Andy Farell's Reign of Terror

[Dave Cahill]

Yaay, thats worked so well for us in the past.

[Flash Gordon]

Yaay, thats worked so well for us in the past.

Yes that had occurred to me alright. I think on this occasion you can see a definite upward trajectory and Ireland playing a brand of rugby that is probably best suited to us and pretty connected to the way kids and certainly Leinster are coached to play the game.

[Ruckedtobits]

The IRFU will advise delegates at its Annual Council Meeting later today (Friday 29th July) that Ireland Men’s Head Coach, Andy Farrell, has signed a two-year contract extension that will see him remain in his position until at least August 2025.

In his address to Council Kevin Potts, Chief Executive, IRFU, will congratulate and thank Andy, his coaching team, support staff and players for their historic win in New Zealand, while also confirming the contract extension.

Ahead of the Council meeting, IRFU Chief Executive Potts said: “I am delighted to confirm that Andy Farrell has accepted a two-year contract extension as the head coach of our men’s international team which will keep him at the helm of that team until at least August 2025, and there is an option to extend the contract further, based on a number of mutually agreed performance markers.

“Andy is one of the finest coaches in the world, he has brought our game to new heights and has the team playing a brand of rugby that excites, entertains, and engages people, while, critically, producing winning results.

“I would like to thank our Performance Director, David Nucifora, for his work in negotiating this extension with Andy.

“I, on behalf of all the Union delegates and Irish Rugby fans across the world, thank Andy for the exceptional impact he has had on Ireland’s performances to date, as we look forward to the year ahead, which will of course include the Rugby World Cup in France.”



Commenting on the new deal, Farrell said: “I am happy to extend my contract with Irish Rugby for a further two years. As a group we have made it clear that we are building towards the 2023 Rugby World Cup, and we have taken some decent strides in that regard in recent months.

“Ahead of the tour to New Zealand myself and David (Nucifora) looked at the opportunities and challenges facing the national squad after the tournament in France. I am excited about continuing to work with the group and with the next generation of Irish international players.”

IRFU Performance Director, David Nucifora, added: “Andy is one of the outstanding coaches in world rugby and his work in leading the transition within the national team since the 2019 Rugby World Cup has been exceptional. Ireland are currently the number one ranked team in the world, an incredibly tough five match tour of New Zealand was a success on several levels and a Triple Crown was secured in the 2022 Six Nations Championship.

“A coach of Andy’s calibre is always going to be in high demand, and we are delighted that he has agreed to extend his contract with the IRFU. This new deal, agreed prior to the Tour of New Zealand, allows us to plan beyond the 2023 Rugby World Cup with the certainty that one of the top coaching talents in the game is spearheading the national programme.”

What a brilliant piece of man management! I'm delighted that the IRFU & DN had the cojones to agree the extension of Farrell's contract before the NZ Tour. His market value has probably doubled since the Series win but England, Wales and possibly S Africa can go whistle for the next three years at least.

[jezzer]

Brilliant news.

I hope Easterby and Catt are being extended too.

[Oldschoolsocks]

Yaay, thats worked so well for us in the past.

That’s the spirit Dave, PMA!!!

[Dave Cahill]

Yaay, thats worked so well for us in the past.

That’s the spirit Dave, PMA!!!

I'm extremely positive, once more the Union confirms my oft-stated belief that the World Cup matters not a jot.

[Oldschoolsocks]

Yaay, thats worked so well for us in the past.

That’s the spirit Dave, PMA!!!

I'm extremely positive, once more the Union confirms my oft-stated belief that the World Cup matters not a jot.

How does one follow the other?

[suisse]

I thought all IRFU contracts came with a 6 month release clause. Certainly came up a lot with JVG. Farrell can still be poached in Nov if England are terrible

[Lock9541]

I thought all IRFU contracts came with a 6 month release clause. Certainly came up a lot with JVG. Farrell can still be poached in Nov if England are terrible

Not a chance he’ll leave us before the World Cup

[ronk]

That’s the spirit Dave, PMA!!!

I'm extremely positive, once more the Union confirms my oft-stated belief that the World Cup matters not a jot.

How does one follow the other?

The IRFU don't like speculation around coaches leading into a RWC, too messy. Hard to give one year when someone has the leverage to ask for 2. He now has 3 years which takes him past the Lions tour.

Anyway, it makes sense to see what the long term future brings and give him a platform to prepare for the long term.

[Flash Gordon]

Yaay, thats worked so well for us in the past.

That’s the spirit Dave, PMA!!!

I'm extremely positive, once more the Union confirms my oft-stated belief that the World Cup matters not a jot.

Not sure it doesn't matter but the economic reality is that Irish rugby runs off the 6 Nations. People suggesting using that as a warm up for the big show definitely don't understand the economics of Irish rugby.

[hugonaut]

That’s the spirit Dave, PMA!!!

I'm extremely positive, once more the Union confirms my oft-stated belief that the World Cup matters not a jot.

Not sure it doesn't matter but the economic reality is that Irish rugby runs off the 6 Nations. People suggesting using that as a warm up for the big show definitely don't understand the economics of Irish rugby.

They just don't understand rugby, full-stop. Ian Foster mightn't be the best coach the All Blacks have had, but he has given the rugby world the most laconic description ever of a test coach's job: "Win today, win tomorrow."

[Flash Gordon]

I'm extremely positive, once more the Union confirms my oft-stated belief that the World Cup matters not a jot.

Not sure it doesn't matter but the economic reality is that Irish rugby runs off the 6 Nations. People suggesting using that as a warm up for the big show definitely don't understand the economics of Irish rugby.

They just don't understand rugby, full-stop. Ian Foster mightn't be the best coach the All Blacks have had, but he has given the rugby world the most laconic description ever of a test coach's job: "Win today, win tomorrow."

Yep, that's about right. The hysteria and level of the commentary after we lost the first test against the All Blacks was pretty good evidence of that. It was pretty obvious that our game plan was right but that we executed badly but you had guys like Keith Wood arguing the case for the IRFU going off an digging out big lumps from GAA country as we couldn't compete - because we lost ONE game against a team we'd never beaten at home.

[jezzer]

As far as Faz' renewal goes, it's impossible to comment on whether the IRFU have bottled it or not without knowing the circumstances.

If Andy's contract has the same stupid clause that Van Graan's had (which seems very likely), i imagine they've been frantically trying to have it removed for some time. I suppose they were hoping to achieve it without an extension past the RWC, for the very reasons Dave alludes to - that it's been a poor ploy I'm the past.

But maybe, fresh of the back of an historic tour, Farrell decided to put it out there through the press that other nations were circling.

Lo and behold, new deal signed. Given the likely existence of the Van Graan clause, there's not much more the IRFU can do but grant an extension or face losing Faz at short notice with their arses to the four winds.

I'm speculating, but i think it's just as speculative to suggest the IRFU wanted to extend Farrell now, regardless of the upcoming RWC, when they've copped s ton of flak and had egg on their faces for doing it before.

[heno]

Van graan's clause was to be enacted within 6 months of signing, so presumably farrell on his current contract was past that point. Maybe by re signing they've put that clause back on the table?

Sent from my SM-A520F using Tapatalk

[jezzer]

Van graan's clause was to be enacted within 6 months of signing, so presumably farrell on his current contract was past that point. Maybe by re signing they've put that clause back on the table?

Sent from my SM-A520F using Tapatalk

Was it not a 6-month notice at any stage in the contract? That's how I understood it at the time.

[heno]

Regarding the principle of re signing before the wc, what would Farrell have to do to warrant being re signed?

Does achieving something only done 4 times previously in over 100 years of trying not qualify?
I would say it's a harder thing to achieve than getting to a wc sf.
I also heard that Farrell has beaten nz 5 times as a coach which has only been done once before.

Sent from my SM-A520F using Tapatalk

[heno]

Van graan's clause was to be enacted within 6 months of signing, so presumably farrell on his current contract was past that point. Maybe by re signing they've put that clause back on the table?

Sent from my SM-A520F using Tapatalk

Was it not a 6-month notice at any stage in the contract? That's how I understood it at the time.

I understood it was a buyers remorse clause. But I'm open to correction.

Sent from my SM-A520F using Tapatalk

[leinsterforever]

I don't really see any issue with an extension of the length it is. He was always going to stay till at least the World Cup. So what if the World Cup does go badly? It's pretty much par for the course with Ireland. And then he's there for two more 6N competitions after that. You're not going to want rid of a coach who won a Test series in NZ off the back of one bad 6N, so he should get two anyway.

[jezzer]

I don't really see any issue with an extension of the length it is. He was always going to stay till at least the World Cup. So what if the World Cup does go badly? It's pretty much par for the course with Ireland. And then he's there for two more 6N competitions after that. You're not going to want rid of a coach who won a Test series in NZ off the back of one bad 6N, so he should get two anyway.

Well, there are a couple of things to consider.

First - and i guess Dave's point from the tone of what he wrote- is that it's rewarding the coach before he's earned the RWC corn. An the face of it, that's hard to deny. There are two consequences i can think of: His remuneration and his job security are not as tied to RWC success as they maybe should be. On the pay aspect, his new contract could easily remedy that with heavy incentives.

On the security aspect, this is where Ireland fell foul before with renewing coaches ahead of time. RWC failure should have consequences for a coach and making it financially unviable to sack him after a bad world cup because he has several years remaining is a bad idea.

The other consequence is that the hiring and firing of coaches at test level is usually done from RWC to RWC. If Ireland bucks the trend an does its hiring business mid-cycle, it has to accept that there'll be fewer candidates available. It also means - and I'm 100% sure this is where the IRFU are coming from with Faz - the chances of a team post-RWC signing up the Irish coach are very small.

It's a rinse and repeat then of previous coaching contracts, which weren't always successes. In this case tho, i really struggle to see us wanting to ditch Faz even after a poor enough RWC and there's every chance he had an escape clause in his contract that we didn't want to continue. Imagine the embarrassment if Andy fecked off by invoking the clause just as we were peaking under his coaching.