ANDY FARRELL HAS a calm, simple way of saying things. We get a glimpse of it in his media dealings but his players will tell you it’s even more pronounced behind the scenes. Farrell doesn’t deal in bullshit. His messages are precise, he invariably finds the right thing to say, and says them in a way that gets people behind him.
So when he tells you Ireland are planning to win the World Cup in October, it’s convincing.
“Why wouldn’t we?” says Farrell when asked if he’s thinking about winning the whole thing.
“Why wouldn’t we? There’s only an attitude within the group that we chase every day to make sure that we’re better as a team, better as individuals. What we’ve done in the past adds a little bit of belief.
“How we’re pushing to try and get better in our training obviously will be built and will be judged in the coming weeks but the confidence that we hope to have going into a World Cup has to be rock solid.
“There’s no point in turning up for a World Cup if we don’t believe that we can win it.”
Ireland are ranked number one in the world, they’re the reigning Grand Slam champions, they won a series in New Zealand last year, and have beaten France, South Africa, Australia, Scotland, England, Argentina, Wales, and Fiji in the last two years – so everyone else in the top 10.
Lots of the good work was done on home soil, of course, but there’s little reason why Ireland shouldn’t have the belief Farrell mentions.
World Cup history, we hear you mention. Farrell was at the last one in 2019 as an assistant coach and he’s brought lessons from that campaign into everything he does now as the Ireland boss, including the pre-season structure this summer. He was at the 2015 World Cup with England as an assistant when things went badly, as well as playing in the 2007 tournament.
“You learn something from all of those,” he says.
Or what about the fact that a Leinster team made up almost entirely of Ireland internationals lost the Champions Cup final to La Rochelle again this year?
“It hasn’t been mentioned,” says Farrell, pointing out how different the two set-ups are.
“The knock-on effect is irrelevant at this stage.”
The fact that captain Johnny Sexton can’t play in the warm-up games? No problem for Farrell, who is excited to see how Jack Crowley, Ross Byrne, and Ciarán Frawley do. The Ireland boss did admit the disciplinary process leading to Sexton’s ban “was drawn out a little bit” but he has moved on.
What he’s more interested in talking about is how Ireland can improve on what they’ve already done. Farrell is keen to stress that they simply have to be better if they’re to achieve their goal and create history.
“Everything,” he replies when pushed to pinpoint what Ireland can be better at. Farrell wants to see a strong collective performance tomorrow against Italy even as individuals push their case for World Cup squad inclusion.
It’s a new-look Ireland selection that includes plenty of experience but also a sprinkling of fresh faces, meaning several unfamiliar combinations. Last autumn, a much-changed Ireland team struggled for flow against Fiji, while their performance against Italy in this year’s Six Nations wasn’t at the level Farrell wanted either after rotation.
Tomorrow, he wants to see Ireland’s adaptability as younger players are helped by the more seasoned figures in the matchday 23.
Farrell says he and his coaches remain “open-minded” about their final 33-man World Cup squad selection, insisting that the race for places remains open.
Still, he indicates that he may reduce his wider 42-man squad in numbers before the final announcement on 28 August.
“The squad will certainly have to get whittled down sooner rather than later, won’t it?”
There will be searing disappointment for some excellent rugby players in the coming weeks, but Farrell is keen to point out that those who don’t initially travel to France could still play a role at the World Cup.
That’s why Ireland are keen for all 41 available players to feature at least once in their three warm-up games before the final cut.
“I’m not at good at predicting anyway but if I was a betting man, I’d think that there will be more players used, just because of the nature of concussion and everything that goes with it,” says Farrell.
“You look at the U20s World Cup, how that was pulled from pillar to post. You’ve certainly got to be adaptable so keeping people going and making sure that all 42 are able or not, I suppose we’ll find out in the coming weeks.”
Farrell even put players not in the 42-man squad on notice. Fit-again Andrew Conway was recently in camp for a few days’ training.
“There’s also people on the outside who have unbelievably unlucky,” says Farrell.
“People nursing injuries, people we believe are on the way back from a difficult time last year. People who have got money in the bank as well, you know, are certainly in the reckoning if they are fit and able.”
All hands on deck, Ireland are going after the World Cup.
