Ronan O'Gara: The Farrell factor with players is Ireland's point of difference
JOY UNCONFINED: Ireland finished the tournament with a flourish with tryscorer Tommy O'Brien taking the acclaim from Ciaran Frawley, Craig Casey and Ronan Kelleher after he score his side's sixth try against Scotland. Pic: Nick Elliott, Inpho
WE watched the Six Nations denouement as a La Rochelle squad on Saturday night, together. One mid-sized room, but if the breadth of emotion therein was a microcosm of the rugby population at large, we have ourselves some ball game. Twenty nine tries were scored on the final day alone, and 111 across the tournament. That’s entertainment.
It didn’t take a diviner to detect that Maro Itoje and England were at it in the Stade de France. I got that same vibe only a couple of months ago when an under-performing Harlequins came to the Stade Deflandre in wretched form. We got a fair haymaker too.
The performance analysis on England from last week to this, from Scotland last week to this, would keep a PhD psychology student in rich lecture notes for a month. England finished their worst 6N campaign with one of their best performances away to the champions.
So much comes down to mindset, and the real champions are the ones, or the teams, who maintain consistency of attitude and performance. Anyone remotely surprised that Thomas Ramos split the uprights centre-cut with the final act of the championship? He scored two tries in the last five minutes at Murrayfield, decisive scores, and he is stone cold reliable from the tee when his heartbeat should be out of control. What a player.
In assessing the players of the tournament, himself and Bielle-Biarrey are the winners’ leading candidates. Ramos, with all the pressure, couldn’t have struck that sweeter. It’s psychological strength allied to bullet-proof technique, but one doesn’t happen without the other. Composure and total conviction in trusting your routine. No-one else’s.
Jonny Wilkinson’s technique was all about triggers, and firing up his quads and firing the kick like a gun and it worked for Jonny, but it wouldn’t for anyone else. He needed this mechanical technique, but reading Ramos’ post-match comments on Sunday, he is all about striking pure through the ball. That is his uncomplicated mechanism for goal-kicking.
Others take notes.
Did we finish with fitting champions? There is an argument from this Six Nations that everyone left town with something encouraging and maybe France most of all, but they still conceded 96 points in their last two games against Scotland and England. If that statistic doesn’t leave Shaun Edwards in a cold sweat and sum up this crazy 2026 renewal, nothing else can. Ordinarily, the champions should be conceding a max of 50 in those final fixtures – the tournament winners shipped that in Murrayfield.
Once Tommy Freeman went under the posts to edge England back in front and Ollie Chessum fielded the French restart, that really should have been game over, ball busted and Ireland’s championship. France hopes went from 50% to 10% in the moment.
Nika Amashukeli, the Georgian referee, had an interesting last few minutes of decision-making and Steve Borthwick might well feel aggrieved not only with the decisive penalty but also apparent confusion (I could be wrong) as Fin Smith kicked away crucial possession whether the referee had signalled penalty or knock on advantage. In such moments…
DROP CAP
Ireland finished with four wins on the bounce, a Triple Crown and a sense of feelgood about them that began the morning after their Paris debacle and may sustain them all the way to 2027. Amid all that collective endeavour and progress, some individuals merit special mention. It’s not a word I like throwing about for the reason that it dilutes its significance but Stuart McCloskey has been a revelation for Ireland.
That offload to Tommy O’Brien for the last try was an ooh la la moment watching here in France and his pass of the left to Rob Baloucoune for his first half try to sumptuous. He’s 34 next August, past 35 for the World Cup later next year. That’s a different age, and trickier on the body. Eighteen months matter when Father Time’s in the building. Couple with an Aki, a Ringrose or a Henshaw that’s a lot of mileage – the positive is there’s depth and options in the position.
More crucial in all this is the Andy Farrell factor. He has a rare capacity to milk the best and last drop out of players like few I’ve seen. That is a rare and fascinating quality for a coach. Baloucoune has been the find of the tournament for Ireland, he’s spent time under Farrell, who has that special knack for giving confidence to people he works with. Do the maths.
In that first-half moment, we expected Ireland to run it up the middle like a tractor, but McCloskey flings a twenty metre pass off his left to his Ulster colleague. That’s worked on during the week, that’s top level coaching, good identification of a Scottish weakness.
What felt like a productive tournament for Ireland after Twickenham has become very productive by its conclusion. By Saturday evening, Farrell and co had used 35 players and handed out 11 Six Nations debuts. They are impressive numbers and can been viewed through an altogether more positive frame of reference than if, for instance, Tommaso Menoncello’s disallowed try for Italy in Dublin had counted. (as a by the by, I attended a referee’s conference last week where it was detailed how that particular try would be awarded in the future because the passing hands action was travelling backwards. The line of the 22 will not be relevant in that instance in future. Beat that…!).
Jack Crowley had a very good day. Five out of six kicks off the tee but more importantly was his decisiveness and gains from penalties out of hand. Finding touch 40 metres out from the Scottish line from his own 22 changes everything in the moment. His colleagues are bouncing up to the line rather than muttering about defensive lineout calls.
Scotland showed their glimpses in Dublin and they have the shape of a blueprint to work off, as we saw in putting 50 on France with a display of joyous rugby. That they didn’t back it up once again will vex Gregor Townsend and the players. Ireland’s stall was obvious to a blind person, pressure up front, play with tempo and Scotland again failed to live with that a week after cutting up France like a machete.
Louis Bielle-Biarrey may end up as player of the spring. He has scored 18 tries in 14 Six Nations outings, an arch predator and attacking spearhead who converts chances others would score - but has a capacity to emerge from a telephone box with a cape on and fashion moments of pure magic. He scored four against England on Saturday night and he has reached the point in his own evolution where if he is on the pitch, he scores tries. Simple as.
Little wonder Galthie feels he is France’s lethal weapon.
