Farrell: We won’t make any rash decisions

IRELAND head coach Andy Farrell has poured cold water on the suggestion that he will make wholesale changes to his team to face Italy on Saturday week.

There have been calls for younger players to be blooded on the back of Sunday’s disappointing performance in Twickenham, and while a couple of changes are expected, Farrell insists he will not make rash decisions when it comes to selection.

The IRFU remain hopeful that the game at the Aviva Stadium on March 7 will go ahead, despite growing fears that it may not following the outbreak of the coronavirus in Italy.

Although Farrell didn’t hide his disappointment at the manner in which his side fell short in London, he was encouraged by the impact of his bench as Ireland managed to finish the game on the front foot.

His attention now turns to Italy before the final-day trip to France, where Ireland could still be in with a chance of winning the Six Nations title.

“We won’t assess it (selection) rashly,” Farrell said. “We’ll make sure we will do the right thing by the team and do what we have to do to get the right performance against Italy.

“I thought Caelan (Doris) did well when he came on, he hit the line really nicely at times and Ross (Byrne) did pretty well, John (Cooney) did pretty well etc.

“But I suppose they would sense an opportunity on the back of things not going pretty well for us as a team. (We were) pretty disappointed to play our best rugby when the game was over.”

Cian Healy is a doubt for the clash with the Azzurri after he picked up a hip injury in the first half of the defeat to England. The IRFU will release an update on the loosehead prop, and the squad’s fitness, today.