'We did an unbelievable amount of outstanding things under Joe... I'd be absolutely foolish not to harness those bits'
Andy Farrell cast quite a shadow at Wednesday’s Six Nations tournament launch in London. Lined up alongside his rival coaches, he was left looking down on them all.
Same with the imposing way he filled the same top-table chair his contemporaries had each taken their turn occupying at the east-end Tobacco Dock.
Without doubt, his domineering frame stands out a mile when keeping company. But the pressing question is can he quickly catch the eye for his unproven head coaching ability?
As large a presence as he has when filling a room, the shoes he is stepping into in Ireland remain enormous. Joe Schmidt’s legacy might not be dating well if a recent caustic remark by someone close to a squad member to RugbyPass is a barometer of the general feeling that exists.
The New Zealander lost his way in 2019, for sure, and the supposedly increasingly restrictive way he ran the squad didn’t reflect well, the flat mood in the camp feeling like a glass of champagne that had lost its fizz.
(Continue reading below…)
The 2020 Six Nations launch in London
However, Schmidt’s numbers overall during his six-year tenure stacked up impressively – 76 outings, 55 wins, a win ratio of 73 per cent. Farrell was no mug in this department, being along for 41 of Schmidt’s matches and emerging as a winner on 30 occasions (a similar win ratio of 73 per cent).
The trick now, though, is to forcibly emerge from the shadow of Schmidt, to put his stamp on the overall operation rather than be constrained to a defence coaching remit where Ireland conceded 148 tries on his watch – on average 3.6 per game.
Shutting the door tightly is now Simon Easterby’s particular remit, with Farrell now tasked with looking after the sum of all parts and not the one part of the overall sum. His baby steps, though, will be taken with the recent past still very fresh in the mind.
??????????????????????
Four new captains ?
Four new coaches ?
Six Nations ?
…and lots of media ?– @heagneyl takes us behind the scenes at the @SixNationsRugby launch in London ? #GuinnessSixNationshttps://t.co/JTnacLMshc
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) January 22, 2020
“We did an unbelievable amount of outstanding things under Joe Schmidt and I’d be absolutely foolish not to harness those bits,” he said on Wednesday in response to a RugbyPass query on what sort of style he will look to embed now that he running the whole shooting match.
“Now, do I have an idea of where I want to take a few little bits of the game under Joe and make them how I want to make them? Of course I do and we will see how we progress with that along the way.”
This warm-weather week training in Portugal then will be critically important in Farrell putting his own spin on things. Three and a half years operating as Schmidt’s sidekick must give way to an air of authority and a belief among the Ireland squad that they can potentially achieve great things under their new boss man.
“Progressing our game, winning – it matters, we won’t shy away from that"#GuinnessSixNations https://t.co/SNQTtkI3LD
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) January 22, 2020
Farrell may have a contract penned through to the 2023 World Cup, but progress must be witnessed in the next year and a half to ensure he doesn’t become a rugby version of football’s David Moyes, who struggled when taking up the mantle at Manchester United after Alex Ferguson called time on his stellar stint in charge.
The Englishman knows all about the bottom line. “Winning: it matters. We won’t shy away from that,” he admitted, but how he goes about trying to achieve this is of immense importance. He quickly needs to make this a distinctly Farrell operation, not something inherited from Schmidt.
“It’s an all-round game,” he replied when quizzed on what certain aspects must improve if his Ireland are to regain the ground and the reputation lost in 2019 in Schmidt’s final year. “Look, the fundamentals of the game never change. That has got to be at a premium and those fundamentals need to keep developing.
'His unchallenged message is that his squad is dynamic, powerful and aggressive with a lot of skill and speed, a nice soundbite if rah-rah soundbites are your thing twelve-and-a-half weeks on from World Cup crucifixion by the All Blacks,' writes @heagneyl
https://t.co/Uay1ksl7gW— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) January 16, 2020
“You can’t win any rugby game without a good set-piece or without a good defence or without good game understanding, so those aspects of the game need to keep on developing as well. Hmm, attack is always a difficult process because it takes a little bit longer but we want to improve that along the way. It might take a little bit of time but we will get there. We WILL get there.
“So at the same time we want to keep developing but the key is to make sure that we don’t get too ahead of ourselves, that we don’t stand for something. That is key for us, you know what I mean?
“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. I suppose every coach that comes in would like to put their own stamp on the game, but without getting too ahead of ourselves.”
Having only had the players in previously for a 24-hour pow-wow in the lead-up to Christmas, having them at his beck and call for a week in the Portuguese sun before they fly back to Dublin for the February 1 opener versus the Scots is most important. The time is nigh for Farrell to cast his large shadow on proceedings.
WATCH: Andy Goode and Brendan Venter didn’t hold back on this week’s The Rugby Pod as they discussed Saracens and the salary cap scandal
Comments on RugbyPass
I think Etene has had some good tuition, likely while at the Warriors to be a professional that helped his rugby jump, but he was certainly thrown in the deep end way too early. Should have arguably 20 less SR caps, and therefor a way better record that he does at his age, but his development would have been fast tracked by the need to satiate his signing away from league. Again, credit to him and others that he has done it so well. Easy to fall over under that pressure in the big leagues like that but he kept at it when I myself wasn’t sure he was good enough.
1 Go to commentsAwesome story. I wonder what a bigger American (SA) scene might have mean for Brex.
1 Go to comments“Johnny McNicholl and the Crusaders” save a Penney. Who has been in camp this week and showed them how to play?
5 Go to commentsSo, reports of the Crusaders’ demise / terminal decline are perhaps just - slightly - premature/exaggerated…? 🤔 Will we see a deep-dive into that by the estimable Rugbypass scribes, and maybe one or two mea culpas? Thought not.
5 Go to comments1. The Chiefs are rudderless without DMac, which enhances his AB chances 2. Chiefs pack are powderpuffs. The hard men arent there anymore 3. They had their golden title chance last yr and wont threaten this yr. Gone in second round of playoffs.
5 Go to commentsHonestly, why did you have to publish such a foolish article the day they play us? 😂
32 Go to comments> They are not standalone entities. They are linked to an amateur association which holds the FFR licence that allows the professional side to compete in the league. That’s a great rule. This looks like the chicken or egg professional scenario. How long is it going to be before the club can break even (if that is even a thing in French rugby)? If the locals aren’t into well it would be good to se them drop to amateur level (is it that far?). Hope they can reset from this level and be more practical, there will be a time when they can rebuild (if France has there setup right).
1 Go to commentsWhat about changing the ball? To something heavier and more pointed that bounces unpredictably. Not this almost round football used these days.
35 Go to commentsThis 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”?
35 Go to commentsWow, didn’t realise there was such apathy to URC in SA, or by Champions Cup teams. Just read Nick’s article on Crusaders, are Sharks a similar circumstance? I think SA rugby has been far more balanced than NZs, no?
2 Go to commentsBut 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.
32 Go to commentsIt could be coincidental or prescient that the All Blacks most dominant period under Steve Hansen was when the Crusaders had their least successful period under Todd Blackadder and then the positions reversed when Razor took over the Crusaders.
32 Go to commentsDefinitely sound read everybodyexpects immediate results these days, I don't think any team would travel well at all having lost three of the most important game changers in the game,compiled with the massive injury list they are now carrying, good to see a different more in depth perspective of a coaches history.
3 Go to commentsSinckler is a really big loss for English rugby.
2 Go to commentsThanks 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
32 Go to commentsNo way. If you are trying to picture New Zealand rugby with an All Blacks mindset, there have been two factors instrumental to the decline of NZ rugby to date. Those are the horror that the Blues have become and, probably more so, the fixture that the Crusaders became. I don’t think it was healthy to have one team so dominant for so long, both for lack of proper representation of players from outside that environment and on the over reliance on players from within it. If you are another international side, like Ireland for example, sure. You can copy paste something succinct from one level to the next and experience a huge increase in standards, but ultimately you will not be maximizing it, which is what you need to perform to the level the ABs do. Added to that is the apathy that develops in the whole game as a result of one sides dominance. NZ, Super, and Championship rugby should all experience a boom as a result of things balancing out. That said, there is a lot of bad news happening in NZ rugby recently, and I’m not sure the game can be handled well enough here to postpone the always-there feeling of inevitable decline of rugby.
32 Go to commentsNo SA supporter miss Super Rugby - a product that is experiencing significant head wind in ANZ - the competition from rival codes are intense, match attendance figures are at a historical low and the negativity of commentators such as Kirwan and Wilson have accelerated the downward spiral in NZ. After the next RWC in 2027 sponsors will follow Qantas and start leaving in droves.
2 Go to commentsLike others, I am not seeing the connection between this edition of the Crusaders and the All Blacks future prospects under Razor. I think the analysis of the Crusaders attack recently is helpful because Razor and his coaching team used to be able to slot new guys in to their systems and see them succeed. Several of Razor’s coaches are still there so it would be surprising if the current attack and set piece has been overhauled to a great extent - but based on that analysis, it may have been. Whether it is too many new guys due to injuries or retirement or a failure of current Crusaders systems is the main question to be answered imo. It doesn’t seem relevant for the ABs.
32 Go to commentsharry potter is set in stone. he creates stability and finishes well. exactly what schmidt likes. he’s the ben smith of australian rugby. i think it could quite easily be potter toole and kellaway for the foreseeable future.
5 Go to commentsThis is short sighted from Clayton if you ask me, smacks of too much preseason planning and no adaptability. What if DMac is out for a must win match, are they still only going to bring their best first five and playmaker on late in the game? Trusting the game to someone who wasn’t even part of planning (they would have had Trask pinned in as Jacomb preseason). Perhaps if the Crusaders were better they would not have done this, but either way imo you take this opportunity to play a guy you might need starting in a final rather than having their 12th game getting comfortable coming off the bench.
1 Go to comments