IT WAS A press conference that was going along predictable lines. We talked about a team selection that incorporated plenty of change yet was not radical; that saw a captain dropped to the bench and an icon told to wear his civvies rather than the team tracksuit.
Even though one player was to make his debut and another two were to get a first Six Nations start, nowhere did you see any risk in it.
In truth that is because it is Italy, a team without a win in the Six Nations since 2015, one without a victory over Ireland since 2013. You can’t see that trend changing any time soon.
Given this context, Andy Farrell was dead right to choose Joey Carbery over Johnny Sexton, Craig Casey as the replacement scrum-half ahead of Conor Murray; Dan Sheehan instead of Rob Herring; Mike Lowry rather than Hugo Keenan. There are six changes to the team who lost in Paris but this team doesn’t feel new. Sheehan, after all, played the majority of the game against France; Robbie Henshaw has been a mainstay for nearly a decade; Peter O’Mahony, the returning flanker, has been around for even longer; James Lowe shone against the All Blacks last November.
So, where’s the risk? Mike Lowry at full-back? If anything it would be a risk not to pick a player who could become the back-up Farrell needs should Keenan fall ill or out of form at the next World Cup.
“These guys deserve a chance,” said Farrell in a way that suggested he knew this question was coming.
That was how the press conference started out. There was talk about getting ducks in a row; rising to the challenge; players being comfortable in their own skin; the thought processes between one guy starting and another resting.
Then out of nowhere Andy Farrell was asked about something much more personal.
When he was a young man, a rugby league player making a living in his home town, Wigan, a superstar was signed from rugby union. His full title was Va’aiga Tuigamala but everyone in Wigan knew him as Inga. Yesterday Inga – aged just 52 – passed away.
Farrell was on the training field when he found out. A message flashed up on his phone. He had to step away from what he was doing, from preparing a team to face Italy because he knew the Tuigamala family were preparing to bury a husband, a father, a son and a brother.
So, when the question was asked of him at 3.51pm this afternoon, we saw a sensitive side to Andy Farrell, his sentences laced with emotion and respect. Tears didn’t flow but the words did.
“He is a tremendous fellah,” Farrell said. “I mean I was very lucky to be able to spend some time with him. You know when you meet some people and they just touch you straight away from the off. That was Inga. His smile, his generosity, just being around him as a person; he touched everyone. He was very giving.
“I’m talking about him as a person here. How he was as a family man, a husband, a father. The amount of people that came over to see him when he was at Wigan, not just family but friends, just shows what he means to people. When he left Wigan we were all gutted because he added so much to the group, so that is him as a person and that is what we will miss first and foremost.
“Now, from a rugby fan’s point of view, he was awesome. I was in awe of him, of his skill. I was young when I met him. He came over to rugby league and it was daunting for him because Inga had obviously played rugby union on the wing and he wouldn’t have been used to being thrown into the professional game.
“But he adapted unbelievably well because of his skill set. He had unbelievably quick feet for such a big, dynamic, powerful, beast of a man. I can’t say enough about him. I was on the training field yesterday, and the news came through. I couldn’t believe it. I actually couldn’t believe it. My prayers and thoughts are obviously with his nearest and dearest. This is very sad news for everyone.”
In this context questions about Mike Lowry starting, about the traits of the Georgian referee who will officiate Sunday’s game, of the slight injuries Bundee Aki and Andrew Conway and James Ryan are facing, paled into insignificance.
He talked about how everyone who won the tight selection calls – Lowe, Lowry, Carbery, Casey ahead of Conor Murray – had earned the right to play.
“This is a full-blown Test match and we expect ourselves to be at our best and that’s the responsibility of the group that is selected. These guys deserve the chance and they earn that by showing everyone they are ready.”
Of the Italians he was respectful as you would expect him to be. Of Inga, his former team-mate and friend, he was more than that. His private pain was on public view.
