland’s second row riches. Joe McCarthy, the fired-up rookie who is blazing a trail; the bang-in-form Tadhg Beirne, the point-to-prove James Ryan and also the seasoned Iain Henderson.
McCarthy and Beirne had first dibs on the spots in Marseille, with Ryan as the back-up. Last Sunday, though, Ryan paired with McCarthy to start, with Henderson providing bench impetus.
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“It’s exactly what it should be and it worked really nicely this week,” explained Farrell when asked to share his thoughts on the engine room selection puzzle he now faces due to the way he picked his round one and two teams.
“Now all four of them realise that, that all four of them are in good form and it means a lot. James is always going to try and prove a point.
"His confidence was amazing… he nailed it!
– Andy 'Simon Cowell' Farrell gives his X-Factor verdict on eight-year-old Stevie Mulrooney, who stole the show on Sunday at Aviva Stadium with his singing of Ireland's Call. #GuinnessM6N #IrelandRugby #IREvITA pic.twitter.com/GgKnvkMwBh
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) February 11, 2024
“Iain Henderson has been outstanding on the bench actually in the last few games that he has done that. Big Joe gives us new blood as you know. Tadgh Beirne was immense last week.
“The competition for that is exactly where it should be. How we go about selecting is a great problem to have and I suppose it comes down to the type of game and the opposition we have.”
It wasn’t that long ago when Ryan would have been viewed as the Ireland captain-in-waiting with Johnny Sexton heading towards his post-2023 Rugby World Cup retirement.
“It didn’t work out for him, Peter O’Mahony instead getting named as Sexton’s successor and then when O’Mahony was rested for the Italian fixture, the responsibility passed onto Caelan Doris for the first time.
It’s a scenario that surely must have been unpalatable to Ryan, but his reaction was to get on with it and not cause a ruckus. Why? “He is a team player,” insisted Farrell.
“The best example of that and you have heard me say it before, Pete O’Mahony got dropped a couple of years ago for this man actually (Doris) and he was the first one to help Caelan to be as prepared as possible he could be.
? James Lowe awarded Andy Farrell's son Gabriel his Player of the Match medal after today's games ?#GuinnessM6N #IREITA @IrishRugby pic.twitter.com/Srdq51Ja3p
— Guinness Men's Six Nations (@SixNationsRugby) February 11, 2024
“When you have got examples like that it shows what it matters to be a team player for Ireland and people follow that type of example. James had done exactly the same.
“There was a lot of responsibility on his shoulders in terms of calling the lineout (against Italy) and he was fantastic. His calling was great so he was able to be himself because of that.”
Andy Farrell’s 2024 Ireland squad appearances
Two starts (9): Keenan, Nash, Henshaw, Lowe, Crowley, Porter, Sheehan, McCarthy, Doris;
One start + one run as sub (6): Gibson-Park, Bealham, Ryan, Baird, van der Flier, Conan;
Two runs as sub (1): Kelleher;
One start (6): Aki, McCloskey, Casey, Furlong, Beirne, O’Mahony;
One run as sub (8): Murray, Frawley, Byrne, Larmour, Healy, Loughman, O’Toole, Henderson;
Unused (4): Ringrose, Stockdale, Stewart, Timoney.
Comments on RugbyPass
Why cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful 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 …
31 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!😭😭😭 !!!
31 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
31 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.
31 Go to comments