Farrell urges Frawley to grab opportunity 'with both hands'

The Connacht-bound 10 will line out against Japan on Saturday.

TANGLED UP IN BLUE: Ciarán Frawley, left, and Robbie Henshaw during an Ireland rugby squad training session at Leichhardt Oval in Sydney, Australia. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

Andy Farrell has given Ciaran Frawley the No.10 jersey. Now, the respected Irish coach wants the Connacht-bound playmaker to take the bull by the horns.

Frawley, 28, was announced on Thursday as one of nine new faces in Ireland’s run-on side to take on Japan in Newcastle on Saturday.

With Jack Crowley injured and Sam Prendergast given a breather ahead of next week’s season finale against the All Blacks at Eden Park, Ireland’s clash against the Brave Blossoms represents a golden opportunity for the experienced playmaker to make a statement 15 months out from the World Cup.

“It is, and we want him to grab it with both hands. It’s a fantastic opportunity for him and for everyone else who's in a similar boat really about their intentions of wanting to push to start and push to be in this squad going forward over the next 18 months,” said Farrell, speaking from Newcastle ahead of the second Nations Championship fixture.

“He deserves his opportunity to do this. Obviously, it's been stop-start for him for all sorts of different reasons. But we're super excited to see him take the reins. He has run the week really well, like we know he can.

“It's him believing in what he's got in his locker and he's got plenty, so getting it out there on the pitch at the weekend is something that we're excited about.” 

After playing more than 100 games for Leinster, Frawley made the big call recently to leave the URC heavyweights and join Stuart Lancaster’s Connacht.

He did so he could force his way into the No.10 jersey after long being used anywhere from out-half to inside centre and fullback.

Having made the big call to move away from Dublin, Farrell believes Frawley can step out of the shadow, find his feet and lead.

“That's (his voice) certainly got a lot better over the last two years,” Farrell said.

“He's certainly demanding, coming out of himself, understands the game, what he wants to get out of his team and also himself.

“I've seen that growth from strength to strength, not just this week, but over the last six months or so.” 

While all eyes will be on whether Farrell’s new-look side can step up against Eddie Jones’s Brave Blossoms, including the new four new faces, Ireland are intent on shoring up their leaky defence after being blown away by the Wallabies last week.

Although Ireland snuck home 33-31, the 10 linebreaks Ireland conceded certainly stood out.

Farrell said the area had been a big focus this week, especially given Jones’s Japanese love to play with pace.

“Well, first, you're right in bringing it up. It's something that we've addressed all week. So there's obviously growth there,” he said.

“Thirty-one missed tackles is not what we want, but I mean, first thing to say is, hats off to the opposition.

“I thought they were physical. I thought that they were the attacking threat that they always are. They're as tough a side to handle as anyone within world rugby, I would have thought, with the personnel that they've got and obviously the coach and the athleticism that they have and the brand of rugby that they want to play, so they're always going to cause that threat.

“You know, we always see that with Southern Hemisphere sides, so there's that. But that's not to say it's right that we miss those tackles, so a bit of lack of intent in some of our collision work has obviously been addressed and tidying up a few bits of our system stuff along the way as well.

“It's a big focus for us because Japan are an all-in-15 attacking side where everyone's involved. They're not just one-off runners, so they're going to pose a threat.” 

Jones also set the cat amongst the pigeons by saying he expected Japan to dominate Ireland at the scrum the longer the match went on, especially with Farrell turning to two new faces, Bolly Bohan and Sam Illo, on the bench.

But if he was concerned, Farrell certainly wasn’t giving off a coach who was worried on Thursday.

“In the first and second half, especially, we expect to dominate in all areas of the game,” he retorted quickly.

Pressed about the snippy Australian’s comments once more, Farrell said: “I have loads of respect for Eddie. We go back a long way, and I know what he's trying to do. There's always something, and it's great for you guys to throw the questions back over here. It's just a bit of banter thrown back, I would have thought, from my end.”