Ireland head coach Andy Farrell is not getting carried away by his side having a maximum 10 points after impressive Six Nations wins over France and Italy, saying “it gets tougher from here on in.”
Farrell was speaking on Sunday after Ireland, showing six changes from the side that brushed aside France 38-17, eased to an embarrassingly one-sided 36-0 victory over Italy at Lansdowne Road in Dublin.
It was the first time they had prevented an opponent from scoring in the northern hemisphere rugby championship since beating England 17-0 in the then-Five Nations in 1987.
Photo: AP
However, any talk about becoming the first team to win successive Six Nations Grand Slams means little to Farrell with home matches against Wales and Scotland to come.
In between those is a trip to Twickenham to play England, who also have Grand Slam aspirations having beaten Italy and Wales.
“Obviously, with two from two and maximum points etcetera, 36-0 is a nice scoreline for us,” Farrell told reporters. “It’s a decent start. It gets tougher from here on in.”
Farrell — who is to sit out next year’s Six Nations as he has been named head coach of the British & Irish Lions for the tour of Australia — said parts of the performance had been “clunky and patchy.”
“Sometimes you get a little bit too desperate instead of just boxing away with the stuff that we were doing and doing so well, but the pleasing thing, and it’s pleasing for quite some time now, is we’re able to get over those type of setbacks and get on with the job in hand,” the 48-year-old Englishman said.
For Caelan Doris, captaining his nation for the first time sparked more pre-match “nerves than usual,” but said that it had been a special day.
The outstanding forward said Ireland had gone off the boil for “20, 30 minutes,” but overall he was pretty happy.
“They’ve got threats throughout so I don’t think it’s a mean feat keeping them to zero and we’re happy with that, definitely,” the 25-year-old said.
Jack Crowley once again impressed at flyhalf — he scored his first try for his nation and was at the heart of another — but less so according to Farrell at fullback when he moved there after Hugo Keenan limped off in the second half.
Keenan would be a huge loss to Ireland if he were to be ruled out for a long time, but Farrell had been encouraged by his demeanor in the dressing room afterward.
“He seems in good spirits, but you saw him and he was limping so we’ll see how he turns up tomorrow morning, whether he needs someone to have a look at that or not,” Farrell said.
Italy’s Gonzalo Quesada had promised on becoming head coach that his side would play with more Latin-style flair, but the Argentine was left shaking his head in despair at a performance that was riddled with errors.
It was a pale shadow of the one they produced in giving England an almighty scare the previous weekend in a 27-24 defeat.
Whilst Quesada said his side “were a better team than they showed today,” Italy captain Michele Lamaro said he and the players took full responsibility for the lackluster display.
“It’s definitely down to us [the manner of defeat], without taking away anything from Ireland,” Lamaro said. “We know that they’re an incredible team, but we have to find solutions because otherwise we won’t be able to play our own rugby, play how we want to play. It’s hard, but we have to realize that this is the standard that we’re going to be up against, that’s how it is. Maybe some people haven’t realized that yet, but we need to be hard on ourselves, above all myself.”
As well as Man of the Match Ireland wing James Lowe played, it is likely the performance that will be remembered is eight-year-old Stevie Mulrooney belting out the oft-derided Irish anthem Ireland’s Call before kickoff in front of more than 50,000 spectators.
“His confidence was amazing and I actually thought I wish our lads are going to be like that,” an awe-struck Farrell said.
Taiwan kept its hopes of advancing to the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome last night, backed by solid pitching. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The win was crucial for Taiwan, as a loss would have eliminated the team from contention for the next WBC. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸) struck out one and allowed no hits, except for
The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) is considering reducing its pitch clock by two seconds to help players better adjust to the rules applied at the World Baseball Classic (WBC). The proposal aims to shorten the pitch timer from 25 seconds to 23 seconds with the bases empty, and from 20 seconds to 18 seconds with runners on base. Currently, the WBC mandates that pitchers deliver a pitch every 18 seconds with the bases empty and 15 seconds with runners on base. The issue was raised during a pre-season CPBL managers’ meeting on Tuesday by Rakuten Monkeys bench and batting
‘SETTING THE TONE’: Donovan Mitchell said that their determination to dominate had nothing to do with past results, but was about a potential post-season clash The Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday boosted their NBA-best record with a 142-105 romp past the New York Knicks, tightening their grip on the Eastern Conference lead with an all-around dominant display. Donovan Mitchell scored 27 points to lead six Cavs players to score in double figures, connecting on five of seven three-pointers as Cleveland drilled 19 from beyond the arc. “I think the biggest thing was just try to set the tone early,” Mitchell said, adding that the determination to dominate had nothing to do with the Knicks’ first-round playoff win over the Cavs two seasons ago and everything to do with
BELGIANS ADVANCE: Club Brugge gave Atalanta a lesson in efficiency, as Gian Piero Gasperini’s team had 29 efforts at goal, compared with seven from the visitors Seldom has a player’s sending off had such an influence on a game. AC Milan was to left rue Theo Hernandez’s second yellow card — for diving — as Feyenoord advanced to the UEFA Champions League last 16 at the former European champion’s expense with a 1-1 draw in the second leg of their playoff on Tuesday, giving the Dutch team a 2-1 win on aggregate. Bayern Munich, Club Brugge and Benfica also won their playoffs, eliminating Celtic, UEFA Europa League winner Atalanta BC and French team AS Monaco respectively. “In soccer everything changes in a second,” said Milan forward
RSS