Look at this, Joe... Reds run riot in Cork
Farrell: I don’t fear pressure of the top job
ANDY FARRELL says he is ‘excited’ to succeed Joe Schmidt as Ireland head coach after the World Cup in Japan. After six trophy-laden years at the helm, Schmidt will hand over the reins to his defence coach later this year. When Schmidt announced last November that he would ‘finish coaching’ after the World Cup, the IRFU immediately confirmed that Farrell would succeed him and lead Ireland to the 2023 World Cup in France. And the former England assistant coach is relishing the looming challenge, including the added pressure and scrutiny that comes with the top job. ‘Of course and I’m not afraid of that,’ said Farrell. ‘I’m excited by that. Everyone’s aware of what you’re getting into. We’re not going into it blind. So yeah, I look forward to that.’ It was revealed in
Sportsmail last year that Eddie Jones had tried to lure Farrell back into the England setup. The 43-year-old said yesterday that he had several offers before accepting the role as Ireland’s next head coach. ‘I was coming to a stage where jobs were being offered in the head coach role and I had said no to quite a few,’ he added. ‘I didn’t want to get to a stage where I was going to look back in the future and have regrets. ‘I would have 100 per cent regretted not taking this one.’