PLAY IT AGAIN, FAZ
Farrell’s Ireland sticking to trusted formula but sequels are notoriously tricky
SEQUELS rarely live up to the originals. Don’t get us started on remakes either. There seems to be an obsession in Hollywood with going over old ground in the hope that the same magic can be discovered and redistributed to the masses.
For the most part, these follow-ups fail to deliver. There are some honourable mentions, of course. Aliens, Terminator 2 and Godfather 2 are the outliers in a sea of dreadful projects.
The moral of this tale? It’s best to leave well alone. It’s hard to capture lightning in a bottle on consecutive occasions.
Often, the best course of action is to move in a new direction, embrace a fresh approach and give up trying to recreate the old magic.
We’re going somewhere with this movie analogy. Because there is a worry that Andy Farrell is trying to do the same thing with Ireland in 2024.
The Ireland head coach and this squad are hoping to kick on from what they achieved last year. Business as usual, bar the All Blacks blip at the World Cup, seems to be the message in recent weeks. Farrell and this playing group believe that staying the course — with a few minor tweaks — is the way to go ahead of this Six Nations. You can see the logic.
One defeat — albeit a seismic one in a World Cup quarter-final — in 18 Test matches across the best part of two years does not mean you rip up the entire script and abandon everything you’ve built.
You always need to be evolving, though. There are plenty of warnings from history on that front. Joe Schmidt’s class of 2019 are a very recent case in point.
Ireland were riding the crest of a wave after an all-conquering campaign in 2018 and everyone — including Schmidt (below) and the rest of the Irish contingent — believed that the good times would continue the following year.
It didn’t go so well. A similar fate befell England in 2004 and the British and Irish Lions in 2005. An eerily familiar theme runs throughout those teams which crashed and burned: A core of veterans who perhaps should have cashed out a bit earlier. Farrell said he was over the World Cup disappointment but we’re not convinced.
There was so much hype, energy and resources ploughed into that tournament, only for it to hit the skids at a familiarly depressing juncture. You can’t underestimate the psychological damage and mental scars which was inflicted on this playing group. Is the fire still burning for many of the veterans? There will be nowhere to hide tonight at a heaving Stade Vélodrome. And the idea that Ireland can kick on without their captain and conductor in chief and simply not miss a beat seems fanciful too.
Johnny Sexton made Farrell’s Ireland tick. He was the fulcrum of the attack, the tactical mastermind and setter of standards, on and off the pitch.
What’s more, Ireland’s rivals have had four months to pore over the tape and find more areas of weakness. If New Zealand were able to expose frailties in a team which had looked bulletproof prior to the global showpiece, then what have France and the other heavyweights discovered since?
In terms of an early stress test, facing France — also hurting from a World Cup campaign which promised so much and delivered so little — in this brilliant Marseille arena is quite the early stress test.
If we’re staying on the theme of movies, then visits to France have been a horror show for Irish teams for decades. You can count the wins in this century on one hand: 2000, 2014 and 2018.
As for the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s, let’s not even go there. The hosts are missing a few big characters, too. Antoine Dupont is in Olympics mode and away on Sevens duty. A major fillip for Farrell’s side. Romain Ntamack was sorely missed at the World Cup, too.
The big threat from the hosts is up front, mind you. The late addition of Posolo Tuilagi — the latest in a dynasty of Samoan-born wrecking balls — to the bench yesterday merely confirmed the suspicion that France are planning an old-school approach this evening.
Is this is a new dawn? It didn’t feel that way when Farrell first announced his training squad for this tournament a while back.
The Ireland head coach has made some big calls, however. The promotions of Joe McCarthy, Jack Crowley and Calvin Nash to the starting line-up provide a welcome infusion of fresh blood. The sixstrong bench of forwards is a new departure as well.
All three are worthy of their promotions. Nash and Crowley have made the step up due to injury and retirement respectively but they are form selections nonetheless. Same goes for McCarthy, who
looks made for this encounter. The tough, abrasive 22-year-old has arguably been the form Irish forward across the four provinces this season.
All eyes will be on Crowley, however.
This century was dominated by three out-halves in a green shirt: Humphreys, O’Gara and Sexton. One era seamlessly blended into the next.
All of a sudden, the national team has a 24-year-old rookie with nine caps running the show in a Six Nations opener. This is a huge night for the young Corkman.
It’s not just his game management which will be under the microscope, his goal-kicking as well. His defence, too.
You can bet the mortgage on Jonathan Danty paying a visit down his channel early in the game. Bundee Aki and the Irish backrow will be Crowley’s security detail on the pitch.
He will need minding. Especially if this Irish pack begins to feel the heat from this sizeable French unit.
If the fired-up hosts come firing out of the blocks and build an early lead then this could be another grim evening in France for this Irish team. Some familiar demons may return and some of the old guard — including the captain — will come in for extra scrutiny if things go awry tonight. Those concerns about the scrum, lineout and defence haven’t gone away either.
Then again, if Ireland find their groove and shift into their customary rhythm, they have the capacity to secure a statement win. All of the recent noise about this supposed post-World Cup conservatism will die down and Farrell will be vindicated for sticking to his guns.
It’s all set up for a prime time blockbuster, isn’t it?
Will Ireland turn the page or is a dire sequel on the cards? We’re about to find out.