THE NIGHT BEFORE joining his Ireland squad in Portugal, Andy Farrell sat down with the Irish media in Edinburgh to discuss the general health of his group and the lie of the land ahead of the upcoming Six Nations.
And there was much to discuss. November wasn’t the Test window Ireland hoped it would be, starting with defeat to New Zealand and ending with a bruising loss at home to South Africa. Some of the issues from those outings have crept across the provinces’ games in the months since. There are also a handful of players who could do with lifting their form, and an ever-growing injury list, with the loosehead area hit so hard that a 20-year-old who only debuted for his province last month has now been fitted for his Ireland tracksuit.
Ireland have a week in Portugal to sort it all out before they take on France in Paris, a box-office Thursday night opener on 5 February. As it stands, Farrell’s men do not look like the team they once were. If that might create a sense of unease with supporters, the head coach wears it lightly. It’s now 10 years since Farrell first joined Ireland as a defence coach, and this will be his sixth Six Nations as head coach (having stepped back last year due to Lions commitments).
Whatever is happening, whatever the narrative, these are the weeks that get his blood pumping.
“Bloody hell, it doesn’t get any more privileged than I am to do the job that I love. I love coaching this team. I’m the lucky one,” Farrell says.
“I love my job. I’m unbelievably lucky to be doing what I do. Every Six Nations comes around, we all love it, don’t we? It’s the competition that we all love to get to. The competition’s second to none.
“I can’t wait. I can’t wait to get into camp. There’s nothing better than getting better as a group. There’s nothing more exciting than that.”
Farrell speaks to the media during Monday's Six Nations launch. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
There’s no hiding from the issues that need ironing out, but Farrell’s view is that these are the bumps on the road which every team meets at some point.
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“You’d say that this is always going to happen, isn’t it? As in evolving and where your game’s at and taking stock of where it’s at and where you’re going to go.”
That said, some of his players are turning those problems into habits.
“I could probably start with the discipline piece, was the big story, certainly, coming on the back of the South Africa game. It was a bit of a landslide at one stage, wasn’t it? If you look back to our record in general, discipline-wise, that it’s been a point of difference for us and making sure it stays that way is something we need to keep going over and addressing.
“As far as our penalty count was concerned in the Six Nations last year, it was pretty good, but obviously the game’s somewhat changing a little bit as far as penalties, cards, all of that, you know; you seldom see a game now where there’s not a card. So the game has changed. We have to adapt to that and work with that.”
Much of that will fall on the shoulders of Ireland captain Caelan Doris, who joined Farrell for the preview chat. The Leinster man admits his own breakdown work isn’t where it needs to be.
“I haven’t been good enough there in the last while, certainly November and probably since then at times as well,” Doris says.
“I’ve had some good chats with the coaches off the back of that, and I know that’s an area I need to lead and improve, so I’ve been working on that. It hasn’t necessarily come to fruition yet. If you look at one or two that I gave away yesterday (v Connacht).”
“It’s different referee to referee, some are more willing to coach a little bit,” he continues.
Ireland captain Caelan Doris. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
“There’s obviously quite a bit of grey in rugby, especially around the breakdown, so some will coach a little bit more, some less so. But like we’d always say, it’s based on the habits you build in training and that going out onto the pitch, being good decision-makers, taking the referee out of the game as much as possible and showing good pictures.
“It’s a little bit like not being able to control the laws, you can’t control what the refs are going to do, you can control what we’re going to do, so focus on that.”
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Farrell also highlighted Ireland’s setpiece as another area which needs improvement, and something that can help his side prove more efficient in the opposition 22.
Yet the discipline seems a sticking point. Over the Christmas period Farrell watched a number of his Ireland players pick up costly yellow cards in the URC and Champions Cup, while there have also been numerous incidents of Irish players being warned by referees for dissent.
“That shouldn’t be the case,” Farrell said. “We pride ourselves on being next moment focused and being present to what’s in front of our face. We’ve worked hard on it over the years, and if things are drifting then we need to get back on the horse and make sure we understand that we do things properly.
We’re at our best when emotionally we’re calm enough to be able to deal with whatever the game throws at us. It’s something we need to keep on addressing.”
Farrell is hopeful Hugo Keenan will be fit to face France, having yet to play any rugby this season, while Tadhg Furlong and Finlay Bealham are both tracking in the right direction. This year’s schedule is a demanding one, with Ireland away to both France and England. It doesn’t change the ambition set within the group.
“Winning every game,” says Farrell.
“That’s what we’re after. I get what everyone says, the evolution of every team changes and where you’re at and whatever. Everyone talks about cycles or whatever. Where we’re at with new caps, 16 lads under 10 caps. It says a bit about the squad of where we’re at, but there’s still an expectation.
“We have to be driven to want to win every game, but what certainly trumps that is us continuing to grow and evolve as a team.
“We’re hunting again, aren’t we?” he adds.
“We were being hunted for a while. I get why people are saying that, I do, but it doesn’t stop us from wanting to be the best team around. We have to have that type of ambition. Otherwise, what’s the point?”
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'I can't wait to get into camp. I love my job' - Farrell looks to lift Ireland again
THE NIGHT BEFORE joining his Ireland squad in Portugal, Andy Farrell sat down with the Irish media in Edinburgh to discuss the general health of his group and the lie of the land ahead of the upcoming Six Nations.
And there was much to discuss. November wasn’t the Test window Ireland hoped it would be, starting with defeat to New Zealand and ending with a bruising loss at home to South Africa. Some of the issues from those outings have crept across the provinces’ games in the months since. There are also a handful of players who could do with lifting their form, and an ever-growing injury list, with the loosehead area hit so hard that a 20-year-old who only debuted for his province last month has now been fitted for his Ireland tracksuit.
Ireland have a week in Portugal to sort it all out before they take on France in Paris, a box-office Thursday night opener on 5 February. As it stands, Farrell’s men do not look like the team they once were. If that might create a sense of unease with supporters, the head coach wears it lightly. It’s now 10 years since Farrell first joined Ireland as a defence coach, and this will be his sixth Six Nations as head coach (having stepped back last year due to Lions commitments).
Whatever is happening, whatever the narrative, these are the weeks that get his blood pumping.
“Bloody hell, it doesn’t get any more privileged than I am to do the job that I love. I love coaching this team. I’m the lucky one,” Farrell says.
“I love my job. I’m unbelievably lucky to be doing what I do. Every Six Nations comes around, we all love it, don’t we? It’s the competition that we all love to get to. The competition’s second to none.
“I can’t wait. I can’t wait to get into camp. There’s nothing better than getting better as a group. There’s nothing more exciting than that.”
There’s no hiding from the issues that need ironing out, but Farrell’s view is that these are the bumps on the road which every team meets at some point.
“You’d say that this is always going to happen, isn’t it? As in evolving and where your game’s at and taking stock of where it’s at and where you’re going to go.”
That said, some of his players are turning those problems into habits.
“I could probably start with the discipline piece, was the big story, certainly, coming on the back of the South Africa game. It was a bit of a landslide at one stage, wasn’t it? If you look back to our record in general, discipline-wise, that it’s been a point of difference for us and making sure it stays that way is something we need to keep going over and addressing.
“As far as our penalty count was concerned in the Six Nations last year, it was pretty good, but obviously the game’s somewhat changing a little bit as far as penalties, cards, all of that, you know; you seldom see a game now where there’s not a card. So the game has changed. We have to adapt to that and work with that.”
Much of that will fall on the shoulders of Ireland captain Caelan Doris, who joined Farrell for the preview chat. The Leinster man admits his own breakdown work isn’t where it needs to be.
“I haven’t been good enough there in the last while, certainly November and probably since then at times as well,” Doris says.
“I’ve had some good chats with the coaches off the back of that, and I know that’s an area I need to lead and improve, so I’ve been working on that. It hasn’t necessarily come to fruition yet. If you look at one or two that I gave away yesterday (v Connacht).”
“It’s different referee to referee, some are more willing to coach a little bit,” he continues.
“There’s obviously quite a bit of grey in rugby, especially around the breakdown, so some will coach a little bit more, some less so. But like we’d always say, it’s based on the habits you build in training and that going out onto the pitch, being good decision-makers, taking the referee out of the game as much as possible and showing good pictures.
“It’s a little bit like not being able to control the laws, you can’t control what the refs are going to do, you can control what we’re going to do, so focus on that.”
Farrell also highlighted Ireland’s setpiece as another area which needs improvement, and something that can help his side prove more efficient in the opposition 22.
Yet the discipline seems a sticking point. Over the Christmas period Farrell watched a number of his Ireland players pick up costly yellow cards in the URC and Champions Cup, while there have also been numerous incidents of Irish players being warned by referees for dissent.
“That shouldn’t be the case,” Farrell said. “We pride ourselves on being next moment focused and being present to what’s in front of our face. We’ve worked hard on it over the years, and if things are drifting then we need to get back on the horse and make sure we understand that we do things properly.
Farrell is hopeful Hugo Keenan will be fit to face France, having yet to play any rugby this season, while Tadhg Furlong and Finlay Bealham are both tracking in the right direction. This year’s schedule is a demanding one, with Ireland away to both France and England. It doesn’t change the ambition set within the group.
“Winning every game,” says Farrell.
“That’s what we’re after. I get what everyone says, the evolution of every team changes and where you’re at and whatever. Everyone talks about cycles or whatever. Where we’re at with new caps, 16 lads under 10 caps. It says a bit about the squad of where we’re at, but there’s still an expectation.
“We have to be driven to want to win every game, but what certainly trumps that is us continuing to grow and evolve as a team.
“We’re hunting again, aren’t we?” he adds.
“We were being hunted for a while. I get why people are saying that, I do, but it doesn’t stop us from wanting to be the best team around. We have to have that type of ambition. Otherwise, what’s the point?”
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andy farrell Challenge Ireland Rugby Six Nations 2026