The message Farrell delivered with All Blacks next for Ireland
No sooner had Andy Farrell trooped in off the Aviva Stadium pitch on Saturday night did thoughts quickly turn to what is on the horizon for Ireland in 16 weeks’ time, their Test series opener against the All Blacks in Auckland on July 9. Not since 2012, when the outcome was 3-0 in favour of New Zealand, have the Irish toured there but the upcoming visit is now very much on the minds of coach Farrell and his skipper Johnny Sexton.
It’s a three-Test series for the new Triple Crown champions, with matches two and three versus the All Blacks slated for Dunedin and Wellington as they look to build on an impressive 13 months in which they have won twelve of their last 13 games – including a convincing November win in Dublin over Ian Foster’s side.
Not since their 2018 trip to Australia have Ireland been on an end-of-season tour and Farrell can’t wait to find out more about the development of his squad by tasking them with securing a first-ever win in New Zealand against the All Blacks.
“It’s massive, it’s the perfect opportunity that the group needs,” enthused Farrell in the wake of the 26-5 Ireland victory over the Scots which secured them a second-place finish in the Six Nations behind unbeaten France, the only side to have beaten them in just over a year.
“We have talked time and time again about the lack of touring and it’s priceless. It looks like we are able to take a slightly big group which is great.
“We have had 37 lads in camp and five or six of them that have gone away injured, so there are people who have already had a sniff and some people have not had any game – but we want to see them under pressure and I suppose going to New Zealand, there is no pressure like it so it’s the perfect opportunity for us to find out more about ourselves.
Sexton agreed: “We bounced back from the French game, to do that I am very proud of this team… It’s a good place to be because there is just so much more left in us. That is what we have got to keep driving home. We have the biggest test in world rugby which is going down to New Zealand and playing a lot of games out there.”
It was round two when Ireland lost to France by six points in Paris but they rebounded with successive bonus-point wins over Italy, England and Scotland to end their Six Nations on a high.
In doing so they also illustrated an improved ability to remain patient as things weren’t entirely straightforward in each of those wins. It took some time to adjust to Italy getting reduced to 13 players and to cope with England having only 14, while the Scottish defence was one of the most dogged rearguards they have encountered for some time.
“We’re disappointed not to have won a Grand Slam but we dusted ourselves off after the disappointment of Paris and got back on the horse and that is all you can ask for. The three bonus-point wins on the trot is some achievement,” reckoned Farrell after a four-wins-from-five campaign was an improvement on the three-wins-from-five efforts in 2020 and 2021.
“It’s part of the development, the mental side of the game is just as important as the physical side and there is still a jump in our potential the more that they can concentrate on that. It’s something that we have talked about a lot and you have seen it again (against Scotland).
“We kicked to the corner a few times and didn’t come away with the points or the accuracy that we wanted but we stayed calm and because of that we kept the field position and the pressure on Scotland and the points came in the end.
“Errors are coming and in some games more than others and it’s how you react to them. That is your choice and at the minute we are able to stay nice and calm and get on with the next job. That has been one of the reasons why we have been able to get the bonus-point wins.”
Comments on RugbyPass
The 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?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 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
3 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 commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to comments