LONG READ Andy Farrell took England down with a move straight from the Alex Ferguson playbook

Brian O’Driscoll bumped into Josh van der Flier and his wife, Sophie, last Friday, as they were out for breakfast. The England game was looming. O’Driscoll assured his old Leinster teammate he would bounce back after being left out of Ireland’s win over Italy.

“I said, ‘I’m sorry about the selection’,” O’Driscoll told ITV. “Josh replied, ‘Oh, it’s not really a dropping’. He knew he’d be playing, this week. It was just Andy rattling a few cages.”

Van der Flier helped drill the Irish 23 for their win over Italy but watched on from the sidelines. So did Tommy O’Brien. Jamison Gibson-Park and Tadhg Beirne – two other starters from the 36-14 loss to France – were on the replacements bench and only got on for the final 30 minutes.

“Big players show up in the big games,” Farrell reflected, not long after all four men played pivotal roles in a record-breaking Twickenham win over England. 

Farrell’s handling of van der Flier, who had been quiet against France, was straight out of the Alex Ferguson playbook – you’re not playing next time, but I really need you for the game after that. Ferguson used that motivational move on Phil Neville, especially when Arsenal were on the fixture slate. When Neville moved on, Park Ji-sung stepped up, invariably against Arsenal.

Neville once recalled Ferguson changing nigh-on half his starting XI for an FA Cup semi-final against Arsenal, at Villa Park. “F***ing hell, he’s made five changes,” Neville recalled in the ‘99 documentary. “I couldn’t grasp it. Then, all of a sudden, I thought, ‘He f***ing trusts every single one of us’. And I’ve never, ever felt like I did that night. I thought, f**k it, I’m gonna die for him.”

Van der Flier could tell you a similar tale of Farrell’s man-management style, most likely without the swearing. The flanker was being primed for the England game. This was a shot of redemption against British & Irish Lions jersey rivals, Tom Curry and Ben Earl. 

At Twickenham, he produced the goods. Van der Flier stuck all 13 of his tackle attempts, carried five times for 38 metres gained, including a searing line break, and venomously cleared out attacking ruck after attacking ruck. Such was the sheer breadth of Ireland’s dominance that Farrell came perilously close to naming all 23 on his team-sheet, after the 42-21 victory. Van der Flier, he beamed, was “immense”.

Putting some of big dogs on a leash, after Paris, only to loose the grip for England was just one part of the Farrell plan. Another was the midweek meeting that shaped Ireland’s response to England, and anyone doubting their ability to mix it with the best.

It began as far back as January when Farrell, at the Six Nations launch in Edinburgh, referred to Ireland as the hunters, not the hunted. 2025 defeats to France, New Zealand and South Africa had exposed vulnerabilities. A spate of bad injuries to key players wounded them further and Ireland did little hunting, aside from restarts, at Stade de France. Farrell was wedded to the theme, though, and told his players all they could do, after Paris, was to stay in the hunt. Collect the wins, fight for each other and try put pressure on.

Last Tuesday, Ireland trained out at Clongowes Wood College, in Kildare. The private school that had Beirne, Gordon D’Arcy, Rob Kearney and Dan Sheehan come through their ranks has been a mini haven away from their Dublin headquarters.

Field sessions from that day were good, but not great. A tough review followed. The next session was miles better and Farrell assembled his players for a meeting that stressed personal responsibility and commitment to each other.

A try had been scored in the Tuesday session and, during the sequence, Stuart McCloskey eased up on a chase back. That clip had been played back to the Ulster centre. The lesson was well and truly absorbed. In the final stages, at the weekend, McCloskey found himself in a similar situation and hauled back 50 metres to bundle Marcus Smith out of touch. Up in the coaches’ box, Farrell was out of his seat, wildly celebrating.

“We had a good discussion on Wednesday,” Farrell revealed, “and everyone, to a man, was being honest about how they were going to attack the game.”

On that meeting, and the mindset that took the players into Saturday’s game, McCloskey explained, “It’s about being all-in for everybody and all-in for every moment… as long as we fight for each other, we’ll be happy.”

“The key,” Farrell reflected, “was doing the things that you promised each other you would do.” On the McCloskey try-saving tackle, he added, “You prepare properly and it stands you. Those types of things matter more than scoring tries.”

Hunting, fighting and sticking it to all that predicted England would be too strong. These were pillars. Another was restoring pride in the jersey and lifting the entire island through great deeds on the pitch. “You want to make the people of Ireland feel really good and that’s definitely something we talked about a lot, at that Wednesday meeting,” said Joe McCarthy. “The difference you can make to Irish people’s weeks and months and the belief it gives them looking at our team.”

Heading into round three of the championship, also buoyed by the Under-20s beating England at The Rec, spirits of the nation are definitely lifted.

While others are basking in that optimistic glow, there is a gnawing sense of frustration. 2025 feels, in many ways, a wasted year. In the summer of 2024, Ireland backed up a Six Nations win by heading to South Africa and splitting a Test series with the world champions.

Cian Healy, Peter O’Mahony and Conor Murray were being asked to soldier on to help with squad stability while Farrell step away on his Lions sabbatical but Ireland would have been better off if Jack Boyle, Cormac Izuchukwu, Cian Prendergast and Craig Casey had greater Test experience.

In the second Test, McCarthy and James Ryan started in the second row together. Beirne was moved to blindside and Jack Crowley was outhalf. Ciarán Frawley came off the bench to secure victory with two late drop goals.

Ireland started the November internationals – against New Zealand and Argentina – with Ryan, McCarthy, Beirne and Crowley. McCarthy had injury setbacks in 2025 while Farrell, Simon Easterby and most of the coaching staff got high on a fast-tracked Sam Prendergast emerging as Johnny Sexton 2.0. 

It took 16 months (463 days) and 12 Test matches before we had Ryan, McCarthy, Beirne and Crowley all back in a starting XV.

You then had the likes of Cian Healy, Peter O’Mahony and Conor Murray being asked to soldier on to help with squad stability while Farrell step away on his Lions sabbatical. Absolutely nothing against that trio, but Ireland would be better off, at this point, if the likes of Jack Boyle, Cormac Izuchukwu, Cian Prendergast, Craig Casey and Nathan Doak had greater Test experience.

Ireland’s latest victory puts more credit in the bank for a host of senior stars. They have gone away from home, again, and delivered. How does that look through a World Cup lens? The average age of Ireland’s starting team, in London, was 29 years and six months. If that same side lined out against Portugal, in October 2027, the average would push beyond 31. Ireland have picked that poison before.

The home clash with Wales offers a chance to see some of the fringe players and newcomers stake a claim for key roles. Ireland will be keen to continue their hunt of an impressive French side, the night before they face Scotland at Murrayfield, but there will be XV changes. Izuchukwu may come back in at blindside and it will be interesting to see if Farrell finds room in his match-day squad for Edwin Edogbo and Bryn Ward. Elsewhere, Tom Stewart, Michael Milne, Harry Byrne and Doak may get bench roles.

It has felt like Ireland have been in stasis from December 2024, when Farrell stepped away to focus on the Lions, all the way up to the full-time whistle of their win over Italy.

Against England, they emerged at full blast. “Blow the load,” as Sheehan announced to the ITV panel. In full fighting, ruck-bombing, hunting mode. France are not out of their sights just yet.

POSSIBLE IRELAND TEAM (vs WALES)

Jamie Osborne; Rob Baloucoune, Tom Farrell, Stuart McCloskey, Jacob Stockdale; Jack Crowley, Craig Casey; Tom O’Toole, Tom Stewart, Thomas Clarkson, Joe McCarthy, Edwin Edogbo, Cormac Izuchuku, Nick Timoney, Caelan Doris (c)

Replacements: Dan Sheehan, Michael Milne, Finlay Bealham, Cian Prendergast, Bryn Ward, Jamison Gibson-Park, Harry Byrne, Tommy O’Brien