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Andy Farrell refuses 'sour grapes' over specific aspect of Ireland loss
By Ian Cameron
Ireland head coach Andy Farrell has refused to complain about the officiating of the scrums during his side’s heartbreaking 28-24 Rugby World Cup quarter-final loss to New Zealand in Paris.
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Renowned scrummager Andrew Porter conceded a raft of penalties at scrum time, even when Ireland seemed to have the physical ascendancy at the setpiece.
When asked about the number of penalties Ireland conceded, Farrell refused to complain about referee Wayne Barnes’ interpretation of the scrum, even if Ireland came out the wrong side of that particular battle.
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“We have a different view of the scrum out there. But we don’t want to sit here with sour grapes,” said Farrell.
“The scrum was part of the equation and Andrew [Porter] was frustrated with what was going go out there. But congratulations to New Zealand.
“I mean if you go out with a whimper it’s pretty hard to take, isn’t it. We deserve a little bit more of ourselves than that and we didn’t, did we.
“I’m immensely proud of absolutely everyone connected to Irish rugby to be fair. The staff have been immense over the last four years. The players, not just in this squad but the players we’ve used in the four year cycle have been a joy to work with. And not just that, the connection with the fans, it seems like it’s all one big family.
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“I think the sad thing now for us is that for this group it’s probably the end. Obviously, it is for Johnny (Sexton), and Keith Earls he is going to retire as well.
“Over the next 24 hours it’s time to make sure we get a smile back on our face as soon as we possibly can and celebrate what has been some unbelievable careers and what they have done for Irish rugby.
“I’m unbelievably proud of the group, everyone that’s been involved over the last couple of years. That was one hell of a game and somebody had to lose – unfortunately it was us tonight.”
How is no one talking about the forward pass for the NZ first try??
Porter has always scrummaged at an angle. He is not that good at scrum time because in fairness to him, the amount of work he gets through in open play, there is no way he can have the energy to dominate every scrum, so he has to adjust his technique and finally a ref has seen it.
How ridiculous is the draw SA/NZ/France/Ireland all on one side of the draw meanwhile England who have they had to play ???
Irish made to many mistakes, All Blacks capitalised. Thou this was a fantastic performance from both 🇫🇷/🇳🇿teams‼️
Best team won - no question.
Does anyone know if John has recovered yet?
Ireland beaten fair and square. All blacks had the game plan for knockout rugby down to a tee. Ireland had chances to win it but couldn't get it done will learn from it. Congrats to the abs
Porter bores in on the angle, has always done it and gotten away with it until now. It isn’t hard to set and engage front on but his method is always to angle in. From the Irish perspective just imagine if the All Blacks didn’t have to play for 20 minutes with 14 men they may have been blown off the park ! Best team won on the day
I recall it was very clear barrowing in from the Irish prop. You could see from the above scrum camera angle. Clear as day. As soon as you barrow you get control. Its why its illegal. Ref got it right. So sick of this blame the ref rubbish in sports these days.
Ireland lost this match by going for lineouts and tries off kickable penalties. NZ did it zero times, Ireland 5-6x. Golden rule of finals - take the points every time. They left 15 odd points out there. Cop the blame on yourself Ireland.
The lineout N Z won to score second try was blatantly not straight but of course Barnes supposed best ref in world never seen it one of many all black faults ge turned blind eye to.