IT WAS JUST a moment.
As Will Jordan broke from the New Zealand 22, he scanned around to consider his options. He had Jamison Gibson-Park to his left, a 37-year-old hall of famer to his right. Jordan chose right, in every sense of the word. Even in his early 20s, Johnny Sexton would not have kept pace with Jordan. Now? At 37? No chance.
Jordan’s try, the most thrilling of a compelling series between Ireland and New Zealand, threatened to turn the tour on its head. At half-time of that third, decisive Test Ireland led 22-3. After Jordan touched down, Ireland’s lead was cut to just three points.
There and then you could have predicted only one winner. But this Ireland team isn’t as fickle as previous editions. In fact they are mirror images of their captain and coach, rugged, skilful; resilient. “We’ve worked a lot on our mental health, especially since the last World Cup,” said Sexton afterwards, a theme picked up on by Andy Farrell, his coach.
In the aftermath of Ireland’s series win, Farrell proudly referenced how his team ‘stayed neutral’, refusing to press the panic button, especially in the minutes after Jordan’s try.
It’s an understated quality, the psychological training that goes into a coach’s thoughts and team selections. For years, Ireland have been accused of mental brittleness, blowing winnable World Cup quarter-finals in 2011 and 2015, losing to Japan from a winning position in the 2019 tournament.
But this team’s greatest asset is their ability to avoid getting too high when things are going well and remaining calm when they are under the cosh, Saturday’s victory over South Africa the latest example of them outscoring the opposition in the second half. That’s 15 times they’ve done that in last 17 matches.
More impressive still was their post-match reaction. They may have beaten the world champions but that is no longer such a big deal – Eddie O’Sullivan’s Ireland did the same to Australia in 2002, England from 2004 to ’07, while Declan Kidney’s and Joe Schmidt’s teams followed suit (against the Springboks in 2009 and the All Blacks in ’16).
No, what is beginning to impress about this Irish set-up is their refusal to stop once they reach a milestone, Sexton pointing out in Saturday’s post-match address that no medals were handed out for their victory, Farrell yesterday referencing the tactical flaws that need fixing.
“There is plenty to improve upon and we’re an honest enough bunch to get it out there as early as we can,” Farrell said, “and most of it comes from the players, they know the standards we set for ourselves, so therefore their own review of their own game and the team performance comes from there.
“We had a few balls turned over at the ruck against us; some of the work off the ball wasn’t up to scratch. Those are the little pieces that matter a hell of a lot to us.
“As an example, our skill set under pressure (from the Springboks) was dodgy at times. These are all areas we can get better at.”
That reference to his players’ skill set is an interesting one because one of the key features in Ireland’s upturn in results over the last two years has been his change in selection policy.
The obvious point to make is that Farrell’s starting XV is regularly loaded with Leinster players – nine of Leo Cullen’s side swapping blue shirts for green ones last Saturday – but the excerpt is actually as interesting as the headline.
For some time now, Farrell hasn’t shied away from selecting certain players who are down the pecking order with their provinces.
Remember Jamison Gibson-Park was second choice with Leinster when Farrell made him first choice for Ireland. Similarly, he has consistently picked Tom O’Toole and Kieran Treadwell ahead of Marty Moore and Alan O’Connor, despite the latter pair being favoured by Dan McFarland for Ulster’s biggest games.
The theme continues this week. Jeremy Loughman has, at times, been Munster’s third-choice loosehead. Tomorrow he starts ahead of Cian Healy and ‘the banged up’ Andrew Porter, while his rivals for that No1 shirt at Munster, Dave Kilcoyne and Josh Wycherley, sit at home.
“Certain people are suited to different ways of playing the game and the lads coming in here have an opportunity to show us and their peers that they’re able to play our game and add to our squad and our performances down the track.”
That’s why Loughman is in there. Like O’Toole, Farrell admires the prop’s all-court game, his handling skills, high work rate, tackle count, speed and game intelligence.
“The potential is there for Jeremy. The tour to New Zealand was fantastic for him – just mixing with the experience of Cian (Healy) and Tadhg (Furlong) and so on, just seeing how they go about their work on a daily basis.
“So, we’re excited to see him take his chance. It’s very important, isn’t it, that you manage your emotions as a first-capper and make sure that you’re able to put your best performance out there.
“It takes a mentally strong person to be able to do that and he’s getting much, much stronger in that regard. He’s powerful, unbelievably powerful and his scrummaging has come on no end over the last six months. And he could add to our game, you know? He gets his opportunity to show that.”
If he takes it, the prize is a big one, a potential seat on the plane to France next year, a tournament Ireland are expected to do well in, something that was unimaginable this time two years ago when Farrell’s team stuttered to a win over Georgia. You couldn’t have imagined then, or indeed after losing to Wales and France in the opening matches of the 2021 Six Nations, that they’d rise to No1 in the world rankings so soon.
“While we feel we have made strides in all sorts of different areas, this is a good game to see where we are,” said Farrell.
“I got asked last week, ‘is this the biggest game you have ever been involved in’ and I said ‘it is until next week’ because that (victory over South Africa) has gone and this Fiji game is here now and this is all that matters because you are going to get judged in your performance, so there are still the same pressures on that.”