A CHANGE TO regular proceedings this afternoon, as assistant manager Keith Andrews assumed media duties ahead of tomorrow’s friendly international against Lithuania.
It was the first time Andrews has taken a press conference since he became Stephen Kenny’s assistant in 2020, and as he explained, he has renounced all media roles to focus solely on his job with Ireland. Andrews had a high profile prior to become Kenny’s assistant at U21 level in 2018, working for Virgin Media, Off the Ball and Sky Sports. He kept up some of the television work during his early days with the Irish senior staff, but has now given it all up to prioritise the international team.
“It’s a job that I love, that I have an unbelievable amount of passion for”, said Andrews. “I don’t see it as a job, really, and my time was getting taken up in areas that I wasn’t as passionate about.
“I’m very, very fortunate to be in this position and have the input that I do have and have that working relationship with Stephen that he allows me to crack on and do what I do, and we work very much as a team and like I said it’s something I’m very, very passionate about.
“When I sat down and reflected on things and my time management and how I want to evolve away from what I actually do in here and how I spend time watching our players and doing the normal due diligence, I suppose, I want to evolve a little bit more and spend more time to become a better coach, a better assistant and involve myself in that regard rather than having to go to certain games in a different capacity.”
Andrews did give one notable interview prior to today, talking at length with Off the Ball at the end of September last year to defend his and Kenny’s record and talk through some of their ideas.
“I felt it was necessary that there was a different voice, maybe, because Stephen was at the front a lot, obviously, during that time”, said Andrews of his motivation to give that interview.
“I’ve touched on it already, we’re in this together and he’s always been the focal point and having to face tough questions when things weren’t going particularly well and we were enduring a bit of a tough period.
“During that time, I did feel it was important. It was my idea. I did say it to Stephen, obviously, and if he didn’t think it was a good idea, I wouldn’t have done that.
“At the time, I was very comfortable where we were and the process that was in place and the building that we were trying to do and re-building we were trying to do with the squad and how we were trying to get the team to play, so I suppose that’s where it came from.
“Even though the results hadn’t been amazing to that point, I did feel we were in a good place and it was coming, I could feel it, I could sense it, you see it every time you go on to the training pitch with the players that we’ve got, such a humble and ambitious group of players that we have, I just felt that was probably it, it just needed a different voice at the time.”
During the tough times, Andrews says his boss remained composed.
“He was very composed, always very much sticking to the principles and the belief he has in what the players are capable of achieving. Of course we make little tweaks here and there, but he’s a very strong individual and I thought he dealt with it remarkably well because there were some not very nice days that we had to endure.
“You’ve got to take it on the chin. I say it to him quite often about when I go back into my local butcher’s, they’re quick to tell me about we should and shouldn’t be doing and sometimes it’s not particularly pleasant.
“But during that process, I thought he stood really firm. It would be very, very easy as the manager to maybe stake a step back, to sacrifice, maybe, some of your values, your principles for a short-term view, but he stood by it and obviously I was in full support of that.”
Andrews confirmed Ireland have no new injury concerns ahead of tomorrow’s game, and confirmed there would be changes to the team.
“We are trying to build a squad and we’re conscious of potentially having four games in June, obviously not entirely sure what way that’s going to materialise.
“So Stephen’s always very firm on caps aren’t given out, I very much feel that way as well. You have to earn them but equally you have to reward players who have been professional around maybe not being selected, not coming into the game and understand that disappointment. So yeah, there be changes but the team hasn’t been selected yet.”
This week on the Front Row – The42’s new rugby podcast in partnership with Guinness – panellist Eimear Considine makes a welcome return… and she’s brought her Ireland roommate, Hannah O’Connor, along too. They chat about broken noses, tanning routines, initiation songs and balancing the Women’s Six Nations with teaching, plus how one fan named her child after Ireland winger Beibhinn Parsons! Click here to subscribe or listen below:
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