'You can't just say everything is perfect now' - What the Irish media are saying about Andy Farrell
Andy Farrell’s Ireland team managed to end their 2020 season on a positive note with a 31-16 win over Scotland on Saturday. And while the performance was much improved from the previous games against England and Georgia, there is still some concern surrounding the direction Joe Schmidt’s successor is taking this squad, with Ireland again looking suspect for much of the first half in Dublin.
Still, the win has gone some way to easing the pressure on Farrell as he looks forward to the 2021 Six Nations.
Here’s what the Irish media have been saying about the head coach following a far from convincing Autumn Nations Cup campaign:
Peter O’Reilly, Sunday Times: “Confidence – or the lack thereof – was the key theme of the build-up to yesterday. After the shambles that was the second half performance against Georgia, Farrell bemoaned his players’ failure to have the courage of their convictions. From the outside, it just looked like there was no clarity of purpose. And this from a group of players who had been in camp for the guts of two months.”
Neil Francis, Sunday Independent: “Ireland need to change and augment their coaching ticket because, despite having enough quality in their roster, if that is not channelled in the right direction you will not get the best out of it.”
Alan Quinlan, Off The Ball: “I don’t think there’s a lot more he could have done regards personnel changes in the last eight or nine months, but the issue is the consistency and not making mistakes, particularly around the breakdown, set-piece, all that kind of stuff, we spoke last week about a number of issues there. You can’t just get rid of them and say everything is perfect now. We’ve dominated Scotland probably for 20 years. We have the measure of Scotland, we had the measure of Wales in the first game, we’re at a level below England, France, New Zealand, maybe Australia, we haven’t seen South Africa (this year). But we’re at a level below and the challenge is to try get more consistency and continuity.”
Eddie O’Sullivan, RTÉ: “I think we are where we thought we were at the start of the season. You have to measure against Scotland here, this Scottish team are a bit of a bucket of stream really, they come in these spurts. The first 30 minutes they looked great because we stood off them. Again, the second-half, they had a lot of errors, 15 penalties I think and 13 turnovers. So let’s keep it at a certain level. Very positive, but against Scotland, I’d have to measure it that way.”
Gerry Thornley, the Irish Times: “The nature of a more commanding win over Scotland than the unconvincing win which started 2020 was a good way of bookending the year. It can fuel real belief within the squad that they are generating something positive and can be genuine contenders in the 2021 Six Nations with the probability of Tadhg Furlong, Dan Leavy and Garry Ringrose fit and healthy.”
Andy Dunne, Off The Ball: “We’ve probably all been starved of invention. The team have very adequately demonstrated that they’re able to retain possession in the opposition 22, and they’re able to score against weaker sides using that tact. That approach doesn’t work, certainly against England and it’s unlikely to work against physically more dominant sides. So it’s all well and good to beat a Georgia or an underperforming Wales or an average Scotland side…. The positive side is, I think Farrell has been brave in his selection policy. He’s been brave in the recent weeks in terms of trying to introduce some new style of play, and that takes time to bed in.”
Pretty sickening behaviour, including some fans leaving replies on his late father's obituary. https://t.co/sVIXvvR0SQ
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) December 7, 2020
Hugh Farrelly, Mail on Sunday: “If Andy Farrell had followed the French regeneration route by installing James Ryan as captain and surrounding him with talent good enough and young enough to be peaking at France 2023, he would have bought himself the time (Johann) Van Graan recently acquired. Instead, he clung to the core that delivered for his predecessor Schmidt until Ireland’s unravelling in 2019, players he knew well from his time as the New Zealander’s assistant… The result is the absence of a discernible direction or clear theme behind Project Farrell and the prevailing uncertainty has extended to his coaching ticket with issues arising this year in attack (Mike Catt), at the lineout (Simon Easterby) and in the scrum (John Fogarty).”
Simon Lewis, Irish Examiner: “Saturday’s performance, save for a 20-minute spell from the 10th minute when Ireland once again seemed to retreat into their shells as Scotland opened up a 9-3 lead, was the first solid proof for those of us outside the Ireland camp that progress is being made. Those within have been telling us that great strides have been made on the training field, which is all well and good but this was something tangible for supporters to get behind ahead of the 2021 championship opener in Wales on February 7.”
Tony Ward, Irish Independent: “There’s much done in terms of transition post-Japan and Joe Schmidt, but so much more to do for Farrell and Ireland now. We are officially the best of the rest behind England and France in this part of the world and in truth I think that is a fair analysis at the end of this strange but, we all hope, ‘once-off’ Nations Cup campaign. If we could wave a magic wand and bring certain players back into the fold – specifically Garry Ringrose, Jordan Larmour, Tadhg Furlong, Joey Carbery, Dan Leavy and our most recent signing James Lowe without losing any of the current crop prior to facing the Welsh at the Principality on February 7 – then there has to be grounds for optimism that a change in winning style and substance is possible.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Thanks 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
7 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.
7 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.
7 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 commentsThanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.
21 Go to commentsWhat a load of bollocks. The author has forgotten to mention the fact that the Crusaders have a huge injury toll with top world class players out. Not to mention the fact that they are obviously in a transition period. No this will not spark a slow death for NZ rugby, but it does mean there will be a new Super Rugby champion. Anyone who knows anything about NZ rugby knows that there is some serious talent here, it just isn’t all at the Crusaders.
7 Go to commentsI wouldn’t spend the time on Nawaqanitawase! No point in having him filling in a jersey when he’s committed to leave Union. Give the jersey to a young prospect who will be here in the future.
5 Go to commentsIt was a pleasure to watch those guys playing with such confidence. That trio can all be infuriating for different reasons and I can see why Jones might have decided against them. No way to justify leaving Ikitau out though. Jorgensen and him were both scheduled to return at the same time. Only one of them plays for Randwick and has a dad who is great mates with the national coach though.
53 Go to commentsBrayden Iose and Peter Lakai are very exciting Super Rugby players but are too short and too light to ever be a Test 8 vs South Africa, France, Ireland, and England, Lakai could potentially be a Test player at 7 if he is allowed to focus on 7 for Hurricanes.
7 Go to commentsPencils “Thomas du Toit” into possible 2027 Bok squad.
1 Go to commentsDon’t see why Harrison makes the bench. Jones can play at 10 if needed, and there is a good case for starting her there to begin with if testing combinations. That would leave room for Sing on the bench
1 Go to commentsWhat a load of old bull!
1 Go to commentsOf the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.
29 Go to commentsIrish Rugby CEO be texting Andy Farrell “Andy, i found our next Kiwi Irishman”
5 Go to commentsI certainly don’t miss drinking beers at 8am in the morning watching rugby games being played in NZ.
2 Go to commentsThis looks like a damage limitation exercise for Wales, keeping back some of their more effective players for the last 20/25 minutes to try and counter England’s fresh legs so the Red Roses don’t rack up a big score.
2 Go to commentsVery unlikely the Bulls will beat Leinster in Dublin. It would be different in Pretoria.
1 Go to commentsI think it is a dangerous path to go down to ban a player for the same period that a player they injured takes to recover. Players would be afraid to tackle anyone. I once tackled my best friend at school in a practice match and sprained his ankle. I paid for it by having to play fly-half instead of full-back for the rest of that season’s fixtures.
5 Go to comments