SHANE McGRATH
THERE’S ONE MAN THE IRFU DARE NOT LOSE
LIFE is trying under Eddie Jones. Dispatches from the England rugby squad report an environment bent towards high achievement through the constant application of high pressure.
Jones is tiring to listen to; doing so on a daily basis as one of his players must be exhausting.
He was asked at his introductory press conference as England coach about how talents produced by underage systems would be accommodated.
‘I’m not discussing that,’ he replied. ‘I’m a national team coach. I don’t discuss academies.’
From the start of his England tenure, Jones has concerned himself with winning, and the 2019 World Cup is the light by which all his plans are drawn. So far, he has proven a resounding success with his team winning 22 of the 23 Tests played under his care, the loss coming in Dublin in March.
However, the Jones era will end as soon as England’s involvement in the World Cup does. If that were after a victorious final, then the clamour to keep him would be tremendous. But his methods are not suited to building a rugby empire; his is a short, sharp burst for the Webb Ellis Trophy.
The attention has turned in England in recent weeks to life after the Australian. Speculation about successors has been prompted by stories from a number of wellinformed journalists, with names like Exeter coach Rob Baxter figuring highly in their accounts.
However, one man was particularly prominent in the reckonings. The quality of work Andy Farrell has performed since joining Joe Schmidt and Ireland has been picked over and disputed, but the effectiveness of his methods was established on the Lions tour.
His defensive system helped to shut down New Zealand in the second and third Tests, and was a reminder for observers beyond these shores of his qualities.
Ireland’s record since he joined up with Schmidt bears favourable comparison with England’s under Jones. Last season, his first in green, Ireland conceded seven tries in five Six Nations matches, the same as Wales, one less than England and one more than France, who had the best record in the tournament.
In 2016, by contrast, Ireland conceded nine tries compared to England’s four.
The aggressive defensive rush favoured by Farrell is perfectly suited to the modern game, and especially to playing the All Blacks.
There was a rare wobble last weekend when Argentina burgled two second-half tries, but the overall impact he has made, including in wins against New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and England, has impressed people within the squad and far beyond it.
He is a formidable authority figure, thanks to his marvellous playing career in league but also the good work he did under Stuart Lancaster prior to the 2015 World Cup. England had a disastrous time as hosts of that competition and it was inevitable the management team would pay a heavy price.
Hysteria stained analysis of England’s failings, though, with excellent coaches dismissed as weak and insufficiently talented for the highest level of the sport.
Lancaster has shown the folly of those premature verdicts with Leinster, and Farrell has done the same with Ireland and the Lions.
That he is now featuring in conversations about English rugby planning after Jones should raise pulse-rates in the IRFU after a week punctuated by rumours of playing departures.
Losing Farrell would be far more serious than seeing CJ Stander leave for France, and it is a greater worry for Ireland’s long-term prospects than the possibility of Peter O’Mahony emigrating, too.
Notwithstanding the pertinent point that much of the news about players mulling over moves to another team is, traditionally, the work of agents, O’Mahony, as a prospective Ireland captain in 2019, would constitute a serious loss to the Irish game were he to go to England or France.
However, Farrell is in prime position to replace Schmidt after the next World Cup, and so he could shape the future of the national team in this country beyond 2023, by which time O’Mahony, Stander and other alleged flight risks will either be retired or easing towards it.
Farrell is the outstanding candidate to succeed Joe Schmidt, and spending another two years working under one of the best coaches in the world will deepen his knowledge.
Then, were the incumbent to return to New Zealand, Farrell could be smoothly promoted to start working with the most exciting generation this country has produced.
That is the happy scenario. The danger is his talents have returned to wider attention, and keeping him could be a problem that makes exaggerated fears of player drain look like trifles.