Andy Farrell: 'The future is bright for me because we have the right people on the bus'
PUSH ON: Ireland's Cian Healy, centre, after winning his record breaking 134th Ireland cap, lifts the Lansdowne Cup with captain Caelan Doris. Picture: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
He is the British and Irish Lions head coach now, but Andy Farrell waved goodbye to his Ireland squad for eight months by urging them to kick on in the right direction towards a Six Nations title defence.
The Ireland head coach signed off on a winning note at Aviva Stadium on Saturday evening after a day when Irish rugby history was front and centre in this IRFU 150th Anniversary match and Cian Healy became his country’s most-capped player when he came off the bench for his 134th Test.
The 37-year-old loosehead prop was part of a replacements bench that nudged Farrell’s side over the line against a tough Australian side being built in the image of ex-Irish boss Joe Schmidt.
It was far from pretty as some of the issues that have dogged Ireland this month resurfaced in the face of a physical and defensively obdurate Wallabies outfit that served notice to the 2025 Lions that next summer’s three-Test series Down Under will not be the walkover for the tourists that many had imagined late last year following an utterly miserable World Cup campaign for the Aussies.
Schmidt has restored some pride in the gold jersey on this Northern Hemisphere tour after a disastrous pool campaign under the stewardship of Eddie Jones in France 13 months ago and can enjoy his week off back on his old patch in south Dublin before he plots revenge on his former defence coach and now Lions counterpart next July and August.
For Ireland and caretaker head coach Simon Easterby, however, there is a need to reclaim the form and fluidity of performance that made them such a formidable force in 2022 and 2023 with England next up in Dublin in the Six Nations on February 1.
They have looked a shadow of the outfit that won a series against the All Blacks and then swept to a Grand Slam. This Autumn Nations Series began with a bitterly disappointing 23-13 defeat to New Zealand which featured poor discipline, a misfiring lineout, a litany of handling errors and a failure to score after the 43rd minute.
The following week’s 22-19 win over Argentina continued those trends albeit after a much improved first half as Ireland regained some attacking momentum for 40 minutes before once again losing their way after half-time. The 52-17 victory over an under-par Fiji came from a much-changed team with rookie Sam Prendergast holding the reins in his first start and some stellar Test debuts from hooker Gus McCarthy and flanker Cormac Izuchukwu.
So after beating Australia thanks to second-half tries from captain Caelan Doris and the aforementioned McCarthy, their head coach was simply happy his players solved the puzzle of getting the job done after trailing 13-5 at the break.
“That's a good win that we'll have because of the situation that we found ourselves in,” Farrell said. “We found a way. Eight points behind, not playing well, things not going for us etc, feeling sorry for ourselves. We showed unbelievable character in my opinion so really proud with that. That's a good win.
“Obviously, three out of four in the autumn. We'd love to win all four but all the games have brought something different and we found a way in this one so we're delighted with that.
“So, I suppose, that's all that matters to me, where we're going. The story of the autumn for us is we've four new debutants, we've four new members of staff who are settled in really well and we know where we're going. The future is bright for me because we have the right people on the bus so we're excited about that.”
Farrell added: "I've just had a good chat with the players there. We pride ourselves on being good first up and I know that the southern hemispheres teams are going to come in battled hardened and Test-match fit but when you're coming into a top game like that New Zealand game, we let ourselves down in that regard.
“The first game that Ireland's got in the Six Nations is England here so they've got to be better coming in. It's something that we've been really good at in the past but you need to keep checking on all these things.”
With first-choice front-rowers Dan Sheehan and Tadhg Furlong as well as back-rower Jack Conan expected to return in the new year after missing the four November Tests, Ireland will hope to be bolstered by the time the championship rolls around in nine weeks, their absences providing further evidence for the departing Farrell that it has been a solid if not spectacular month for Ireland.
“Yeah, three from four, some good stuff and some not so good stuff but that’s what you want in an autumn isn’t it? A few new caps, you want to find out a little bit about yourself, of how you’re going to punch on for the competition that is the Six Nations… I'd expect us to kick on.”
: H Keenan; M Hansen, R Henshaw, B Aki (G Ringrose, 55), J Lowe; S Prendergast (J Crowley, 65), J Gibson-Park (C Casey, 65); A Porter (C Healy, 66), R Kelleher (G McCarthy, 66), F Bealham (T O’Toole, 53); J McCarthy (I Henderson, 53), J Ryan (P O’Mahony, 53); T Beirne, J Van der Flier, C Doris (c).
: T Wright; A Kellaway (H Potter, 78), J Suaalii, L Ikitau, M Jorgensen; N Lolesio (T Edmed, 74-76, Lolesio - HIA), J Gordon (T McDermott, 61); J Slipper (I Kailea, 50), B Paenga-Amosa (B Pollard, 56), T Tupou (A Alaalatoa, 45); N Frost, J Williams (L Salakaia-Loto, 59); R Valetini (L Gleeson, 74), F McReight, H Wilson (c).
: Andrea Piardi (Italy).
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