Farrell looking for more consistency from 'patchy' Ireland

The head coach saw his side edge out Argentina on Friday night. 

Ireland's head coach Andy Farrell before the Autumn international match at the Aviva Stadium.

Andy Farrell will resist the clamour for more fresh faces when Ireland meet Fiji in Dublin this Saturday but he insisted his squad had to keep building and cultivating what it does well following a return to winning ways against Argentina.

Ireland were far from the finished article last Friday night as they rebounded from the previous week’s 23-13 home loss to New Zealand with an inconsistent but at times coherent performance on both sides of the ball to hold off the Pumas 22-19 at Aviva Stadium.

The Ireland boss had described the Autumn Nations Series contest against a resurgent Argentine team shepherded by Felipe Contepomi as “three or four games in one” in his post-match media conference as Ireland fizzed in attack early on, lost its discipline for the second week in a row and had two players sin-binned, succumbed to some blistering Puma flair and then defended steadfastly for much of a second half in which they failed to add to their 22-9 half-time lead.

The return of some attacking fluency was sparked by a welcome return of quick ruck ball and the promptings of half-backs Jamison Gibson-Park and Jack Crowley, the starting fly-half responding admirably to the pressure imposed by the praise for, and presence on the bench of, 21-year-old debutant Sam Prendergast.

It was Crowley who expertly finished a slick lineout move to open the scoring on three minutes and then added to his conversion a confidently executed drop goal after Mack Hansen had added a second try in the fifth minute as Ireland raced into a 15-6 lead, man of the match Joe McCarthy completing an impressive opening half for the Six Nations champions with a third try on 32 minutes.

Yet some of Ireland’s problems of seven days earlier had carried over into this fixture and the concession of 13 penalties for the second Test in a row was exacerbated by a yellow card in each half, Finlay Bealham on 16 minutes and McCarthy on 49. The lineout continued to falter at crucial moments and Ireland increased their missed tackle count by one to 31 on the previous match.

Perhaps most concerning was the failure to score beyond Crowley’s conversion of the McCarthy’s try, a 48-minute lull that echoed Ireland’s inability to trouble the scoreboard beyond the 43rd minute against the All Blacks.

The head coach insisted it was not a trend but did offer something of an explanation.

“It's when you get good at something you need to keep cultivating it to keep it ticking along,” Farrell said. “I think the dangerous thing in life in general is when you think you've got something, that's dangerous ground. We need to keep addressing that.

"I said to them before the game and at half-time that's the nature of the game when you're playing top-level opposition and I would reaffirm what I've said all week… They are a top side. A well-balanced side. They're physical, composed. They look fit and dangerous athletes but they're as cohesive a team that you will see now in world rugby.” 

With Fiji coming to Dublin after adding to their famous victory over Wales with a come-from-behind 33-19 win over Spain in Valladolid on Saturday a week in advance of the return to familiar surroundings for Joe Schmidt and his resurgent Australia, Farrell understandably wants the upward trajectory to continue.

“Being more clinical in how we finish things off and to continually get better at most things,” was his request for the final two weeks of the international window. “We were a little bit patchy in parts, so be more consistent across the board.” 

Whether that involved a first start for his two debutants against the Pumas remains to be seen, though he was delighted to have seen tighthead prop Thomas Clarkson and the aforementioned fly-half Prendergast take their bows.

"It's huge. You see the characters throughout training etc and you know they're ready for that type of occasion and pressured occasion. I said to them in there in the changing room then that they came in well prepared because of the form they've shown this season and it's not about one cap is it? It's what you do with that one cap and how hungry you are to kick on now to gain on that experience.” 

So too the 14 starters against the All Blacks, to whom he gave a second chance seven days later.

"Most responded,” Farrell said. “There's quite a few of them that were disappointed with last week's performance and I think as a whole we started the game, our first half was pretty good given the opposition so the individuals were obviously up for that. I thought the subs did a fantastic job.

"We'll see how the bodies fare up but we do need to have a think about how we roll on because Fiji are unbelievably dangerous as we saw last week against Wales. At the same time, so are Australia. Four games on the bounce, we've got to manage that realistically.

"We need to pick a side that's going to perform and what you don't just do is give everyone a game that's been unfortunate not to play so far. If you're trying to work out how lads are going to cope at international level, you need to put good people around them to be able to judge them in the right manner, so there's a balance there."