As a tune-up for Boks, Farrell got everything he wanted
STAGE SET: Ireland Head Coach Andy Farrell watches on. Pic: ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan
Ireland’s World Cup bid is gathering momentum following a second emphatic pool victory but as good as the Six Nations champions are performing right now, players and management know Saturday’s showdown with South Africa will be a completely different challenge to what has gone before.
As a tune-up for meeting the defending world champions in Paris next weekend at Stade de France, last Saturday’s eight-try dismantling of a talented and extremely physical Tongan team in Nantes was almost as good as it could get for Andy Farrell and his coaching staff.
What was seen as a potentially very awkward test from a Pacific Island side laced with former All Blacks was made to look delightfully straightforward at Stade de la Beaujoire. Ireland met the physical challenge head on, punished lapses in discipline and showed some of the same attacking fluency that demolished Romania in an 82-8 rout seven days earlier.
A return to an efficient and effective lineout aided by the return of fit-again hooker Ronan Kelleher helped as Ireland’s launch plays delivered handsome rewards off first- and second-phase and once again the team’s superb fitness on a hot and humid night shone through with four late tries to add to the first-half quartet.
Perhaps most importantly, head coach Farrell was able to withdraw a host of frontline players at or soon after half-time with the added luxury of a try bonus point secured before the break. The most notable of those called ashore was the captain, Johnny Sexton having continued his record-breaking start to this tournament with a try, penalty and four conversions that moved him past old rival Ronan O’Gara as Ireland’s record points scorer.
The one caveat to that was the forced reintroduction of Tadhg Furlong, 10 minutes after being withdrawn when his replacement Finlay Bealham required a Head Injury Assessment from which he did not return.
Yet Ireland, as they have tended to do with admirable consistency these last couple of years, barely missed a beat save for some sloppy penalty concessions either side of the interval that included a first yellow card for the team, shown to Peter O’Mahony, in 15 months.
Two second-half tries from man of the match Bundee Aki, continuing his impressive start to France 2023, highlighted the try-scoring with Sexton and Tadhg Beirne also adding to their opening-game doubles with a try apiece plus additional scores from Caelan Doris, Mack Hansen, James Lowe and Rob Herring.
It all boded well for a squad brimming with confidence as they face towards the Springboks this Saturday night looking to repeat their Dublin victory over the world champions last November. What lapses there were will be addressed this week as Farrell and co look to iron out the wrinkles and prepare for an even bigger physical challenge from Jacques Nienaber’s team, who clinically dispatched the unfortunate Romanians 76-0 in Bordeaux yesterday afternoon as Ireland were aboard a TGV train back to their training base in Tours.
“We’re not ready quite yet but we certainly will be,” Farrell promised in his post-match media conference. “It’s something that we’ve talked about quite a bit, obviously with the opponents that we knew we were going to face.
“You know, best-laid plans and all that has been pretty good so far. We’ll take that a step further this week and get the players to own that as soon as we possibly can. It’s something that they’re doing very well at this moment in time.”
A day later, attack coach Mike Catt concurred with the boss as he explained further the steady build towards the Springboks’ showdown.
"I thought last night's performance was very good against a big, physical side and again that big physical side is coming on the weekend,” Catt said.
“The line speed that (Tonga) bring in terms of their defence is very different to what South Africa will bring but listen, South Africa are a world-class side and have an amazing team, a lot of them will be rested today as well so they will have had a sort of two-week build-up towards our game.
"But yeah, that's why we play the game, that's why we wanted to play these games in big competitions and I think we've put ourselves in a good position to be competitive in these positions.
“When you're playing against one of the best teams in the world like we were last November, so for us to compete with them we need to be at our best.
"This is what World Cups are built on, the build up to the knock-out stages and we've prepared well for it so far.
"There's not much more we're going to teach the players, it's now making sure they recover well and they go from there.”
Catt believes South Africa have evolved since that November meeting, putting the ball through the hands and utilising their power-packed backline more than in previous years, but it is the Boks’ aggressive defence that will also test the Irish attack in an area where resistance has so far been found wanting.
“South Africa have always been very aggressive in their defence and it's worked very, very well for them, it definitely puts your skillset under pressure and it's something we've obviously been working on over the last couple of years.
"But a lot more teams are becoming a lot tighter and coming with a lot more line speed. So there's still space around, you've just got to find it in different ways.”
Robbie Henshaw knows all about the Springbok defence after three Test starts as a British & Irish Lion in Cape Town in 2021. The centre made his first appearance at France 2023 on Saturday night, coming off the bench for the final 30 minutes as Garry Ringrose was withdrawn from the fray ahead of the South Africa clash.
“It’s just about knowing what they are going to bring,” Henshaw said of the challenge. “Their power game is massive up front, and then they have some exciting backs – some new guys in, who are lighting it up on the edges.
“I suppose what we learned in November is to expect anything from their defence. They are going to come hard off the line and they’ll leave two or three players out on the edge, and close you off on the inside.
“I think, for us, we probably have to be accurate and then we will have to have balls to go for it as well, and play.”
Heart, balls and mental sharpness. Ireland have it in spades after their recent run of 15 consecutive Test wins but Saturday night may just be the most exacting examination of those assets yet.
H Keenan; M Hansen, G Ringrose (R Henshaw, 50), B Aki, J Lowe; J Sexton – captain (R Byrne, h-t), C Murray (C Casey, 56); A Porter (D Kilcoyne, h-t), R Kelleher (R Herring, h-t), T Furlong (F Bealham, h-t; Furlong 50 - HIA); T Beirne, J Ryan (I Henderson, 50); P O’Mahony, J van der Flier, C Doris.
O’Mahony 40-50 Replacement not used: R Baird.
C Piutau; A Taumoefolau, M Fekitoa, P Akhi, S Kata; W Havili, A Pulu (S Takalua, h-t); S Fisi’ihoi (T Koloamatang, 60), P Ngauamo (S Moli, 50), B Tameifuna (S Apikota, 60); S Lousi, H Fifita; T Halaifonua (S Funaki, 52), S Talitui, V Fifita.
S Paea, S Vailanu.
Wayne Barnes (England)
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