JUST OUTSIDE THE press conference room, the staff at Ireland’s team hotel in uMhlanga were lighting the fires for the braai that Andy Farrell and his players will enjoy this evening.
It’s proper South African dining for the tourists as the dust settles on their team announcement, which included the revelation that Peter O’Mahony has been dropped to the bench as 26-year-old Caelan Doris takes over as Ireland skipper.
We’ve seen a few times now how Farrell has different views to Leinster on pecking order and positions, this just the latest example.
Garry Ringrose and James Ryan are Leinster’s co-captains, but Farrell is backing Doris as O’Mahony’s successor in the green jersey. This weekend will be Doris’ second time leading Ireland out as captain, having done it in the Six Nations against Italy a few months ago
New Year’s Day was the first time Doris ever captained a senior professional team and he admitted after Leinster’s home defeat to Ulster that he had erred in his dealings with the referee.
A couple of weeks later, Doris stated his firm belief that he wasn’t in the running to succeed Johnny Sexton as Ireland skipper and it was O’Mahony who was handed the job.
The Munster man retained the captaincy for this tour of South Africa but it was Doris who assumed the leadership when O’Mahony went off with 30 minutes of the first Test remaining. And now with the 34-year-old dropping to the bench, Doris is Farrell’s man.
Doris’ tricky dealings with Luke Pearce last weekend mean he has a bit to ponder as he gets stuck into his prawns, boerewors and steak this evening ahead of Saturday’s second Test in Durban. Farrell believes Doris is ready.
“I’m more than fully confident,” said Farrell. “I thought he was excellent at the weekend.
“I think first and foremost, he leads from the front. He’s in outstanding form. His performance last week, never mind the leadership or captaincy bit, he was outstanding. Be the best version of yourself – that’s the best form of leadership.
“He’s a calming influence, he’s bright. The questions that he’s going to the referees with are the right ones. His manner is very good as well.
“I’m sure as Caelan goes through his leadership roles, hopefully there will be many more as far as captaincy is concerned, albeit he is still in that infancy as far as trying to get some more experience, hence why he’s got this opportunity.
“He’ll continue to have respect for himself, as a captain, as a leader, but also in the eyes of the referees as well.
Farrell has also been encouraged by O’Mahony’s reaction to his decision to drop him from the starting XV as James Ryan comes into the second row and Tadhg Beirne shifts to blindside flanker.
The Ireland boss said O’Mahony’s selfless streak meant it wasn’t a difficult conversation.
“It was very easy because of how he is as a person,” said Farrell. “You don’t expect those conversations to be easy and don’t get me wrong, he’s not accepting and he’s not happy obviously but he does the right thing for the team.
“That’s at the forefront of his mind constantly and that’s proper leadership. He understands that we want to have a look in this direction to see how it goes. He’s the captain of this tour and it shows the mark of the man how you lead after a bit of disappointment, how you carry on being yourself or not.
“He’s on the bench for a reason. He makes people feel good, it’s right when he’s there with his presence and leading. That has been so evident over the last couple of days so he couldn’t have done a better job in that regard.”
Farrell confirmed that Bundee Aki was ruled out of the selection mix due to a shoulder injury he suffered in the first Test, the Ireland boss praising Aki as “brave enough to go through the last 20 minutes of the game.”
Farrell also stated that Robbie Henshaw had been cleared of concussion despite being replaced at half time of the first Test after a heavy collision when his head met Siya Kolisi’s shoulder.
“He is concussion not confirmed,” said Farrell.
“He went through protocols 2 and 3 with flying colours, no concussion confirmed, so he has not missed any training this week.”
Asked why Henshaw had been replaced at half time, Farrell indicated that Henshaw had failed the off-field HIA1 after an alert in his instrumented mouthgaurd, before the subsequent HIA examinations meant he was cleared of concussion.
“It’s the pings, the pings in the gumshield,” said Farrell.
“Therefore the ruling at this moment in time, pings on the gumshield if it’s before half time, they have to get a HIA at half time. As we know, it’s a tough old process to go through.”
you would in your hole
An ignorant spoilt overpaid pup! Id be behaving myself if i was getting that type of money.