Blip or slip into old ways? Farrell must now decide
Honeymoon period over for Ireland head coach after this Twickenham trauma, writes Tom Cary
Maybe it was not such a brilliant idea bringing Bono in to speak to Ireland’s players. Andy Farrell was note perfect in his first three months in charge. Ireland’s new head coach had charmed the media, earning plaudits for his open, engaging style. He had transformed the mood in Ireland’s camp following the oppressive last days of Joe Schmidt. And he had won both of his games, the second in particularly encouraging fashion against Wales a fortnight ago.
The question, after this horror show – a contest so one-sided Eddie Jones said he might have “declared at half-time” had it been a cricket match – is whether those encouraging first few months were real or whether the changes he made were mere window dressing.
Was this dire performance just a bad day at the office? A chastening defeat by a pumped-up England team who, lest we forget, were in a World Cup final three months ago? Or was this a sign that Ireland under Farrell are the same old, same old?
Those who believe the latter point out that this is still basically the same Ireland team who have been underperforming for the best part of 12 months.
Apart from the enforced switch caused by Rory Best’s retirement, Farrell has stuck with the same bunch of players. Jordan Larmour for Rob Kearney and Andrew Conway for Keith Earls are but minor tweaks. Farrell has retained faith in Conor Murray and Johnny Sexton, in Tadhg Furlong and Cian Healy, in Josh van der Flier and Peter O’mahony, in Jacob Stockdale. Even Devin Toner, dropped by Schmidt for the World Cup, was parachuted in for a rare start yesterday.
All endured difficult afternoons. None more so than Sexton. It was tempting to wonder whether Bono spiked the soup he served Ireland’s captain for that midweek photo op. The Leinster fly-half began the game in horrible fashion, gifting
George Ford an early score and shanking the ball more than once from the tee.
Murray was not much better, his box-kicking wayward.
They were feeding off scraps, though. Brian O’driscoll made the point afterwards that whenever Ireland come up against a big, physical team, they tend to struggle. And, just as in Dublin 12 months ago, when England were utterly rampant, they were bullied all over the pitch here. England produced 32 dominant tackles to Ireland’s eight. “It was like being stuck in the same game,” Sexton admitted. “I’m proud of the way we fought back, though. We chased the bonus point.” The game was long gone by then.
Of course, you can argue it both ways. Yes, this is the same group who struggled badly throughout 2019. It is also the same group who won the Grand Slam the year before. The question is whether Farrell can get them playing to that level again. After the win against Wales two weekends ago, it felt as if he might.
Ireland looked and sounded confident, extolling the virtues of their new less-structured game plan; of new attack coach Mike Catt. After this bruising defeat, some will write them off again. Both responses would be premature. It is too early to cast judgment on Farrell’s Ireland.
It will be of some consolation to the Englishman that Ireland have Italy at home next, rather than France away.
An opportunity to return to Dublin and get their mojo back.
But the question remains: does Farrell stick with the old guard? Or does he wield the axe, build a new team around some of the province’s young blood?
One thing is for sure: the honeymoon period is over.