'To tell you the truth, we think of all of our players as being Irish' - Ireland kicking coach dismisses Eddie Jones comments
Kicking coach Richie Murphy insists every player within Ireland’s ranks is considered to be Irish following mischievous remarks about residency rules from England head coach Eddie Jones.
Jones referenced Ireland as the ‘United Nations’ on the grounds that eight of their 23-man squad for Saturday’s Autumn Nations Cup match at Twickenham hail from overseas.
New Zealand-born trio Bundee Aki, James Lowe and Jamison Gibson-Park will start in London, alongside South Africa-born duo CJ Stander and Quinn Roux.
Rob Herring, another player from South Africa, Australia-born Finlay Bealham and former England Under-20 star Billy Burns, born in Bath, have been named among the replacements.
Murphy was adamant Ireland’s coaching staff have no reason to defend their selection and says the diversity does not cause division within the camp.
“Definitely not. We’ve a group of a players obviously who are all eligible to play for Ireland,” said Murphy.
“We select that squad early on in relation to who we feel is in the best place to play for Ireland over the next number of weeks.
“To tell you the truth, we think of all of our players as being Irish. They’ve been in the country, they are members of their local communities, and we just get on with it from there.
“When the guys come in and play for Ireland, they are in a situation where they are more than happy to do that and they take on the challenge as if they were anyone else.
“I can’t say how they actually feel but from a coaching point of view, they fit into the group really well and they’re taking us forward.
“There’s no ‘us and them’, it’s Ireland as a squad, including the management.”
https://twitter.com/RugbyPass/status/1329745448534413312
World Rugby guidelines state players are eligible to represent another country if they have lived there for three consecutive years, or if they have a parent or grandparent born there.
With some quarters calling Ireland the ‘Irish Barbarians’, England coach Jones seized his opportunity for a playful quip at his pre-match press conference on Thursday.
“I heard someone calling them the United Nations, so I had a little chuckle,” said the Australian.
He added: “I can understand how Irish people would be upset about Irish-born players missing out, but they are the laws and regulations of international rugby. They are just sticking by the regulations.”
The attention you get when you start 3?? Kiwis and 2?? South Africans #AutumnNationsCup #Rugby #ENGvIREhttps://t.co/yglCVGkbFK
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 19, 2020
With Ireland seeking to end a dismal run of three heavy defeats to England, Murphy is convinced the foreign-born contingent are aware of the rivalry between the countries.
“People are always looking for little things but for us it’s all been about a Test match. All the ones that we play in, our preparations are very similar,” he said.
“There’s been nothing special this week in relation to trying to build up these guys.
“These guys are playing for Ireland, they’ve made that choice to come to Ireland, they are ready to go.
“They understand some of the history and some of the background that’s there. It’s not something we’ve hyped at all within the group.”
Moral of the story, don't call Ireland soft ? pic.twitter.com/194U33xxoG
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 18, 2020
Another area of head coach Andy Farrell’s selection which has attracted attention is the half-back pairing of Gibson-Park and Ross Byrne.
Gibson-Park has retained the scrum-half role ahead of the vastly-experienced Conor Murray, while fly-half Byrne has been tasked with filling the sizeable boots of injured Leinster team-mate Johnny Sexton.
Murphy is optimistic Byrne will prove a capable understudy.
“I am very confident in Ross. Ross is getting a big opportunity. Obviously coming out of Johnny’s shadow – like he does for Leinster – is tough because people will be very focused on him,” said Murphy.
“But he’s led the week very well, he’s stepped up, his communication and his leadership has been really good.
“He’s going into a Test match that he knows is a massive opportunity for him personally but I know that Ross will put the team first and try and guide his team in the right direction.”
Comments on RugbyPass
NZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
22 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
22 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.
22 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 commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
22 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
9 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
9 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
28 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
22 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
28 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
22 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
90 Go to comments