Andy Farrell was defence coach for the 2013 Lions, working with current Ireland internationals Rory Best, Cian Healy, Jamie Heaslip, Conor Murray, Sean O’Brien, Johnny Sexton, Tommy Bowe, Simon Zebo and Rob Kearney.
Farrell was a big voice on the 2013 Lions tour. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
He left an impression on those men, as well as the since-retired Brian O’Driscoll and Paul O’Connell.
The words above were among the messages Farrell delivered on that tour, the articulation of his aggressive beliefs about how teams should defend proactively.
“On D, we cannot afford to allow our emotional energy to dip whatsoever,” barked Farrell before one Lions game. “Fucking destroy and enjoy.”
Like his predecessor Les Kiss, Farrell is of the view that defence is not merely about preventing the opposition from scoring.
“We don’t see defence in isolation at all,” said Farrell. “We see defence as the start of our attack.”
As he pushed England to do during his four-year tenure before being sacked after their recent World Cup failure, Farrell will demand huge linespeed from Ireland when he takes over for the June tour to South Africa.
He will accept only intense energy and urgency from his defenders as they look to bring that linespeed.
His defence is likely to have firm edges, with outside defenders getting up hard to shut down the opposition attack and Ireland having to work extremely hard to cover the backfield as a result.
Farrell’s technical coaching on defence is highly rated, his array of rugby league-style choke tackling, pinpoint chop tackling, wrestling-influenced grapples and focus on footwork into the point of contact all important elements.
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A rugby league legend as a player with Wigan and Great Britain, twice winning the prestigious Man of Steel award, Farrell’s coaching beliefs are very much still influenced by that background.
Farrell's time with England ended in failure. Colm O'Neill / INPHO
Colm O'Neill / INPHO / INPHO
The now 40-year-old famously moved into union in the latter stages of his playing career, spending four largely unimpressive seasons with Saracens. He also won eight caps for England, featuring thrice in their 2007 World Cup campaign.
One of the lowlights of that stint as an England inside centre was the 43-13 hammering at the hands of Ireland in Croke Park during the 2007 Six Nations.
Farrell moved into coaching with Saracens in 2009 under Irishman Mark McCall, helping them to a Premiership final that first season, and then building his reputation as a defence coach swiftly enough to be called into the England backroom staff when Stuart Lancaster was temporarily appointed for the 2012 Six Nations.
England conceded four tries in that year’s championship as they embraced Farrell’s new aggressive linespeed, and then six tries as they finished second again the following season.
The Lions conceded four tries in the three Test matches on that 2013 Lions tour, with Warren Gatland expressing his pleasure at the job Farrell did with the defence on that dour but successful series.
The English defence in the 2014 Six Nations was strong once again, conceding five tries as they narrowly finished second to Ireland.
2015 is where it went downhill. Farrell’s role had been expanded to include elements of the attack at that stage and the English conceded 11 tries in the Six Nations [admittedly five of those came amidst the madness of the final round 55-35 in over France], then they crashed out of the World Cup in deeply disappointing fashion.
Head coach Lancaster was never going to survive that failure, and when Eddie Jones was appointed as his successor, Farrell and the rest of the backroom staff found themselves out of work.
Farrell at Croke Park in 2007. PA Archive / Press Association Images
PA Archive / Press Association Images / Press Association Images
It had appeared that the Wigan man’s next job would be in English club rugby, but today’s announcement from the IRFU was stunning.
The loss of Kiss after the World Cup had deprived Schmidt of a close confidant and an important figure within the group, but the prospect of a fresh voice was welcome after Ireland’s own failed campaign.
In Farrell, Ireland get a louder, more dominant voice than anyone on the outside expected.
The 40-year-old is a big personality, a strong-willed man who impresses the majority of rugby people who have interacted or worked with him. He will not be afraid to question Schmidt’s decisions and, intriguingly, that may be what Schmidt was looking for with this appointment.
Every head coach needs assistants who pose a different viewpoint to their own. The meeting of different minds, slightly alternative philosophies, can so often yield highly positive results.
Of course Farrell’s work with Ireland’s defence will have to feed into Schmidt’s overall game plan for his team, but the Englishman is likely to be quick with suggestions of his own as to what can be improved.
One of the prime reasons Schmidt has looked to Farrell is his reputation as a motivator. The Ireland head coach has admitted in the past that this area is not his forte, but Farrell thrives in building the emotional intensity he requires from his defence.
With Paul O’Connell – motivator in chief – now retired from the international game, Schmidt recognised the need to have big voices around his team. Farrell is an extremely impressive orator and will certainly add volume on the training ground and in the changing room.
He will step into his new job later this year off the back of failure with England; there is no avoiding that. Farrell would have been in demand elsewhere, but he certainly has a point to prove.
Schmidt's exchanges with Farrell would be fascinating to hear. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
Lancaster allowed Farrell’s alpha approach to come to the fore with England, if reports are to be believed, but there is little fear of that happening with Schmidt. The meeting of these two rugby brains, perhaps even the clashing of them, will be fascinating.
The sense from the England camp is that Farrell gained too much control, heavily influencing selection calls [Sam Burgess and his son Owen Farrell the most cited] and working too much with the attack. With Ireland, he will be back to doing what he does best.
Farrell will take over for the South Africa tour, leaving Simon Easterby to assume control for the Six Nations. Originally appointed as Ireland’s forwards coach, it was Easterby who led Ireland’s defence session during their one-day camp earlier this week.
The former international back row’s first foray into the coaching world was as a defence coach with the Scarlets, while we can be sure that Schmidt will be piping up during the coming months in this area.
Whether that happens when Farrell is in charge of Ireland’s defence remains to be seen. The Englishman is likely to very much see Ireland’s D as his baby, and his alone.
'Destroy and enjoy' - Farrell will demand aggressive edge from Ireland
“WE ARE TAKING them to the hurt arena.”
Andy Farrell was defence coach for the 2013 Lions, working with current Ireland internationals Rory Best, Cian Healy, Jamie Heaslip, Conor Murray, Sean O’Brien, Johnny Sexton, Tommy Bowe, Simon Zebo and Rob Kearney.
He left an impression on those men, as well as the since-retired Brian O’Driscoll and Paul O’Connell.
The words above were among the messages Farrell delivered on that tour, the articulation of his aggressive beliefs about how teams should defend proactively.
“On D, we cannot afford to allow our emotional energy to dip whatsoever,” barked Farrell before one Lions game. “Fucking destroy and enjoy.”
Like his predecessor Les Kiss, Farrell is of the view that defence is not merely about preventing the opposition from scoring.
“We don’t see defence in isolation at all,” said Farrell. “We see defence as the start of our attack.”
As he pushed England to do during his four-year tenure before being sacked after their recent World Cup failure, Farrell will demand huge linespeed from Ireland when he takes over for the June tour to South Africa.
He will accept only intense energy and urgency from his defenders as they look to bring that linespeed.
His defence is likely to have firm edges, with outside defenders getting up hard to shut down the opposition attack and Ireland having to work extremely hard to cover the backfield as a result.
Farrell’s technical coaching on defence is highly rated, his array of rugby league-style choke tackling, pinpoint chop tackling, wrestling-influenced grapples and focus on footwork into the point of contact all important elements.
A rugby league legend as a player with Wigan and Great Britain, twice winning the prestigious Man of Steel award, Farrell’s coaching beliefs are very much still influenced by that background.
The now 40-year-old famously moved into union in the latter stages of his playing career, spending four largely unimpressive seasons with Saracens. He also won eight caps for England, featuring thrice in their 2007 World Cup campaign.
One of the lowlights of that stint as an England inside centre was the 43-13 hammering at the hands of Ireland in Croke Park during the 2007 Six Nations.
Farrell moved into coaching with Saracens in 2009 under Irishman Mark McCall, helping them to a Premiership final that first season, and then building his reputation as a defence coach swiftly enough to be called into the England backroom staff when Stuart Lancaster was temporarily appointed for the 2012 Six Nations.
England conceded four tries in that year’s championship as they embraced Farrell’s new aggressive linespeed, and then six tries as they finished second again the following season.
The Lions conceded four tries in the three Test matches on that 2013 Lions tour, with Warren Gatland expressing his pleasure at the job Farrell did with the defence on that dour but successful series.
The English defence in the 2014 Six Nations was strong once again, conceding five tries as they narrowly finished second to Ireland.
2015 is where it went downhill. Farrell’s role had been expanded to include elements of the attack at that stage and the English conceded 11 tries in the Six Nations [admittedly five of those came amidst the madness of the final round 55-35 in over France], then they crashed out of the World Cup in deeply disappointing fashion.
Head coach Lancaster was never going to survive that failure, and when Eddie Jones was appointed as his successor, Farrell and the rest of the backroom staff found themselves out of work.
It had appeared that the Wigan man’s next job would be in English club rugby, but today’s announcement from the IRFU was stunning.
The loss of Kiss after the World Cup had deprived Schmidt of a close confidant and an important figure within the group, but the prospect of a fresh voice was welcome after Ireland’s own failed campaign.
In Farrell, Ireland get a louder, more dominant voice than anyone on the outside expected.
The 40-year-old is a big personality, a strong-willed man who impresses the majority of rugby people who have interacted or worked with him. He will not be afraid to question Schmidt’s decisions and, intriguingly, that may be what Schmidt was looking for with this appointment.
Every head coach needs assistants who pose a different viewpoint to their own. The meeting of different minds, slightly alternative philosophies, can so often yield highly positive results.
Of course Farrell’s work with Ireland’s defence will have to feed into Schmidt’s overall game plan for his team, but the Englishman is likely to be quick with suggestions of his own as to what can be improved.
One of the prime reasons Schmidt has looked to Farrell is his reputation as a motivator. The Ireland head coach has admitted in the past that this area is not his forte, but Farrell thrives in building the emotional intensity he requires from his defence.
With Paul O’Connell – motivator in chief – now retired from the international game, Schmidt recognised the need to have big voices around his team. Farrell is an extremely impressive orator and will certainly add volume on the training ground and in the changing room.
He will step into his new job later this year off the back of failure with England; there is no avoiding that. Farrell would have been in demand elsewhere, but he certainly has a point to prove.
Lancaster allowed Farrell’s alpha approach to come to the fore with England, if reports are to be believed, but there is little fear of that happening with Schmidt. The meeting of these two rugby brains, perhaps even the clashing of them, will be fascinating.
The sense from the England camp is that Farrell gained too much control, heavily influencing selection calls [Sam Burgess and his son Owen Farrell the most cited] and working too much with the attack. With Ireland, he will be back to doing what he does best.
Farrell will take over for the South Africa tour, leaving Simon Easterby to assume control for the Six Nations. Originally appointed as Ireland’s forwards coach, it was Easterby who led Ireland’s defence session during their one-day camp earlier this week.
The former international back row’s first foray into the coaching world was as a defence coach with the Scarlets, while we can be sure that Schmidt will be piping up during the coming months in this area.
Whether that happens when Farrell is in charge of Ireland’s defence remains to be seen. The Englishman is likely to very much see Ireland’s D as his baby, and his alone.
Destroy and enjoy.
Andy Farrell not a popular or expected appointment, just a more than qualified one
Ireland appoint ex-England defence coach Andy Farrell on three-year contract
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Defence Ireland Joe Schmidt Shock Appointment Strong Minded England