THE BEST BY FARR
Nash hails ‘mastermind’ Andy after the Irish winger’s dream first Six Nations
CALVIN NASH has hailed Andy Farrell as a “mastermind” after winning his first Six Nations under the Ireland boss.
Senior players have queued up over the last couple of years to describe how Farrell has built such a cohesive, welcoming, winning environment.
Nash made his Six Nations debut against France in the opening game of this year’s championship and went on to start the other four matches.
“I’m lucky, first campaign, delighted,” said
Nash of clinching the title after the 17-13 victory over Scotland on
Saturday night.
His one previous Test appearance had been as a sub against Italy in a
World Cup warm-up.
But injuries to Mack
Hansen (inset top) and
Jimmy O’brien (inset bottom) handed him his chance in the No.14 jersey – and the Munster winger seized it.
His time on the field against England in round four, however, lasted less than five minutes when his shuddering tackle on Tommy Freeman resulted in a sickening collision of head on knee.
Monitored closely during last week, he was delighted to get the green light for Scotland.
“Going down so early wasn’t ideal,” Nash recalled. “I was very much up for Twickenham. It was tough watching from the sidelines, especially with how close it was. I felt like it put the lads out of sorts, having that 6-2 bench split.
“As a team, we pride ourselves on things not fazing us and it was obviously a difficult task.
“They did say to me that I’d be monitored throughout the week. They were constantly urging me to be as honest as I could with symptoms and all that stuff.
“But I was well looked after and 100 per cent confident that I was all good. It was Thursday or Friday that I was actually properly cleared to play.”
Last week’s conversations with Farrell were a continuation of a process that began as an eye-opener for Nash before the France game.
The boss took him aside after the Captain’s Run at the Stade Velodrome in Marseille. He had noticed that the 26-year-old had been quiet all week and, after running over with Nash what his duties were for the game, Farrell told him to “be himself ” against France.
It worked.
“I was kind of shocked with how well Andy handles people in general,” he said. “He has a great outlook on everything and I feel like he’s probably a bit of a mastermind.
“It’s almost as if he has seen every possible scenario for you.
“He always has a good answer or good input. He was unbelievable for me through this whole campaign. He backed me through the whole thing and I just want to say thanks to him.
“Previously in camps my mind had been so focused on every minor little detail and that probably took away from me actually expressing myself on the field.
“And Faz always says the quicker you can be yourself the quicker you can start to enjoy it.”
Hansen plans to be back for Connacht in
May, O’brien will hope to do so sooner for
Leinster.
Both will be primed to make the South
Africa tour in July.
“They’re two amazing players obviously,” acknowledged Nash of his rivals.
“I’m massively privileged to put on a jersey in their absence. They’re great lads as well.
They were a massive loss to the camp.
Mack was in last week and, testament to him, he was saying,
‘Well done’. He was delighted to see me go well.
“He’s a great lad and a great player. The more competition you have the better. We wish them well and hopefully they’ll get back into camps and be healthy.”