Belief intact as Ireland get clean bill of health for France crunch

The defending champions’ self-belief is undiminished by last October’s early World Cup exit, John Fogarty insisted.

Mon, 29 Jan, 2024 - 15:37

Simon Lewis, Quinta do Lago

Ireland are ready to “make it happen” when they meet France in their Guinness Six Nations opener in Marseille on Friday night, with the defending champions’ self-belief undiminished by last October’s early World Cup exit, John Fogarty insisted on Monday.

The 2023 Grand Slam winners’ are preparing to step out at Stade Velodrome convinced they have turned the page on their heartbreaking quarter-final defeat to New Zealand in Paris 16 weeks ago and eager to prove it as they kickstart their championship title defence with an away victory by the Mediterranean.

Andy Farrell’s squad are on day five of their week-long warm-weather training camp on Portugal’s Algarve with the head coach set to name his starting line-up on Wednesday afternoon before departing for Marseille. Scrum coach Fogarty said the Ireland boss would be selecting from a fully-fit 34-man squad captained by Peter O’Mahony, all of whom trained at Quinta Do Lago’s Sports Campus on Tuesday.

“We're good, a clean bill of health which is great,” Fogarty said before outlining Ireland’s mindset heading into this year’s post-World Cup championship.

“For us, it's building on what we've done over the last few months and couple of years. You can call it what you want, that's what we're focusing on. We have a good body of work done, there's really good experience built into the squad, and there's been some tough days over the last number of years, and there's nice resilience built into the squad.

National scrum coach John Fogarty poses for a portrait after an Ireland Rugby media conference at The Campus in Quinta da Lago, Portugal. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

“We're going to build on top of what we've done, and it's unbelievably exciting to have our first game. What an opportunity to go and show what we can add a little bit different, or a little bit more, in Marseille with a packed crowd against a world class side like France.

“It's a brilliant opportunity in front of us, we need to go and make it happen, make a performance happen for ourselves.” Ireland assistant coach Fogarty said he was confident the 28-24 defeat to the All Blacks had not inflicted damage on the team’s confidence and O’Mahony would lead a highly motivated team into Friday night’s clash.

“There was so much belief going into that game, I don't think that belief has slipped away. That belief is 100% there in the squad. You can see it in mini-meetings, unit meetings, how the players are interacting with each other. They're preparing to perform now.

“The learnings that we'll take with us are really important to us. The (New Zealand) game, fine margins and small margins, and it's not untrue. There was small margins, but we need to make sure we're on the right side of those.

“What an opportunity now for this squad. Andy says 'go and make it happen'. There's a lot of belief within the squad, a lot of clarity and it's going to be difficult because of a huge crowd, France at home in Marseille. It's incredibly exciting. It'll be tough, but that's the challenge, to go and make it happen. Nice clear heads, play our game, let's go.”