Now Ireland must prove they can deal with searing scrutiny
So, home come the Irish once more for St Patrick’s weekend, with talk of glory in the air.
on the face of it, this seems like the perfect elision of time and place, given that a victory or draw against Scotland would clinch the Six Nations title. Yet there is the stubborn, dreary, ‘if- only’ which has stalked the Irish capital ever since that last-gasp England drop goal at Twickenham a week ago.
A win against the English and this would have been the story of Ireland pursuing the first backto-back Grand Slams of the Six Nations era.
Instead, it is back- to- back championships they seek, which doesn’t carry quite the same cachet. Things just do not feel as heady as when they beat England to clinch a Slam on Irish soil for the first time, this time last year.
There is a real significance and point to prove, for all that, as Andy Farrell’s players look to sign off with a flourish a tournament which they began in such glorious style against France in Marseille, six weeks ago.
The task for this team is to prove they do not flatter to deceive. That they can win on the big occasion under searing scrutiny, with questions being asked, as truly great sides do.
When it came down to it, they could not stand firm against New Zealand 154 days ago. Now, questions are being posed again. Can they close out this championship, rendering England’s match against France in Lyon an irrelevance?
Can they put behind them the indifferent kick- chases, the six out of 10 defending and the inaccurate passing under pressure which made them look well below their level last weekend?
A few in their number carry a sting of injustice into this evening’s collision with the Scots. Some vicious social media abuse was directed at Irish scrum-half Conor Murray after Twickenham — staggering, considering it was Ireland’s first loss in 12 games in the Six Nations.
Farrell’s less- than- detailed exposition of why Ireland failed added to the impression that they are not quite sure how that happened last week.
‘ You wish you had another opportunity to go back this week and put that right but you don’t,’ he said.
‘I thought we were a bit off as far as committing to absolutely everything we were going to do. I suppose that’s across the whole of the game. You want another chance to put it right.’
He is sticking to those he had faith in. Ireland’s unchanged starting line-up has raised some eyebrows given Calvin Nash was forced off following a thunderous collision with England’s Tommy Freeman last Saturday.
Farrell will be sending Ireland into a Six Nations match for the last time until 2026 — he misses the 2025 edition as he will be Lions coach — and it is his power of motivation, above all else, that can help Ireland now.
His delivery to the squad before sending them out to beat England and clinch that Slam 12
months ago was captured in the Netflix series Full Contact and surpassed any coaching talk we heard across the episodes.
‘It doesn’t get any better, lads,’ Farrell told them that day. ‘And you know what this day should feel like?
‘It should feel like the best day of your life. We should feel so privileged to be in this room.’
They did not let him down. The spirit of that St Patrick’s weekend is something Ireland need to rediscover again now, as fuel for this one.