IT FEELS LIKE a long time since we’ve seen the Ireland coaching team enjoy a victory quite as much as they did last weekend’s comprehensive defeat of England in Twickenham.
Every try, and many of the big defensive plays, were greeted enthusiastically by Andy Farrell and his assistants.
No doubt the fact the Twickenham coaching boxes are located in the stand and amidst the crowd, as opposed to behind glass screens, contributed to them feeling more involved in the action.
And no doubt the nature of their start to this Six Nations played a role, too. Ireland say belief never wavered following the opening loss to France and somewhat nervy win over Italy, yet even if there was confidence in the group heading to London, surely nobody felt such an emphatic team performance, and a record Twickenham win, was coming.
Ireland enjoyed their night in London and the few days off upon returning to Dublin, but then it was business as usual as they returned to camp. Farrell and his coaches will highlight the good and celebrate what Ireland did well against England, but there’s also an acknowledgment that even after a weekend like that, there’s always room for improvement.
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“Definitely enjoy the good moments in games and understand some of the efforts players put in to give us good moments both sides of the ball, but I always feel like even when we have had moments and success we have gone hard on the fact that other teams might have taken more opportunities to win the game,” says assistant coach Simon Easterby.
Should we have beaten them by more? Should we not have let them create or generate those chances? As a group in my time under Faz, it has always been the way.”
Easterby might pick holes in some in the chances England managed to create, but overall, it was a pleasing day for the Ireland defence, who held out Steve Borthwick’s men across long spells of pressure.
“There was a few times they got into our 22 and we stole a lineout, we also got a turnover in the corner after they did a front peel, Tadhg (Beirne) got a poach.
“The discipline thing was pleasing because there are so many (more) opportunities to give away a penalty in defence than there is in attack.
“Heightened awareness from officials for the back foot. It can literally be centimetres at a time and if the ruck shifts and we don’t shift with it then there is a penalty advantage and hands in ruck, so the discipline part of that I thought was fantastic. Although we defended really well at times, especially in our 22, we still coughed up a couple of tries which we were disappointed at looking back.
“Some really good sets, pleasing, and its nice that we spent a bit of time in there and we don’t concede points or penalties.”
Next up, it’s a home game against Wales next Friday. Win that, and Ireland can aim to claim a Triple Crown when Scotland visit Dublin the following weekend.
Wales are rooted to the bottom of the Six Nations table, but last weekend’s narrow loss to Scotland highlighted the trouble they can potentially cause Ireland. This time last year, Ireland were heavily fancied to beat Wales in Cardiff but were made to work hard for a 27-18 win.
“There’s some different personnel (to last year) but they have been very good in the 22 actually.
Jack Crowley signs autographs after yesterday's open training session in Dublin. Ben Brady / INPHO
Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO
“There have been five tries and four of them have come from tap penalties, so they are really effective once they get into that part of the pitch.
“They are growing in confidence, they will feel like they should have held out and beaten Scotland but they had a bit of a switch-off on a halfway restart which is seven points for nothing almost and that might have been the difference.
“They’re well coached and a proud group of players and we need to make sure that we keep getting better ourselves.
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“They get into your 22, they’re hard to defend against,” Easterby added.
“They play with speed and they play with width. I thought (Sam) Costelow made a big difference to them on the weekend when he had front-foot ball.
“It allowed him to play on top of Scotland and make it difficult. You all know how a team like Wales will love the fact that people will write them off, and they come back stronger.”
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Even after a record-breaking day in Twickenham, Ireland see room for improvement
IT FEELS LIKE a long time since we’ve seen the Ireland coaching team enjoy a victory quite as much as they did last weekend’s comprehensive defeat of England in Twickenham.
Every try, and many of the big defensive plays, were greeted enthusiastically by Andy Farrell and his assistants.
No doubt the fact the Twickenham coaching boxes are located in the stand and amidst the crowd, as opposed to behind glass screens, contributed to them feeling more involved in the action.
And no doubt the nature of their start to this Six Nations played a role, too. Ireland say belief never wavered following the opening loss to France and somewhat nervy win over Italy, yet even if there was confidence in the group heading to London, surely nobody felt such an emphatic team performance, and a record Twickenham win, was coming.
Ireland enjoyed their night in London and the few days off upon returning to Dublin, but then it was business as usual as they returned to camp. Farrell and his coaches will highlight the good and celebrate what Ireland did well against England, but there’s also an acknowledgment that even after a weekend like that, there’s always room for improvement.
“Definitely enjoy the good moments in games and understand some of the efforts players put in to give us good moments both sides of the ball, but I always feel like even when we have had moments and success we have gone hard on the fact that other teams might have taken more opportunities to win the game,” says assistant coach Simon Easterby.
Easterby might pick holes in some in the chances England managed to create, but overall, it was a pleasing day for the Ireland defence, who held out Steve Borthwick’s men across long spells of pressure.
“There was a few times they got into our 22 and we stole a lineout, we also got a turnover in the corner after they did a front peel, Tadhg (Beirne) got a poach.
“The discipline thing was pleasing because there are so many (more) opportunities to give away a penalty in defence than there is in attack.
“Heightened awareness from officials for the back foot. It can literally be centimetres at a time and if the ruck shifts and we don’t shift with it then there is a penalty advantage and hands in ruck, so the discipline part of that I thought was fantastic. Although we defended really well at times, especially in our 22, we still coughed up a couple of tries which we were disappointed at looking back.
“Some really good sets, pleasing, and its nice that we spent a bit of time in there and we don’t concede points or penalties.”
Next up, it’s a home game against Wales next Friday. Win that, and Ireland can aim to claim a Triple Crown when Scotland visit Dublin the following weekend.
Wales are rooted to the bottom of the Six Nations table, but last weekend’s narrow loss to Scotland highlighted the trouble they can potentially cause Ireland. This time last year, Ireland were heavily fancied to beat Wales in Cardiff but were made to work hard for a 27-18 win.
“There’s some different personnel (to last year) but they have been very good in the 22 actually.
“There have been five tries and four of them have come from tap penalties, so they are really effective once they get into that part of the pitch.
“They are growing in confidence, they will feel like they should have held out and beaten Scotland but they had a bit of a switch-off on a halfway restart which is seven points for nothing almost and that might have been the difference.
“They’re well coached and a proud group of players and we need to make sure that we keep getting better ourselves.
“They get into your 22, they’re hard to defend against,” Easterby added.
“They play with speed and they play with width. I thought (Sam) Costelow made a big difference to them on the weekend when he had front-foot ball.
“It allowed him to play on top of Scotland and make it difficult. You all know how a team like Wales will love the fact that people will write them off, and they come back stronger.”
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belief Ireland Rugby Simon Easterby Six Nations 2026