FARRELL FLATTERY

ANDY FARRELL has batted away speculation that he could reunite with Stuart Lancaster to succeed Joe Schmidt in the Ireland hotseat.

Farrell (above) was Lancaster’s assistant in the England set-up when the Red Rose wilted at the group stage of the last World Cup on home soil three years ago.

Since then the duo have impressively rebuilt their reputations, Lancaster (inset) as Leinster’s senior coach and Farrell as defence expert with Ireland.

With Schmidt’s future beyond the World Cup set to be revealed by the end of this month, IRFU boss Philip Browne claimed yesterday that both men are “more than capable” of stepping up if the Kiwi does decide to leave.

Asked about Browne’s ringing endorsement, Farrell replied: “Thank you very much! Look, that type of thing, you won’t expect me to answer that today in the week that we’ve got.

“What I would say on that is that I have a fantastic job, I really enjoy myself working under Joe, learning. Joe will make his decision in time, I’ll keep enjoying myself and hopefully keep getting better.”

Farrell has the distinction of being the only Northern Hemisphere coach in the modern era to beat the All Blacks three times once with England, once with Ireland and once with the Lions.

“There is no secret,” he said. “I’ve lost against them a lot more than I’ve won as well. What they’re masters at is making sure when things go wrong for them, their confidence levels, their ability to stick to the plan and stay on point is better than anyone.”