FOR ANDY FARRELL, the most striking aspect of Ireland’s performance in Paris tonight was the lack on intent from his team.
It was, as he put it, not what he expects to see from an Ireland team, and proved hugely damaging as France blitzed their visitors to lead 29-0, building the platform that resulted in a comprehensive 36-14 win.
“I think you make your own luck in this game, and you make your own luck by being ahead of the game, in most things probably without the ball, and I thought we certainly lost that battle in the first half,” Farrell said.
“I think you make your own luck in things like the high balls, winning the scraps on the floor, running and through tackles and ourselves missing tackles, etc, that’s the main part of the game, isn’t it, and we certainly came off second best in that regard in the first half.
We had a response to that in the second half, and a valiant response, but it’s not what we want to be, a responding team to something that we need to show up with from the get-go.
“I learned a lot about the team and the individuals,” he added.
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“I suppose these type of occasions, these type of events are a first for quite a few of our group. Every game that you play for your country, whether it be a big win or a tough loss, there has to be a learning curve. We have to take those learnings from that. As a group and as individuals, we need to use it in the right manner and move on.
“I felt that we had the right intentions with our preparation of how we wanted to play the game. Hopefully that does stand to us, but you cannot play the game at this level without having the right intention. It’s an absolute must. It’s the first thing that has to be done on the list to make sure that it’s delivered every single time that we take a field.”
There was no room to look for excuses, and when Farrell was offered the opportunity to give his take on some questionable refereeing decisions – including a potential knock-on by Antoine Dupont in the build-up to France’s second try – he made it clear those incidents were not what cost Ireland the game.
“Yeah, what do you say? I mean, nowadays, things are always checked.
“How they checked and not brought it back is another thing for me but, anyway, we fell on the wrong side of that, but it certainly wasn’t the reason why we lost the game, that’s for sure.”
Following a deeply disappointing team performance, Ireland captain Caelan Doris touched on the message in the dressing room after the game.
“It was Faz that mainly spoke about coming back into work with an opinion,” Doris said.
“It doesn’t start at zero. There’s some good lessons to learn. There was a lot of good stuff in the prep. We’re going to have to have a deep dive into how we can make that better. But there was a lot of good stuff in there as well. We’re coming in with a proper opinion and seeing a reaction next week.
“I think the bench made a good impact,” Doris added.
“There was some good resolve in the second half, but we don’t want to be a team that’s chasing. We left ourselves too big a mountain to climb. And that’s down to some passiveness in D, not being connected, not being dominant in collisions, allowing them to flourish and keep the ball alive in attack.”
Farrell added that he is confident the group can recover and close the gap on the likes of France, having also lost to New Zealand and South Africa in November.
“Yeah, I am [confident], because I know the people that we’ve got. I know the good people that we’ve got, the good players that are not just here but who are at home as well.
“I know that there’s a determined group to make sure that we are constantly up there at the top of world rugby to be able to compete. That will always be the case.”
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The first step is to deliver the appropriate response at home to Italy next week.
“We have to, don’t we, otherwise the disappointment stands for absolutely zero, so we have to be honest with each other and say it as it is, and roll up to work next week and make sure that this stands for something,” Farrell said.
“We need to use it not just individually but obviously collectively to make sure that we give a better showing of ourselves throughout the rest of this competition, obviously starting with Italy.”
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'We left ourselves too big a mountain to climb' – Ireland reflect on a tough night in Paris
FOR ANDY FARRELL, the most striking aspect of Ireland’s performance in Paris tonight was the lack on intent from his team.
It was, as he put it, not what he expects to see from an Ireland team, and proved hugely damaging as France blitzed their visitors to lead 29-0, building the platform that resulted in a comprehensive 36-14 win.
“I think you make your own luck in this game, and you make your own luck by being ahead of the game, in most things probably without the ball, and I thought we certainly lost that battle in the first half,” Farrell said.
“I think you make your own luck in things like the high balls, winning the scraps on the floor, running and through tackles and ourselves missing tackles, etc, that’s the main part of the game, isn’t it, and we certainly came off second best in that regard in the first half.
“I learned a lot about the team and the individuals,” he added.
“I suppose these type of occasions, these type of events are a first for quite a few of our group. Every game that you play for your country, whether it be a big win or a tough loss, there has to be a learning curve. We have to take those learnings from that. As a group and as individuals, we need to use it in the right manner and move on.
“I felt that we had the right intentions with our preparation of how we wanted to play the game. Hopefully that does stand to us, but you cannot play the game at this level without having the right intention. It’s an absolute must. It’s the first thing that has to be done on the list to make sure that it’s delivered every single time that we take a field.”
There was no room to look for excuses, and when Farrell was offered the opportunity to give his take on some questionable refereeing decisions – including a potential knock-on by Antoine Dupont in the build-up to France’s second try – he made it clear those incidents were not what cost Ireland the game.
“Yeah, what do you say? I mean, nowadays, things are always checked.
“How they checked and not brought it back is another thing for me but, anyway, we fell on the wrong side of that, but it certainly wasn’t the reason why we lost the game, that’s for sure.”
Following a deeply disappointing team performance, Ireland captain Caelan Doris touched on the message in the dressing room after the game.
“It was Faz that mainly spoke about coming back into work with an opinion,” Doris said.
“It doesn’t start at zero. There’s some good lessons to learn. There was a lot of good stuff in the prep. We’re going to have to have a deep dive into how we can make that better. But there was a lot of good stuff in there as well. We’re coming in with a proper opinion and seeing a reaction next week.
“I think the bench made a good impact,” Doris added.
“There was some good resolve in the second half, but we don’t want to be a team that’s chasing. We left ourselves too big a mountain to climb. And that’s down to some passiveness in D, not being connected, not being dominant in collisions, allowing them to flourish and keep the ball alive in attack.”
Farrell added that he is confident the group can recover and close the gap on the likes of France, having also lost to New Zealand and South Africa in November.
“Yeah, I am [confident], because I know the people that we’ve got. I know the good people that we’ve got, the good players that are not just here but who are at home as well.
“I know that there’s a determined group to make sure that we are constantly up there at the top of world rugby to be able to compete. That will always be the case.”
The first step is to deliver the appropriate response at home to Italy next week.
“We have to, don’t we, otherwise the disappointment stands for absolutely zero, so we have to be honest with each other and say it as it is, and roll up to work next week and make sure that this stands for something,” Farrell said.
“We need to use it not just individually but obviously collectively to make sure that we give a better showing of ourselves throughout the rest of this competition, obviously starting with Italy.”
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