Ireland Team Talk XII: Farrell's First Fifteen

Because ideally we are going for the three weekends following the Scotland game as well. 5 tough games in 5 weeks is a lot more than normal.

If you simply look at the Scotland and South Africa game then the week isn't important. If you look at the overall picture then that week becomes very important.

This time unlike the previous RWCs the atmosphere in the Irish camp is a-lot more uplifting and a lot less stressful

We're 15 months away from the RWC.

15 months prior to the last World Cup, we were Grand Slam Champions, the European champions were an Irish team and we had just won a series in Australia, and we were a few months away from beating NZ for the second time in history.

15 months prior to the previous RWC, we were Six Nations champions, had just won a 2-0 tour in Argentina, a few months later we would beat South Africa and Australia and of course we would go on to win the next 6N too.

Mad how these things get completely re-written.

Except you completely ignored my point, the results on the field merely papered over cracks that weren't present until things went wrong, we saw this at the 2015 RWC and all the way through 2019. The players were more robotic and the camp was less enjoyable but that wasn't a problem when Ireland were winning but as soon as things went South the cracks appeared.

Also its must be said the results are somewhat irrelevant here its the way Ireland are carrying out themselves now compared to the 2 previous RWC's that shows how this is a different regime, compare the way Ireland played against NZL in 2022 with what Ireland in 2018 and 2014 did on tour? Ireland had a look of a team that didnt just want to beat NZL but dominate them whereas Ireland in 2018 & 2014had a look of a team that wanted to do just enough.

Also the big issue in 2014 and 2018 was they never evolved and continued to try do the same thing in 2018 & 2014 a year later when teams had figured it out, we have to wait and see will this Irish team will make the same mistakes but the fact the players are already acknowledging all this, something they werent doing the previous 2 campaigns, is reason enough to give them the benefit of the doubt for now at least.

In reality is we wont know who was right or wrong until 2023 as there will be twists and turns between then and now and questions will be thrown at Ireland and we'll have to see if they have the right answers.

Looking at the schedule now for the RWC, I had no idea we'd a 2 week gap between Scotland and SA. That's a huge benefit you'd have to think. Going to try to get over to either it or Scotland, both kicking off at 9pm local time!!

Whats your actual point? The first post i responded to seemed to suggest that you thought the week wasn't important. Now you're saying its very important.

Maybe i misunderstood the first post.

Yes. We play Romania, Tonga, SA and Scotland in that order. Tonga are going to have a good squad given the change in international eligibility rules.

I was critical of the safe selection of players who were at best anonymous versus NZL in the first test, one of the big reasons for a change in tone was how these players responded comparatively to how the responded over the previous regime, it feels as if these players are tougher mentality than the players they replaced.

Because the level of response was unlike any other in previous regimes, previously we would have probably fought back and showed improvement but ultimately lose by a score whereas we went to Dunedin and Wellington and put NZL away in a clinical and professional manner. Compare it to the way Ireland lost to England in 2019, we fixed none of the problems, just made excuses and then lost to Wales,England,Japan & NZL in the same year in an almost identical fashion. The fact we fixed the issue so quickly against the same opposition only a week afterwards makes me hopeful this team has adaptability that maybe I underestimated afew weeks ago. But ofcourse noone can predict what might happen in the next few months so and maybe if something goes wrong the cracks being papered over in 2019 might still be there and the only way to find out is if a team finds and exposes them.

It comes down to what the context are discussing? In context of the SA game or context of the entire tournament, playing a game as attritional as SA and having a week rest is very important but in context of the entire tournament a team like Ireland should be able to manage 4 weeks of rugby as we go through periods like this all the time in the Autumn, Summer and 6N campaign, albeit at this stage we have a small group of players as we are limited to 33 players but I still think that's enough as for instance England & SA in the last RWC got to a final using more or less 26 players over 4 weeks, if you manage you're squad well you should have no problem getting through 4 weeks with 33 players.

I shat myself about certain aspects of the team, such as sticking with the same players that underperformed in test 1, because I felt it was conservative and one of my biggest bug bearers of a team is a team that plays it safe and that has been an Irish problem for so long in my opinion. The reason I am so positive was the players vindicated the coach and managed the fix the problems in a way I never expected them to based on previous regimes, maybe because my expectations were so low about them fixing the problems that I'm giving them too much credit and maybe ill be brought right back down to earth in the Autumn but for now at least I see no real reason to be negative bar possibly being too wasteful in test 2 when we had the man advantage, would love us to be more ruthless in these situations.

I dislike these people too, I dont mind criticism as long as there is some construction to it but if its just essentially moaning that's an issue.

And arguably in the France loss it was a similar issue to the NZL first test where we were completely off our game for a 15-20 minute period which ultimately decided the game, in the end the points France scored in that period was greater than the difference on the final scoreboard. One area where we do need to fix is that 20 minutes before half time as that is a far greater issue than the second half of games for us, infect the 3rd test was the first time in 16 tests that we lost the 2nd half so clearly that isnt where our issues lie.

They did do plenty, during the 6N Ireland did show the potential they have but for the most part the performances were a little bit messy at times which is normal when you are in transition, obviously we had great moments during the 6N but it felt we would fall in and out during matches between good and bad.

The "loser mentality" rhetoric if im being completely honest was 80% down to the media more than Ireland itself, it felt after the first NZL test were going down the small team route that we had always done in the past and that had me concerned. What got me excited was the response from Ireland, it showed the mentality strength of a mentally very strong team that could actually go far in a tournament.

One really positive thing coming out of the series was how well the IRFU XV started all three Tests. Being down after the first quarter in RWC quarter finals has been a huge issue, so this ability to start fast in big pressure games bodes very well.