SHORT-TERM THINKING
Farrell opts to go down the conservative route by turning to veteran O’Mahony as captain
The lessons of the past are not being heeded
ANDY Farrell has never been afraid to make bold selection calls. Just ask Joey Carbery.
In fact, he caught a lot of people off guard when he named his first starting line-up as Ireland head coach on the eve of the 2020 Six Nations opener against Scotland at Aviva Stadium.
Farrell pitched a promising young No8 by the name of Caelan Doris straight into the team to face the Scots, benching Peter O’Mahony in the process. Quite the statement as Farrell looked to set his stall out in the post-Joe Schmidt era.
There and then, it felt like the writing was on the wall for O’Mahony. Younger, more dynamic backrow forwards were arriving in their droves and the Corkman’s Test prospects looked grim.
It’s testament to the sheer bloody mindedness of his character that he not only fought his way back into the first team several times, but he was bestowed with the captaincy yesterday.
Farrell is a big fan of the perpetually cranky Munster blindside. He values what O’Mahony brings to this squad, on and off the field. He is going to lean on him heavily for this championship.
On this occasion, however, if feels like Farrell has perhaps let a bit of sentiment cloud his judgement. This was a conservative call.
For all of O’Mahony’s warrior-like qualities, time is not on his side. There’s a reason why the IRFU are playing hardball and not putting a central contract extension on the table. Doris, the player who elbowed the elder statesman out of the Ireland team four years ago, has recently been promoted to one of those big contracts. Josh van der Flier is on one.
Then there’s the likes of Jack Conan, Ryan Baird and Nick Timoney. Tom Ahern has been ripping up trees on the blindide flank of late. Consider that Will Connors, Cian Prendergast and John Hodnett didn’t make the cut. There are more talented backrow forwards with no shortage of ambition laced around the provinces as well. It’s only a matter of time before Brian Gleeson, Dave McCann and James Culhane begin to turn Farrell’s head.
O’Mahony will be 35 in September. He is on the final lap of a brilliant career. But his days at this level are numbered.
Farrell believes he is the best man to lead this squad into this Six Nations. The best candidate to fill the leadership void left by Sexton. Otherwise, this feels like a continuation of the World Cup project.
The only changes in personnel have been enforced due to retirements or injuries. Prop, hooker, lock, backrow, scrum-half and midfield are virtually unchanged since the global showpiece. The only fresh faces are at out-half and in the back three and that’s because Sexton, Ross Byrne, Mack Hansen and Jimmy O’Brien, Keith Earls and Andrew Conway are unavailable.
There seems be a feeling amongst the Irish management that the All Blacks defeat in the quarter-final was a blip. There was business-as-usual vibe about this squad announcement.
The captaincy was the only area where Farrell could make a big statement. And he has taken the safe, conservative and short-term option.
You will hear plenty in the coming weeks and months about taking things one game at a time and how the captaincy will be reviewed on a tournament by tournament basis. Basically, the same rhetoric we heard through the last World Cup cycle.
Is the national team doomed to repeat the same mistakes of the past? Ireland rocked up at the 2019 World Cup with a 37-year-old Rory Best as skipper. Sexton was a year older when he led Ireland through the last tournament in France. Is O’Mahony going to go the distance to 2027? It’s unlikely.
The key difference is competition. While Best and Sexton were virtually unchallenged for large swathes of those campaigns, O’Mahony has no shortage of challengers.
In truth, there will be a time when the form of Baird or Ahern is too compelling to ignore. And there are plenty of others who can force Farrell’s hand in the years to come.
If this seems a bit harsh on an Ireland head coach who has largely done a sublime job in recent seasons and a proven leader with a century of international caps, it’s because the lessons of the past are not being heeded.
If Farrell values O’Mahony’s influence so much, keep him in the environment by all means. He is going to have to appoint a new captain at some stage in the nottoo-distant future anyway. Why kick that can down the road?
Be it James Ryan, Doris, Garry Ringrose, Tadhg Beirne, Dan Sheehan or Tadhg Furlong or someone else, why not back him now and let them develop into a position they are likely to hold until the next World Cup in 2027.
Again, if this seems like an allor-nothing approach when it comes to the World Cup, ask yourself why Simon Zebo was deemed surplus to requirements yesterday. The Munster full-back has caught the eye in some big games this season and Ireland are in need of some quality back-up for Hugo Keenan.
Zebo will turn 34 on the day Ireland face Scotland in the final round of the championship on March 16. A recall from the international wilderness is seemingly too short term in focus. The Ireland management have moved on to younger prospects like Calvin Nash. Zebo is highly unlikely to be in the mix when the next big tournament in Oz looms into focus in four years’ time.
Why isn’t the same logic being applied to the captaincy?
Farrell said yesterday that O’Mahony is ‘thoroughly deserving of this honour’ and few could argue with that sentiment. The Munster man will give his all in the months ahead. Will it be enough and is it sustainable in the long term? There are a plenty of concerns on both fronts.
A captain should nearly always be assured of his place in the team. Can you say that about O’Mahony? If things go
awry at Stade Velodrome and the Irish backrow get blown off the park by Gregory Alldritt and Co in Marseilles then O’Mahony will come under the microscope pretty quickly. For all the talk about his leadership qualities, influence on the group and emotional impact, athletes likes Baird, Ahern and Conan will need to be accommodated, eventually. For a coach who has never been afraid to rip off the bandaid, Farrell has been unusually cautious in this approach on this occasion. It may prove to be inspired. Letting one of the old guard guide a young squad through a tricky post World Cup campaign and paving the way for Ryan or Doris to ease into the leadership role down the line.
This is not a long-term investment, however. And the fear is it will cost Ireland on the biggest stage once again.