THERE WAS A time where the prospect of going to Tickenham might have kept Irish rugby players awake at night, but Andy Farrell’s Grand Slam-chasing squad don’t tend to let history negatively impact their thinking.
Overall, Ireland’s record in England isn’t great – picking up 19 wins and four draws from 70 visits. Even during the golden periods of success enjoyed by Irish teams over the past two decades, you have to go back to the 2004 and 2006 seasons to find the last time Ireland won on consecutive trips to Twickenham.
Those numbers don’t make for pretty reading, yet Ireland will travel to London for this weekend’s round four Six Nations clash fully confident they can keep their Grand Slam dream alive, and potentially even wrap up the championship title with a game to spare.
This Ireland team have enjoyed some remarkable days under Andy Farrell and those experiences have instilled a steely sense of belief within the squad.
Even after the disappointment of last year’s World Cup Ireland have picked up where they left off in this Six Nations, brushing aside the challenges of France, Italy and Wales and notching up three bonus point wins as England, France, Italy and Wales have all struggled for form.
The young players in Farrell’s squad don’t appear daunted by the big challenges, with Jack Crowley, Joe McCarthy and Calvin Nash all stepping up impressively over the last month.
At the other end of the scale the more experienced players have been energised by Farrell’s approach as a coach, with a number of them stating his Ireland camp is the most enjoyable they have known during their careers.
Yesterday, Cian Healy was the latest to do just that.
“The stresses that are in the group are all positive stresses, all about how we figure things out together and how we overcome something in our game that might be sticky for us or whatever,” Healy says.
“There’s not a negative stress or fear around the building at all. It’s such a good place to come and work and be with your mates, and that’s probably been different to over the years where there might have been a couple of stressful evening meetings or walkthroughs or more pressure than there should be on players. It’s pretty positive in that sense.”
That ensures that while the pressure is still there on weeks such as this, the players don’t drown in it, and instead frame the challenge in terms of the opportunity which lies ahead.
Healy himself is a good case in point. The Leinster and Ireland prop has experienced enough bad days in London over the years, with his record in Twickenham reading played seven, lost five – losing on his first two visits to the ground (2014, 2016), while also being on the pitch for two deflating defeats in 2020 (Six Nations and World Cup warm-up) as well as an Autumn Nations Cup game in 2021.
That’s the type of history which could weigh on a player’s shoulders but under the guidance of Farrell and performance coach Gary Keegan this Ireland team have been tuned to embrace such occasions, a mindset which has been reinforced by a series of big wins on the road, including Twickenham in 2022, New Zealand (twice) that summer and Marseille last month.
The knock-on effect of those wins is that when Healy is asked about playing at Twickenham again, his tone is one of excitement.
“It’s a great stadium, great atmosphere,” says Healy.
“You get off the bus and walk through the crowd, it’s kind of on from then and there’s a good buzz about it. I think we’re just building our week nicely to look forward to that and be able to enjoy that experience, feed off that energy a bit.
The louder the noise, the more shouting, the better. That’s the type of thing you want to play in.
“It’s energy. It’s all a buzz. Like, Stade de France has pretty powerful energy as well. The Principality with the roof closed, you can’t hear yourself think, so I think they all bring their own energy and their own individual things. I like getting off the bus and going through the crowd [at Twickenham] though.”
Ireland will head across the water knowing England are always capable of producing a performance at home, but will take confidence from the fact that on form, they are the better team in all aspects of the game.
Ireland’s brilliant attacking game certainly has the tools to dismantle an England defence still learning Felix Jones’ system – with reports emerging this week that some within the camp are already frustrated with how much focus has been placed on defensive work during training. Ireland’s own defence, which have played three halves of rugby without concedeeding a single point against Italy and Wales, also look fully capable of containing an England attack which has proved notably blunt in this tournament.
Ireland’s improved set-piece work has been another major positive while the strength of their bench has ensured the squad remains fiercely competitive, with the 6/2 split making a big impact against both France and Wales.
That body of work ensures Ireland can focus on their own strengths this week, rather than spending too much time talking up the opposition or how tough it is to win at Twickenham.
“We’ve got a smart group of players,” says scrum coach John Fogarty.
“The majority of the guys understand, they’ve been there before, they’ve felt the pressure of having to play there. We drop it in every now and again [how tough it is to win at Twickenham]. There’s probably no need to.
“We’ve played in some really big games in the last couple of years under real pressure and we’ve come through those games. We’ve not come through one or two and we’d like to think we’ve taken huge learnings from being in those pressure situations.
“We are well capable of going over and again, nice and calm in how we deliver our game and put out a performance.”
Ireland are strong favourites to continue their winning run against Steve Borthwick’s side and while England have stuttered through the opening three rounds – edging games against Italy and Wales before defeat at home to Scotland – they still have the ability to make this weekend difficult for their visitors, and potentially even cause an upset. The chance of rain forecast for Saturday would certainly suit England down to the ground.
The form book suggests this might not be the most competitive England-Ireland encounter we’ve seen, but the rivalry in itself is always enough to whet the appetite.
“It’s Ireland-England, isn’t it?” Fogarty says.
It’s such a brilliant place to go and play rugby. The English squad rise to play in Twickenham.
“I know that they will be hurt from the last game [v Scotland] but they will be so proud to play in front of their home support.
“It’s a cauldron, the stadium itself generates a huge amount of noise, which can be chaotic in the mind of players.
“It’s a huge rivalry but where we are right now is preparing for that cauldron, preparing for that energy that is Twickenham. That’s what’s to the front of the players’ minds, trying to make sure we are the best version of ourselves, representing Ireland in a calm way where we can see what’s in front of us and play our game.
“Rivalry is important, but where we are at now is preparing to perform, that’s what’s going through the players’ minds.”
