Shane Horgan recently spoke on the Second Captains podcast saying that he believes Farrell can't take Ireland to the top because he has a similar "philosophy" to Schmidt which is now out of date. I don't think he really got into detail though and explained why what Schmidt did (which was effective for several years) is suddenly ineffective and incapable of working.
"Andy Farrell was a continuity coach. What Joe Schmidt did when he came to Ireland and Leinster before that was quite revolutionary, it was innovative and at the forefront of rugby thinking.
"Over a period of time, that waned and it was no longer at the forefront. We saw that in his last year and with the World Cup.
"In the meantime, Andy Farrell was picked and he's continued on largely the philosophy [of Schmidt]. Although, bizarrely, he said that he wanted to move away from the detail. The detail in that philosophy is the thing that saved it, even as other philosophies developed. We're seeing what England are doing, France, what South Africa are doing in a different way, and the way that New Zealand play.
"He's moved away from the thing that was really important to that philosophy, and it's out of date. I don't see him capable of changing to be an innovator. Nothing that he's done so far indicates that to me.
We definitely haven't played brilliantly but I'm not sure that Farrell is doomed to mediocrity or why Farrell has both "moved away from the thing that was really important to that philosophy" and isn't "capable of changing". Seems a contradiction to me.
What do you guys think?
Side note: I've been browsing this sub for several years and I'm happy to finally sign up. Nice to meet you all!
The new breakdown interpretations makes it harder to protect possession. So playing a possession game is getting harder to do. Most of the top teams are now playing a kicking game.
I don't know if that's his philosophy though. I think he wants a more varied attack. The players are given license to play what's in front of them.
Not sure what Shaggy has based his viewpoint on. Nothing evident in Farrell's selections thus far to validate the opinion. Farrell has a depth of playing and coaching experience that no previous Irish coach can match. Whether it will contribute to the re-development of an Irish team who can enjoy the success we've had for a decade / dozen years is another matter.
France have under-performed for a decade. Wales have out-performed for 15 years. Ireland, in the opinion of our competitors have been the most successful country in the NH in improving our professional playing base and getting success at club & country. But the long-term fundamental baseline for Irish international rugby is outside the Top 4 rankings in the world
IMO, we have established a base capable of having occasional success in 6N and top four in RWC. But tactical smarts must be integral to preparation. We will very rarely have the physical capacity to compete toe-to-toe with France or England or SA as we did under JS from 2014-18. I believe our players have the skill levels to play with more risk and guile. They also have the conditioning to play like NZ. Hopefully, the coaching ticket can evolve an innovative and risky Game Plan rather than de-skilling our tactics.
