Donal Lenihan: How many of Andy Farrell’s Ireland are actually ‘world class'?

Of far more importance than results will be which country extracts most from the exercise in terms of developing their playing style and player depth
Donal Lenihan: How many of Andy Farrell’s Ireland are actually ‘world class'?

Ireland head coach Andy Farrell at the IRFU High Performance Centre, Sport Ireland Campus, Blanchardstown. Picture: INPHO/Billy Stickland

The announcement during the week that South Africa have committed to the Rugby Championship until 2030 not only came as a huge boost to southern hemisphere rugby but a massive relief also.

It ends persistent speculation about the Springboks looking to ply their trade in the Six Nations. It also means that we will have the strange prospect of the leading South African provincial sides, the Western Stormers, Blue Bulls, Lions, and Natal Sharks, competing in a newly formed Guinness PRO16 in Europe while playing their competitive international rugby south of the equator.

That surely has to make the prospect of a new global season inevitable. How else will they be able to marry the demands of competing in different hemispheres? The pandemic has accelerated badly-needed changes in the way Super Rugby is constructed down under and could yet prove the catalyst for greater harmony between the warring factions in New Zealand and Australia.

After all, necessity is the mother of invention.

Closer to home, changes on the international front take on a far more of a temporary look with the introduction of the Autumn Nations Cup, kicking off Friday night when Wales travel to Dublin. That tournament looks very much a one-off.

The addition of Georgia and Fiji helps to dilute the six-nation feel which is just as well given that the next instalment of rugby’s oldest international tournament is only three months away.

Having won their third championship in five years, England may look to bring something different to the table over the next few weeks with Eddie Jones toying with the prospect of starting nine forwards against Georgia in their Nations Cup opener next Saturday. Jones isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but he does bring something different to the party. He is also a very successful and innovative operator.

Take a leaf out of New Zealand’s book

With no prize money on offer and world ranking spots having already been decided for the 2023 World Cup draw, Andy Farrell also has a lot more scope in terms of approach and selection with the facility to operate outside the normal straitjacket imposed by the IRFU when it comes to maximising the financial rewards on offer.

In doing so Farrell could take a leaf out of New Zealand’s book when, having retained the Bledisloe Cup after hammering Australia 43-5 in Sydney the previous week, their new head coach Ian Foster looked to the future by omitting several front line players for last Saturday’s Tri Nations game against the same opposition in Brisbane.

Despite the tournament points on offer, Foster took the decision to omit seasoned campaigners in Joe Moody, Dane Coles, Nepo Lualala, Patrick Tuipuloti, Shannon Frizzel, Aaron Smith, Richie Mo’unga, Jack Goodhue, and new wing sensation Caleb Clarke, from the matchday squad.

There are those who will point to the fact that the two-point defeat could well cost Foster a Tri-Nations championship but I wouldn’t bet on it. What he learned is that the next layer of All Blacks coming through offer huge positives for the future. Come the 2023 World Cup, exposing more players to white heat of meaningful test match rugby, away from home, may yet prove far more beneficial.

Going on last weekend’s cracking Test in SunCorp Stadium, what we also learned is that familiarity really does breed contempt in a sizzling confrontation that produced two red cards for identical high tackles along with a further two yellows spread evenly between the sides.

Despite meeting for the fourth time in five weeks, this was as full-blooded a Test match as you can get.

The fact that the Wallabies turned a record 38-point defeat the previous week into a two-point victory added even more crackle as did the fact that the 38,000 crowd was split evenly between raucous fans from both teams. 

International rugby on this side of the world is badly missing that raw passion at present and the impact it has on the players.

That result was exactly what Australian rugby needed. Despite the record hammering the previous week, new Wallaby head coach Dave Rennie has now presided over a win, a draw, and two defeats against New Zealand in five weeks.

As baptisms of fire go, no new coach has ever had to face such a daunting proposition. Rennie also introduced a plethora of 20 to 22-year olds over the series that offer fresh hope that, between now and 2023, the Wallabies will be back competing with the very best.

In the absence of all the big hitters from down under, we will have to make do with this new and hopefully one-off Nations Cup tournament. It will be interesting to see how the various coaches approach it.

For example, we know in advance that France, in consultation with their clubs, may only play their full first-choice side that has made so much progress this year, in one game.

The thing we can say with certainty is, regardless of who lifts the newly minted trophy — assuming there is one — on the first weekend in December, its impact will be very-short lived. Of far more importance will be which country extracts most from the exercise in terms of developing their playing style and player depth.

Nailed-on starters

Right now, both are equally important to Farrell and his coaches.

It’s a long time since Ireland have had as few nailed-on selections in the starting side. I would suggest that, up front, Tadhg Furlong, James Ryan, and CJ Stander are the only players who fall into that category.

Behind the scrum, Garry Ringrose is an automatic choice while Johnny Sexton also qualifies on the basis that, not only is he the captain but, nobody has seriously emerged from the chasing pack to justify taking over at No 10.

Joey Carbery was closing the gap before badly damaging his ankle in that costly World Cup warm-up game against Italy 15 months ago. The decision to bring him to Japan, despite that injury, appears more ill-judged with the passing of time.

Having only five nailed on starters in any side is a major concern. Even more so with Ringrose and Furlong unlikely to play any game in this series due to injury. With the exception of Furlong and Ryan, Ireland are short on what might be described as “world class” performers at present.

Ringrose is approaching that status while others like Sexton and Conor Murray have been there.

The question now is, how many of the emerging pack are good enough to take ownership of a jersey, of reaching that status as they build towards the 50-cap mark over the next few years?

Caelan Doris is the one who immediately springs to mind but he will realise after what happened in Paris 10 days ago that he has a road to travel yet to reach that level.

This Autumn Nations Cup also heralds the introduction of a new broadcasting partner with the pay-per-view outlet Amazon Prime Video showing 14 live games, including all of England’s fixtures.

They are using the tournament as a dry run for a similar investment in the Six Nations in a potentially lucrative broadcasting deal that the unions so badly need. That is set to be negotiated over the next few months and will come into play after the conclusion of the 2021 tournament.

One suspects their impact will last a hell of a lot longer than the outcome of the Nations Cup.

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