Andy Farrell urges Ireland charges to 'deliver when it really matters'

MORE OF THAT, PLEASE: Ireland head coach Andy Farrell. Pic: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile

Andy Farrell has demanded his Ireland players deliver the goods when it really matters after they defeated Argentina at Aviva Stadium and set their sights on a winning run to the Nations Championship finals weekend.

Ireland bucked a recent trend by opening an international window with an impressive performance to sweep past Argentina in a 42-12 bonus point victory on Friday night.

Soundly defeated 26-13 by New Zealand at home 12 months ago at the outset of the 2025 autumn campaign and hammered by France in Paris on the opening night of the 2026 Six Nations, even this summer’s 33-31 Nations Championship first round victory over Australia in Sydney was a far from fluent success.

Yet Farrell’s men hit the ground running on their return to Dublin to rebound from an Eden Park drubbing by the All Blacks last time out on July 18. 

That 40-21 defeat was the sixth consecutive defeat to one of Ireland’s top three rivals in the World Rugby Rankings, all by at least 10 points, and it is against those opponents the head coach needs his squad to produce its best rugby if they are to travel to Australia next autumn for the 2027 World Cup with the confidence to contend with the big guns.

Ireland dazzled at times with ball in hand against Los Pumas having conceded an opening try in the 10th minute, leading 21-5 at the interval thanks to excellent scores finished by Hugo Keenan, twice, and captain Dan Sheehan, with fly-half Sam Prendergast’s excellent all-round game augmented with three conversions.

It was the number 10 who got the second half off to a flyer with a super finish for his maiden Ireland try, which he converted himself, before Keenan claimed his hat-trick try and replacement hooker Ronan Kelleher added a sixth from a lineout maul, Ciaran Frawley coming off the bench to add to Prendergast’s perfect evening off the tee with the conversion of the sixth try.

Farrell was satisfied his words following Ireland’s Eden Park disappointment had been heeded when he demanded more from his players but he still wants improvements in the biggest games. 

Fiji are up next at Aviva Stadium next Saturday night but it is the return of the back-to-back world champion Springboks seven days after that will provide the proper litmus test of Ireland’s World Cup credentials.

Rassie Erasmus’s side pulverised the Irish scrum in Dublin 12 months ago with the 24-13 scoreline not truly reflecting the dominance shown by the Boks that night and the Irish boss wants his players to show him they are worthy of a place in his World Cup squad by producing a big performance against the very best.

“The top one per cent of games, I think we all know what they could be, whether it's New Zealand in Auckland or South Africa or France in Paris or wherever,” Farrell said.

“If you want to put yourself in a position where you board the plane next year, then you've got to deliver when it really matters. Those type of games matter to us because it's very easy to say, 'well, nobody wins there,' or whatever but we want to be that side that pushes ourselves to be able to do that.” 

The Springboks’ physical dominance of their hosts last November in a game that saw James Ryan handed a 20-minute red card and yellows issued to Prendergast and his replacement Jack Crowley as well as looseheads Andrew Porter and his bench cover Paddy McCarthy made for a chastening evening on home soil so a strong showing at the set-piece against Argentina was welcomed by Farrell.

The lineout was effective in attack and defence as Ireland scored off their own and stolen ball, while the scrum was another focal point for Farrell.

"Well, certainly stealing some ball certainly helps, doesn't it?,” he said. “It breaks momentum massively. How you can keep momentum and how you can break momentum from the opposition is critical.

"I thought the scrum was good. Certainly, Sam (Illo) and Tom (O’Toole) coming on was great to see as well, Ports coming back on at tighthead. All in all, I thought it was a good night at the office."

For Farrell, there was a frustration that his side was not as ruthless as he had hoped they would be, even having scored six tries but he expects that to be put right in the coming weeks.

"That's the first game isn't it... look, no matter what, there was never going to be any excuses anyway because we're not that type of team but that's the first game of that type of intensity for many players at the start of the season.

“So, that's done now. It's a good win. We move on. We've got a tough old month coming up but the aim is to improve and keep pushing those standards.”