ANDY FARRELL SAID he was happy to see the Mexican wave going around the Aviva Stadium with just over 10 minutes to go in Ireland’s win over Fiji on Saturday.
There were five Irish tries as they beat the visitors 35-17 but you couldn’t blame the home fans for entertaining themselves at various points of what was a relatively dull game of rugby.
Farrell appreciates that his team didn’t give them a whole lot to cheer about for long portions of the match, so said he was pleased for the Irish crowd to take matters into their own hands.
“I was delighted to see the crowd doing the Mexican wave at the end. I don’t think we had much to do with that, to be honest, so we’ve got to make sure that we play our part next week,” said Farrell post-match as he glanced towards this Saturday’s meeting with Australia.
The Ireland boss was in no mood for making excuses after what he felt was an underwhelming performance against the Fijians. He did point to nine changes to his team making life trickier but stressed that things weren’t up to the standard Ireland have set for themselves.
1pm is early for a Test match to kick off but Farrell wasn’t of the mind to point to that as a reason for Ireland’s lifeless effort.
“It shows your mentality, where you’re at. It shows your character as a group. We’ve learned a little bit in that regard.”
Farrell alluded to some players having taken their chances after he rotated his team, while it was obvious that many didn’t grab the opportunity handed to them against Fiji.
Nick Timoney was one of those who came out of it with his reputation enhanced, but the Ulster man gave a revealing insight into how challenging the experience of suddenly getting a starting chance with Ireland can be.
“You know it’s your chance to do something and that attitude can push you to go slightly over that edge, try to do it all yourself rather than collectively,” said Timoney, who scored two tries and was named player of the match.
“We speak about doing things together and not trying to solve problems all by yourself. Whether it’s our connectiveness, that’s what makes us good really. What sets us apart is doing things together but when we lose sight of that, maybe that’s a small bit of it.”
This underperformance against the Fijians follows swiftly after a hammering for Ireland A against the All Blacks XV, so you could forgive Farrell for wondering whether Irish rugby’s depth is good enough.
He said he’s not concerned about that aspect of the group.
“I’m not worried, it is what it is,” said Farrell. “You know what you know in that regard.
“There’s a lot of big characters who were not in the changing room. I’m big on how you make people feel or how certain people make people feel and we’d different leadership going on this week in all sorts of areas. It’s something we need to get to the bottom of and keep progressing with.”
Among the big characters missing last weekend was captain Johnny Sexton. It’s obvious that Ireland are a very different beast without him involved.
But Farrell pointed out that there were many other experienced figures absent. In his view, the reality is that others simply have to be given a chance to build their own experience.
“No, it’s not just Johnny,” said Farrell.
“Look at it all, the experience that is out of the side. Not just the injured lads, it’s Bundee [Aki], Iain Henderson, Keith Earls not being here.
“Whoever it is, certain people understand their role and their fit in the side. They’re able to be themselves and go after that. They are comfortable in their own skins.
“When you’re missing so much, then people know they need to try to fill that vacuum but they need the experience of being able to do that at the same time.”
The key men will be back this weekend for the clash with the Wallabies as Ireland look to ensure a clean sweep of their three autumn games.
An 8pm kick-off and such famous opposition should mean a more raucous atmosphere.
“We’ve got to play our part in that,” was Farrell’s message as he warned of a big challenge from the Wallabies, whose much-changed side lost to Italy for the first time ever on Saturday.
“We know what’s coming. Looking at the performance with a similar side that is probably going to be put out against us in Paris last week was probably more like it.
“They were very strong, especially set-piece-wise. They went after the French and nearly got the big W over there. That’s the type of game we’re expecting.”
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