FORMER NEW ZEALAND head coach Steve Hansen believes that while Andy Farrell’s Ireland have earned their status as the top-ranked side in the world, they may struggle to deal with the pressure that comes with that tag come the World Cup.
Hansen was involved in two World Cup wins during his time with the All Blacks (as assistant coach in 2011 and head coach in 2015) and was in charge of the New Zealand team that knocked Ireland out of the 2019 tournament.
Joe Schmidt’s Ireland team travelled to the 2019 World Cup in Japan as the world’s number one ranked side but were thrashed 46-14 by the All Blacks in the quarter-finals.
Ireland have never made it further than the quarter-final stages at a World Cup and Hansen believes their history in the tournament, coupled with the pressure of being touted as genuine contenders for the Webb Ellis Cup, could prove difficult for the squad to deal with.
Attention is already turning toward the 2023 tournament in France after Farrell’s squad closed out a brilliant Six Nations campaign by beating England in Dublin on Saturday to claim a fourth Grand Slam.
“Ireland were good throughout the Six Nations,” Hansen said. “In that final game they started off a bit shaky and England rattled them a bit, but once the red card came it was game over and they were good enough to take advantage of it.
“They’re going well, ranked number one in the world, and they’ve had a great year so far. Every time a team is number one in the world, you’ve got to consider them to be a World Cup contender – but it’s a tough tournament to win, and they were number one going into the last one, weren’t they?
So, they’ve seemed to struggle a little bit at World Cups. If it was the All Blacks, they’d probably be called ‘chokers’.
“But they’ve come a long way, they believe in themselves, and they’re a very good side, so they’re definitely a contender. But they’ll have to overcome the pressure of not having gone past the quarter-finals before, and there’ll be a lot of pressure involved in that.
“If they get through to the semi-finals, then they’re in new territory. That’s something they’ll have to deal with that they’ve never dealt with before, and it’s always hard to deal with something you haven’t dealt with before.”
Hansen added that he’s been impressed by the job Farrell has done since taking over from Schmidt as Ireland boss and backed the Englishman to lead the British and Irish Lions on their 2025 tour to Australia.
“Andy’s doing a great job, isn’t he? He’s a good man, and a good rugby person, who I have a lot of time for. He’s a good leader and he’s definitely got Ireland playing good footy, so why wouldn’t you make him Lions coach?”
Hansen has been working as a consultant with Japanese Top League outfit Toyota Verblitz since leaving his role as New Zealand head coach in 2019.
On Sunday 28 May, he’ll take charge of a World XV against Eddie Jones’ Barbarians side at Twickenham.
A string of rugby’s most exciting players – including Semi Radradra, Marika Koroibete and Ngani Laumape – have all been confirmed to be appearing for the World XV, and Hansen admits he cannot wait to return to Twickenham for what is set to be an epic clash.
“Like many Fijian players, Semi’s strong, fast, and a good athlete,” he continued.
“Fijians always just naturally know how to play footy. They love the running aspects of the game, and they play a lot of 7s, so they’re highly skilled and always brings that bit of x-factor.
“I know a lot about Ngani from his All Black days. Before he had a little injury [in Japan] he was playing outstanding rugby. Marika is just a wonderful player; lots of energy and he works for 80 minutes.
“So, I’m just really looking forward to working with them all, and excited about the game because it’s going to be played in the right manner.
“Traditionally, you want a Barbarians game to be open and flowing, and a World XV game is the same. This event gets you a combination of both those teams – and both coaches will treat it with the respect that it deserves.
“Whilst both sides will have a little bit of fun during the week, come Saturday they’ll have the freedom to express themselves and pour it out on the park. I’m sure we’ll see a wonderfully high-skilled spectacle that hopefully people will come along and really, really enjoy.”
General admission tickets for the Barbarian F.C. vs World XV clash are on sale now from www.ticketmaster.co.uk/barbarians at the early-bird price of just £25* for Adults and £15* for U16s. For a 10% discount on groups of 10 or more, please visit www.eticketing.co.uk/rfu/events. Hospitality packages are available to purchase from £299 per person via www.twickenhamstadium.com. *booking fees apply
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