Andy Farell's Reign of Terror

[blockhead]

Nice article from the indo.

'It's harder for my wife and Owen's brother and sisters'
Farrell opens up on the pride of his son captaining England, and says facing him is just part of the job
Rúaidhrí O'Connor, February 14 2020 02:30 AM

For a couple of weeks last autumn, Andy Farrell did something strange. He became a normal fan and a normal dad.

Ireland had just been knocked out of the World Cup, but when the players returned home the new head coach remained in Japan with his wife Colleen and family to watch their eldest son, Owen, play in the semi-final and final.

Had things worked out differently, the former England international would have been in the opposition camp for the semi-final, but circumstances dictated that England took on New Zealand.

So, Farrell Snr took his seat in the stand at the International Stadium in Yokohama and watched as his son stood up to the Haka and then led England to perhaps their greatest performance.

And then, a week later, he was on hand to watch his son endure a very different experience as England lost to South Africa at the same venue in the final.

Tomorrow week, he'll be back in the coaching booth at Twickenham and will spend much of the week working out how to shut a backline down that is run by his son.

That, he says, is something he finds perfectly normal.

But, watching him play in Japan was a very different experience.

Tough

"Now that was tough. I was back to being a parent again and that is tougher than being a coach against your son that is playing on the opposition," he said.

"I actually did the whole fan, family thing that day on purpose, to get back to how it felt before all this even happened.

"I went on the train with the all the fans, enjoyed the atmosphere before the game, understood what it meant for my wife and the kids and that was tough because the nerves were through the roof as far as that's concerned.

"But this is totally different. Totally different to that."

What, we ask, were the emotions he felt as he watched England produce that scintillating performance.

"Well, you want your son to perform, don't you? You speak to any parent who is watching their son play for Ireland at the weekend, your fingers are crossed, hoping it goes well," he explained.

"When you're a coach, you don't feel like that. You don't hope it goes well, you're assessing things and you're seeing how the plan is coming together. So you're busy in your mind as a coach, you've got a distraction.
"But, when you're a parent, and I'm sure all parents would tell you the same, you're just watching your son. You're not watching the game as much as you would do as a coach."

At Twickenham, it will be different.

Farrell Jnr and Farrell Snr once shared the dressing-room as players, while Owen had his father as a coach at Saracens, England and the Lions before he joined up with Ireland as defence coach in 2016.

Since then, they have faced off four times and they've won two each.

"When was that? I can't remember," he said of the first time they met in 2017. "Honestly, it's been so many times now. I can't even remember how it felt.

"You know what, there is an element of... I am proud of the situation, I am as far as a father and him as a son, I am proud of how it is handled because it is one of the utmost respect, but of professionalism, first and foremost."

For those involved, it's easy to get to grips with the dynamic. Not so, for the rest of the household.

"I know, it's weird, isn't it?" he said when the topic was first broached.

"Well, honestly, yeah, it is weird because I know it's weird for you guys (in the media) but it's certainly not weird for us because it's never been any different.

"It's as professional as it gets because that's all we've ever known with Owen being a professional and me being a professional coach. It's never been any different.

"The hardest part is certainly for Colleen. Yeah, 100 per cent. And Owen's sisters, and the young fella Gabriel, it's weird for them.

"They've got unbelievably mixed emotions, I've no doubt, because they're only human, but I suppose how do they try and come to terms with it?

"I suppose they think that, they hope that, both sides do well.

"And that's not going to happen, is it? So it's a difficult one for them."

They will, he says, be in touch between now and the game.

"Probably, yeah. What about, I don't know. It certainly won't be about our tactics, and it certainly won't be about his, so..."

Last week, the build-up to the Calcutta Cup match between Scotland and England was dominated by over-inflated hype, with the word 'hate' featuring more prominently than normal. It is not a road Farrell wishes to go down.

"No. No, 100 per cent. The game's tough enough, and there's a mutual respect between the players, and the coaches as well. So I wouldn't even go down that road.

"We've family on both sides and we're unbelievably proud of that.

"I speak to all the Irish fans who love going to Twickenham and they tell me that everyone is unbelievably friendly, and that's why they keep coming back for a great day out."

For all of the pride he feels, the competitior in Farrell is targeting a win at his old stomping ground next weekend.

He's respectful of an opposition he knows more than most, but believes Ireland are gearing up for a performance.

"I'm as confident as you can be going to Twickenham," he said.

"We know the task in hand. We know what awaits you when you get there.

"We know that England are pretty proud to play at home like we are to play at the Aviva. We feel like we're in a decent place.

"We're looking forward to next week. We've had a good couple of days here. I'm sure the lads are relishing coming into camp on Monday night, looking for a big week ahead. We'll need to be like that."

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Watching our game last night and the Brumbies and Rebels this week has really highlighted how static and predictable Ireland are right now.

Mentioned it in the match thread but the variety of dummy runners and hard lines off Luke tied defenders in brilliantly and caused mayhem for Glasgow all over the pitch. It's obviously tactical but I do think Luke is very good at organising players around him and keeping the tempo up.

The Brumbies are really well coached. Like Ireland, they don't have many powerful carriers but oraganise themselves really well to eek out some hard yards and get quick and secure ball e.g. getting three players to stand in a front row formation and having the two guys on the edges latch on to the ball carrier in the middle. The Rebels do it too but it's not quite as tight. That's usually when they're looking to set up a kick but when they're attacking further up the field the pods set up wider so it's much harder for the defence to just target one player like we see with Ireland all the time. And of course they run onto the ball no matter how they're set up.

We could absolutely do all this, none of it is rocket science and we have the players. Not sure how likely it is for the French game to go ahead but I hope the extra week gives us the freedom to have a proper rethink and overhaul what we've been doing.

[wixfjord]

Saw someone mention it last night and thought it was a great point - Fardy is doing the role that POM tries to play for Munster and Ireland, but to far, far greater effect. He has the hands and power to play in those wide channels.

A good example was last weekend when POM went to throw a pass to Stockdale on the overlap. Ended up around Stockdale's ear and he knocked it back, causing us to lose all momentum.

It's an old cliche but it's true, the collective impact of good zippy passing in front of a player on the run across a game is huge.

[hugonaut]

Watching our game last night and the Brumbies and Rebels this week has really highlighted how static and predictable Ireland are right now.

Mentioned it in the match thread but the variety of dummy runners and hard lines off Luke tied defenders in brilliantly and caused mayhem for Glasgow all over the pitch. It's obviously tactical but I do think Luke is very good at organising players around him and keeping the tempo up.

The Brumbies are really well coached. Like Ireland, they don't have many powerful carriers but oraganise themselves really well to eek out some hard yards and get quick and secure ball e.g. getting three players to stand in a front row formation and having the two guys on the edges latch on to the ball carrier in the middle. The Rebels do it too but it's not quite as tight. That's usually when they're looking to set up a kick but when they're attacking further up the field the pods set up wider so it's much harder for the defence to just target one player like we see with Ireland all the time. And of course they run onto the ball no matter how they're set up.

We could absolutely do all this, none of it is rocket science and we have the players. Not sure how likely it is for the French game to go ahead but I hope the extra week gives us the freedom to have a proper rethink and overhaul what we've been doing.

When Conor Murray is playing badly, he tends to pass the ball at players, he doesn't lead them with his pass. I should say that this is obviously part of playing badly, not just a side effect.

When the commentator mentions that such-and-such a player 'took the ball standing still', the impression is that the receiving player is at fault, or the gameplan is at fault. The receiving player can't control where the pass is thrown. If it's out in front of him, he has to run on to it. If it's to where he's currently standing, he has to stay standing there if he wants to catch it. To me, it's totally implausible that any coach would want his team doing this.

It seems like it should be an easy fix for the scrum-half, but it demands more skill from the receiver. But these lads are the best rugby players in the country, and should be able to take a pass at pace under pressure. Most of them are, it's part of the job.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

I agree Hugo but when you're set up so predictably so often then you're obviously going to have to focus on holding onto the ball and just making sure it comes back on your side rather than carrying for any kind of decent metres. When you see England set up with four big forwards beside the ruck and we have one forward to take a pop pass with one player supporting then it's curtains.

There's the lack of variety as well, I really can't understand why we didn't chip over the top or crossfield last week. Just awful all round but like you said we have the players so there's plenty of scope to improve.

[backrower8]

I know all the arguments but I really am disappointed to see so many non-Irish players in the Irish squad. Playing for your country internationally is more than a job and it lessens the integrity of the team as well as denying Irish players the opportunity to represent their country. I don’t buy the citizenship status either. Richardt Strauss )lovely guy, super player) doesn’t live here anymore, others will return to their families and true homes when they retire from Irish rugby or move on.

Herring, Bealham, Roux, Stander, Gibson-Park, Aki, Lowe, Addison are the current crop. There were 5 in the 23 today.

Heffernan/Kelleher/Sheehan, Molony, Conan, Marmion/McGrath, Farrell, Kearney, Daly are all squeezed out by the players above and there isn’t a cigarette paper between them.

[Oldschool]

I know all the arguments but I really am disappointed to see so many non-Irish players in the Irish squad. Playing for your country internationally is more than a job and it lessens the integrity of the team as well as denying Irish players the opportunity to represent their country. I don’t buy the citizenship status either. Richardt Strauss )lovely guy, super player) doesn’t live here anymore, others will return to their families and true homes when they retire from Irish rugby or move on.

Herring, Bealham, Roux, Stander, Gibson-Park, Aki, Lowe, Addison are the current crop. There were 5 in the 23 today.

Heffernan/Kelleher/Sheehan, Molony, Conan, McGrath, Farrell, Kearney, Daly are all squeezed out by the players above and there isn’t a cigarette paper between them.

Them's the rules.
As someone once said.
"I don't care what the rules are so long as I know what the rules are"
My only reservation would be the way some countries NZ in particular use those rules to effectively weaken the Pacific Island teams.
However a lot of those players move to NZ for economic reasons so it's hard to be too critical.

[backrower8]

Thankfully the rules have been tightened up, but it will be a while before their full effect comes through. We have choices within the rules. My issue is with the choices. Too many non-Irish players playing for Ireland instead of Irish players.

[hugonaut]

I know all the arguments but I really am disappointed to see so many non-Irish players in the Irish squad. Playing for your country internationally is more than a job and it lessens the integrity of the team as well as denying Irish players the opportunity to represent their country. I don’t buy the citizenship status either. Richardt Strauss )lovely guy, super player) doesn’t live here anymore, others will return to their families and true homes when they retire from Irish rugby or move on.

Herring, Bealham, Roux, Stander, Gibson-Park, Aki, Lowe, Addison are the current crop. There were 5 in the 23 today.

Heffernan/Kelleher/Sheehan, Molony, Conan, Marmion/McGrath, Farrell, Kearney, Daly are all squeezed out by the players above and there isn’t a cigarette paper between them.

Will Addison's mother is Irish. Bealham and Herring both have Irish grandparents.

[backrower8]

So Addison is in, I would still question his personal affinity. Ruddock and Marmion were here from the get go.

What’s your opinion on the broader point made?

[Logorrhea]

I would still question his personal affinity.

How? What information have you got to question that?

[hugonaut]

So Addison is in, I would still question his personal affinity. Ruddock and Marmion were here from the get go.

What’s your opinion on the broader point made?

I've never felt that strongly about it, to be honest. The IRB/World Rugby put in place regulations and we work within those.

There are a lot of test matches in contemporary rugby in comparison to the amateur era, so I think that it is unusual for guys who are in the mix not to get a cap at some stage. For example, we've given six hookers caps in the last 12 months - Best, Scannell, Cronin, Herring, Kelleher, Heffernan.

The only thing that has really exercised me in terms of international recognition in recent years was when we failed to award caps or recognise the 2012 international against Fiji in Thomond Park as a test match [this game: https://www.espn.com/rugby/report?gameI ... gue=273393 ].

We selected a team captained by the then-current captain of Ireland [Jamie Heaslip] with players like Cian Healy, Sean Cronin, Mike Ross, Donncha O'Callaghan, Conor Murray, Keith Earls, Fergus McFadden etc. to play against the touring Fijian international side. The IRFU decided to play it in Thomond Park for internal political reasons. Because the IRFU's sponsorship deal with Aviva meant that all Irish test matches had to be played at Lansdowne Road, we called it an "Ireland XV", didn't award caps and wrote it out of our history [check out our fixture list for the year on the IRFU's website: https://www.irishrugby.ie/ireland/fixtures-results/ – it's not there]. I felt that was a staggering disrespect to Fiji as a rugby nation and that the IRFU disgraced itself for the sake of a financial deal and internal wrangling at committee level.

They picked a side full of regular internationals, but a former team-mate of theirs [Maleli Kunavore] had died aged just 29 in the days leading up to the game, and their hearts weren't in it. We ended up winning 53-0: Craig Gilroy scored a hat-trick and Ferg bagged two tries. I remember that Jamie Heaslip - captain on the day – was booed off the pitch by a significant portion of the Thomond crowd when he was replaced after 76 minutes with us 48-0 up.

Actually even writing about that has riled me up again. We had played against Fiji in the RDS two years previously [Sexton's debut] and awarded caps for that game. The big difference this time around was that the IRFU decided that they didn't have to treat Fiji as an international team because it didn't suit them. A f*cking disgrace.

[Dave Cahill]

International rugby was never about representing "your" country. Thats an entirely new concept in the last 25 years or so. You represented the game of rugby in the country you played in and were selected for, not the country itself. After the game went open there was a fear that countries like Italy or Japan, with their company funded teams, would be able to skew the international game to the detriment of, in particular, Australia and New Zealand. So qualification requirements were introduced - residency, as a nod to the original ethos of the international game, and bloodline. Ironically, considering the disdain many people who support rugby hold for the sport, the concept of representing your country is cribbed almost entirely from Association Football

[cormac]

So Addison is in, I would still question his personal affinity. Ruddock and Marmion were here from the get go.

What’s your opinion on the broader point made?

I've never felt that strongly about it, to be honest. The IRB/World Rugby put in place regulations and we work within those.

There are a lot of test matches in contemporary rugby in comparison to the amateur era, so I think that it is unusual for guys who are in the mix not to get a cap at some stage. For example, we've given six hookers caps in the last 12 months - Best, Scannell, Cronin, Herring, Kelleher, Heffernan.

The only thing that has really exercised me in terms of international recognition in recent years was when we failed to award caps or recognise the 2012 international against Fiji in Thomond Park as a test match [this game: https://www.espn.com/rugby/report?gameI ... gue=273393 ].

We selected a team captained by the then-current captain of Ireland [Jamie Heaslip] with players like Cian Healy, Sean Cronin, Mike Ross, Donncha O'Callaghan, Conor Murray, Keith Earls, Fergus McFadden etc. to play against the touring Fijian international side. The IRFU decided to play it in Thomond Park for internal political reasons. Because the IRFU's sponsorship deal with Aviva meant that all Irish test matches had to be played at Lansdowne Road, we called it an "Ireland XV", didn't award caps and wrote it out of our history [check out our fixture list for the year on the IRFU's website: https://www.irishrugby.ie/ireland/fixtures-results/ – it's not there]. I felt that was a staggering disrespect to Fiji as a rugby nation and that the IRFU disgraced itself for the sake of a financial deal and internal wrangling at committee level.

They picked a side full of regular internationals, but a former team-mate of theirs [Maleli Kunavore] had died aged just 29 in the days leading up to the game, and their hearts weren't in it. We ended up winning 53-0: Craig Gilroy scored a hat-trick and Ferg bagged two tries. I remember that Jamie Heaslip - captain on the day – was booed off the pitch by a significant portion of the Thomond crowd when he was replaced after 76 minutes with us 48-0 up.

Actually even writing about that has riled me up again. We had played against Fiji in the RDS two years previously [Sexton's debut] and awarded caps for that game. The big difference this time around was that the IRFU decided that they didn't have to treat Fiji as an international team because it didn't suit them. A f*cking disgrace.

Fiji game at the RDS was in 2009, during the Aviva rebuild.

[backrower8]

So Addison is in, I would still question his personal affinity. Ruddock and Marmion were here from the get go.

What’s your opinion on the broader point made?

I've never felt that strongly about it, to be honest. The IRB/World Rugby put in place regulations and we work within those.

There are a lot of test matches in contemporary rugby in comparison to the amateur era, so I think that it is unusual for guys who are in the mix not to get a cap at some stage. For example, we've given six hookers caps in the last 12 months - Best, Scannell, Cronin, Herring, Kelleher, Heffernan.

The only thing that has really exercised me in terms of international recognition in recent years was when we failed to award caps or recognise the 2012 international against Fiji in Thomond Park as a test match [this game: https://www.espn.com/rugby/report?gameI ... gue=273393 ].

We selected a team captained by the then-current captain of Ireland [Jamie Heaslip] with players like Cian Healy, Sean Cronin, Mike Ross, Donncha O'Callaghan, Conor Murray, Keith Earls, Fergus McFadden etc. to play against the touring Fijian international side. The IRFU decided to play it in Thomond Park for internal political reasons. Because the IRFU's sponsorship deal with Aviva meant that all Irish test matches had to be played at Lansdowne Road, we called it an "Ireland XV", didn't award caps and wrote it out of our history [check out our fixture list for the year on the IRFU's website: https://www.irishrugby.ie/ireland/fixtures-results/ – it's not there]. I felt that was a staggering disrespect to Fiji as a rugby nation and that the IRFU disgraced itself for the sake of a financial deal and internal wrangling at committee level.

They picked a side full of regular internationals, but a former team-mate of theirs [Maleli Kunavore] had died aged just 29 in the days leading up to the game, and their hearts weren't in it. We ended up winning 53-0: Craig Gilroy scored a hat-trick and Ferg bagged two tries. I remember that Jamie Heaslip - captain on the day – was booed off the pitch by a significant portion of the Thomond crowd when he was replaced after 76 minutes with us 48-0 up.

Actually even writing about that has riled me up again. We had played against Fiji in the RDS two years previously [Sexton's debut] and awarded caps for that game. The big difference this time around was that the IRFU decided that they didn't have to treat Fiji as an international team because it didn't suit them. A f*cking disgrace.

+1

[backrower8]

International rugby was never about representing "your" country. Thats an entirely new concept in the last 25 years or so. You represented the game of rugby in the country you played in and were selected for, not the country itself. After the game went open there was a fear that countries like Italy or Japan, with their company funded teams, would be able to skew the international game to the detriment of, in particular, Australia and New Zealand. So qualification requirements were introduced - residency, as a nod to the original ethos of the international game, and bloodline. Ironically, considering the disdain many people who support rugby hold for the sport, the concept of representing your country is cribbed almost entirely from Association Football

Wow! I am not saying that you are wrong, surprising and all as that is to me some 46 years after attending my first international match, but try passing that off to the people who played for their country (as 99.9% see it) and those still trying to emulate them.

[heno]

As someone who's partner wasn't born here, I have a problem with the view that people can come here as an economic unit and live and work but will never be truely Irish.
I know some will say they aren't talking about life in general, and that sport is different. But for me sport is quite a big part of who we are.
So if you have 2 people lining out for Ireland, one who had only been here for 5 years but has been walking our streets, paying our tax, giving out about our weather, calling kitchen cupboards presses, etc and the other has "Irish blood" but has only been here a wet week and doesn't know where the GPO is, I know who I think is more Irish.

Sent from my SM-A520F using Tapatalk

[backrower8]

That’s not my focus here. I am thinking of people for whom playing for their country in the place they grew up and learned that sport is not close to being an economic matter, but one of heritage and place. Those players, In most instances, are as good as people who grew up elsewhere and who have citizenship elsewhere, or who split their passports.

The players I highlighted above who are more recent and mainly temporary residents being chosen over players who are comparably good and who are of this place past, present or future.

If you dilute that too much it weakens the bonds between the Irish team and the community it relies on. That’s just my opinion.

[RichardP]

Having lived in Canada for many years and seen the improvements brought at club level by immigrant players who then went on to represent Canada proudly I urge caution in respect to absolutism here. Many of my club mates represented Canada over the years, some Canadian born, others from Ireland, Australia, Wales, NZ etcetera. ALL were hugely proud of being selected, some returned to their native lands, others remained...that’s just life. If a rule is imposed that restricts foreign born players from representing their adopted countries then the likes of Canada, USA, Japan and Italy will soon disappear from top flight rugby, sadly in Canada it is already well down that road.
Don’t make rugby all about racial purity; the best thing about the five players identified is that there was no sickening xenophobia in the media about their selection this time around, unlike what Stander and Aki endured when first selected.

[RichardP]

As someone who's partner wasn't born here, I have a problem with the view that people can come here as an economic unit and live and work but will never be truely Irish.
I know some will say they aren't talking about life in general, and that sport is different. But for me sport is quite a big part of who we are.
So if you have 2 people lining out for Ireland, one who had only been here for 5 years but has been walking our streets, paying our tax, giving out about our weather, calling kitchen cupboards presses, etc and the other has "Irish blood" but has only been here a wet week and doesn't know where the GPO is, I know who I think is more Irish.

Sent from my SM-A520F using Tapatalk

Well said.