IRELAND SET THE BENCH MARK
Farrell’s side have big talent beyond just the starters
THE atmosphere in the post-match press conference on Saturday evening was slightly odd. You would have sworn that Ireland had just lost, judging by the demeanour of Andy Farrell and Peter O’Mahony when they took their seats at the top table.
To be fair, there wasn’t must of a buzz emanating from the assembled media either. It was all just a bit flat. Yes, the performance against Wales was far from perfect. However, this was the national team’s third consecutive bonus-point win in the championship. An 18th consecutive home victory, too.
For the third season in a row, they have eviscerated the Welsh in this tournament. All things going to plan, this squad are still short odds to claim backto-back Grand Slams on St Patrick’s weekend, something no team has achieved since Italy joined the Five Nations in 2000. Ireland are simply miles ahead of the chasing pack — in this part of the world — at the moment.
This isn’t quite at the levels of the Dubs in Gaelic football, the Limerick hurlers, Serena Williams in tennis, but we’re getting there. There is a sense that Farrell’s Ireland are set to lord it over the Six Nations quite a while. Lest we forget, England and France are coming to Dublin next season so whispers of a potential hat-trick of clean sweeps may soon grow louder.
Watching Ireland at the moment is a bit like viewing Leo Cullen’s Leinster in the URC or the most of the Champions Cup. There might be the odd bump in the road, but the country’s mightiest province tend to sleepwalk through most of the season before they finally encounter a worthy foe in the shape of a La Rochelle, Toulouse or Saracens.
Despite Scotland’s impressive showing at Murrayfield, you get the feeling that Ireland aren’t going to be troubled much in the final two rounds. The big test will come against the Springboks in July and the All Blacks in November.
There are many reasons why Farrell’s troops are so far ahead. Their slick, attack, defence augmented with an array of ball carriers and game breakers. They are well-drilled, fit and organised.
They also possess one of the most potent benches on the global stage, one to rival the Springboks’ Bomb Squad which spearheaded their World Cup triumphs of 2019 and 2023.
When things got a bit dicey during that fitful third quarter, Farrell sent a message down to his replacements: suit up and get ready. Jack Conan was the first sub to enter the fray, replacing Josh van der Flier, who went off for a HIA, in the 51st minute. The cavalry arrived 240 seconds later with Ronan Kelleher, Oli Jager — on debut — James Ryan and Ryan Baird all entering the fray. The injection of that fresh quintet into the Irish pack was the jolt the hosts needed to finish the job against a Welsh team which produced a resilient defensive display. Kelleher, in particular, made his presence felt. One big carry, when he burst through a pair of tiring Welsh forwards felt like a momentum-changer on the hour mark. Jager, meanwhile, is justifying the hype he has been generating since his trophy-laden stint with the Crusaders. He may have played just six games for Munster since he arrived from Christchurch, but Farrell clearly likes what he has been seeing. That bodes well for Ireland and his province, who may finally have a tighthead in the mould of John Hayes after years of searching. Ryan put in a big shift as always while Conan is perhaps the unluckiest player in this setup. The Leinster backrower is very much back to the elite form of 2021 when he was a Test Lion in South Africa. Then, there’s Baird who offers such a unique blend of power, pace and flair. If he managed to link up with Jamison Gibson-Park after he made a searing break downfield, it would have raised the roof. When he learns to take off the blinkers when he goes on the wild gallops, Baird is going to be a serious weapon for this team, going forward.
‘What goes through my head is that he’s taking off and I know for a fact that he doesn’t know what he’s doing either,’ Farrell observed, with a wry grin, when looking back at Baird’s line break .
‘He’s brilliant to watch though, isn’t he? And to do that… he got the ball back again straight away within five seconds and went back through again. Look, along with all the rest of the guys coming on, they’re explosive athletes, and it’s hard to handle, isn’t it?
‘Again, it’s what’s right for the team in question next week when you weigh up everyone’s fitness, and I don’t mean fitness meaning whether you’re fit or not, but game time, whether they’re showing up, that they’re fitness levels are improving, all that comes into the pot.’
If anything, Ireland could be going to Twickenham with an even more dangerous bench, with Garry Ringrose and Hugo Keenan set to come back into the selecmulti-phase tion mix ahead of the trip to London in a fortnight. The irony is that in the early years of Farrell’s tenure, there was a supposed lack of power in Ireland’s ranks, which was ruthlessly exposed by a sizeable English team on several occasions. That is certainly not the case any more.
‘It’s always based on whether they’re going to add to the performance,’ said Farrell, looking at the evolution of Ireland’s replacements. ‘You look at Tadhg (Furlong) has not played minutes, Pete’s not played many minutes, so all these type of things add up to your decision making.
‘Jack Conan is playing on the bench and I know he started last time against Italy, but he is tremendous form, so it’s not as though being on the bench for us any more is about starters and substitutions that didn’t make the starting team. They’re the guys that added to the performance.’
No arguments there. The cavalry are holding up their end of the bargain.