WE’VE BEEN HERE before. The World Cup in sight and Ireland ranked number one in the world.
We all know how it ended up four years ago.
It’s highly debatable how much meaning the World Rugby rankings really have, but they are so often a big talking point. Back in 2019, it seemed as though Ireland were uncomfortable with the tag of being number one. It felt as if Joe Schmidt and his squad would have preferred not to have had that official status.
But the current head coach, Andy Farrell, wants his players to embrace the ranking. They’ve been top of World Rugby’s list since sealing their historic series success over the All Blacks in New Zealand in July, driving to the top of the pile for the first time since 2019. Before that, Ireland had never been ranked number one.
The next challenge for Farrell’s Ireland is to take on reigning world champions South Africa in Dublin in two weekends’ time. That clash with the Springboks will be followed by games against Fiji and Australia as this Irish squad continue their journey toward the 2023 World Cup.
And Farrell has some faith that Ireland can maintain their current momentum into next year, rather than dipping away dramatically as was the case in 2019. He thinks his Ireland team are only really scratching the surface of their potential.
“We’re nowhere near where we want to be,” said Farrell yesterday. “We focus on the process and what we’re trying to achieve and not waver from that. Things should look after themselves.
“But at the same time, I don’t mind being number one. We should embrace it a little bit, using it as a weapon for us, you know?
“There’s no saying whether we will be number one after the first game or the second game, but let’s embrace it, go after it, use it.
“I don’t want to be number two. What are we waiting for? Let’s go after it full throttle and see where we’re at.”
It’s a message Farrell has imparted forcefully to his players. One wonders how this mindset sits with Irishmen who haven’t perhaps always seen Ireland as world leaders in rugby.
“We’ve talked about it this morning so we’ll see how it transpires,” said Farrell with a smile. “But yeah, I’ve been asked this a lot from the minute I got back from New Zealand.
“What are we scared of? We want to be at our best. We wanted New Zealand to be in a position where they never lose twice in a row, they have their injuries back, they never lose a home series.
“We want that to see where we’re at, you know? That’s why I hope South Africa and ourselves are at our best. The result will take care of itself but at least we’ll keep finding out about ourselves. That’s what we want to do. That’s how we keep progressing. Not necessarily just on the scoreboard.”
One of the big things that came from the IRFU’s review of the 2019 World Cup was that Ireland had failed to develop their style of play after having great success with Schmidt’s tactics in 2018.
At present, Ireland are game leaders with their fluid, skillful attack and many other teams have been looking to mimic their approach. Farrell is not especially concerned about his team evolving towards a new style ahead of the 2023 World Cup.
“Is the evolution of a game finding new things or just doing things better? Because we’re nowhere near what we’re trying to achieve now, we’re nowhere near spot on,” he said.
“You’ve got to be careful with what you keep tinkering with as well and at the same time, game plans change from week to week in accordance with the opposition. But we can get better at so many things that we’ve started to do. So making sure that we keep getting better at those things is important to us as well.”
South Africa’s oppressive defensive strength will pose a big challenge for Ireland. Farrell also highlights their game management, kicking, set-piece, counter-attack, and aerial skills as major strengths.
But he’s more interested in what his team can do this autumn.
“If we just focus on them, we’re not pushing forward in the manner that we want to do. So we know that our attack is going to be under pressure against them, but we’re excited to see where that is under pressure.
“We know at set-piece we’re going to be tested, but we want to be tested.
“We want South Africa to be at their best. We constantly want to test ourselves, see where we’re constantly at. We hope that they come and they’re as strong as they possibly can be and put out a great performance, as they can. That’s how we get to find out about ourselves.”
