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'It makes you feel alive': Under pressure Ireland boss Andy Farrell comes out fighting

(Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile via Getty Images)

Under-fire Ireland coach Andy Farrell has come out fighting, insisting that life wouldn’t be worth living if he didn’t feel the pressure that goes hand-in-hand with being a rookie Test level head coach. Farrell developed a hugely respected reputation as a defence coach over the years with England, Ireland and the Lions but he has encountered teething problems since taking over from Joe Schmidt as the Irish head coach. 

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Last Sunday’s defeat to France meant that Ireland had lost their opening two matches in the championship for the first time since 1998 when the Six Nations was still the old Five Nations set-up. 

He now has a record of six wins from eleven games in charge and with whispers growing about whether he has the tools to go on and become a successful head coach at international level, Farrell has come out strong in the lead-up to the must-win February 27 round three game away to Italy.   

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“I have dealt with it all my life,” he said about the pressure he is now enduring. “You either embrace the pressure or you get buried by it. I enjoy it. It makes you feel alive. You know that when you are taking the gig on. I believe if you have not got pressure in your life it’s not living anyway, so it goes with the territory I suppose.” 

Asked if there were any comforting signs of encouragement for him from the respective 16-21 and 13-15 losses to Wales and France, Farrell added: “I suppose the character in the side the Welsh game and the disappointment that it was there to be won. We didn’t quite get over the line but the character and the work and the will and the fight to try and achieve that was there for all to see I would have thought. 

“And then in the French game, everyone was talking about just how good a team that they are but the game takes a different course if it goes after 23 minutes we are ten points up, but having said that we have got to be better. We have got to be better. There are no excuses. We have got to be better at imposing our game on the opposition and that is what we want to do against Italy.

“I’ll do what is right for the team and what is right for the team is making sure we get the best performance out of them. We’ll pick the strongest side that we need to to make that happen.”  

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Having made do without veteran half-backs Johnny Sexton and Conor Murray and talisman lock James Ryan in the loss to the French, Farrell expects Ireland to travel to Rome with a full deck to deal from. “I’m sure by the start of next week we will have a full bill of health,” he said, although he later added that Caelan Doris, who dropped out of the squad in the week of the Wales game, is out for the foreseeable future due to investigations into concussive symptoms.    

“Caelan is getting well looked after, seeing the right people and getting the right advice and making sure that he is comfortable on his return to play. That is still in process but we don’t expect to see him back any time soon.”

With three members of the France management – including head coach Fabien Galthie – having tested positive for Covid-19 in the wake of last weekend’s round two match in Dublin, Farrell and his squad will undergo an extra round of testing this week to ensure they continue to be all clear. 

“We have all been thoroughly tested. We normally get tested twice a week. We had some downtime on Monday and we got tested in our own time there and all that has come back negative and then all the lads got tested again on Wednesday to come into camp on Thursday and we are getting tested again on Friday, so we’re literally up to the nose in it regarding testing. We’re doing everything that we can to make sure we are doing the right thing.” 

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Oh no, not him again? 2 hours ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 2 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
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