THERE WILL BE a different feel to Ireland’s Six Nations campaign this year as Andy Farrell steps aside to focus on his role as head coach of the British and Irish Lions.
With the man who steered Ireland to back-to-back Six Nations titles in 2023 and 2024 letting go of the reins, defence coach Simon Easterby has been promoted to interim head coach.
Speaking at the Six Nations launch in Rome today, the former Ireland international admitted he has big shoes to fill.
“There is no pressure is there!” said Easterby.
“I don’t think there is a huge change other than obviously Faz not being with us. But we have had consistency of selection this time around. We have got good youngsters coming in, we brought them in during the Autumn, and there is a lot of experience in the group as well.”
Ireland head to Portugal for a pre-tournament training camp this week before hosting England in Dublin on 1 February.
“The challenge is to stay ahead of the pack and prepare as well as we can and try and play as well as we can when it comes to England in 10 or 11 days’ time,” added Easterby.
“It is tough because every team in this competition will believe they can win it, and rightly so. There are so many good teams in it. It’s about on the day, and I guess part of winning the Six Nations is about momentum and what has gone before doesn’t account for huge amounts.”
Ireland captain Caelan Doris said the head coach transition will be eased by the fact Easterby has been part of the coaching set-up for so long.
“Si has been unbelievable for us for the last number of years, he took the lineout initially and then the defensive role,” said Doris.
“He has a tonne of respect among players in how he leads and the one-on-one time he puts in with players, so a lot you look for in a head coach, it’s been there, we’ve seen it in the last few years.
“Faz has obviously been a massive figure for us, but Johnny [Sexton] has been a massive figure for us in the past who left and instead of one person trying to fill the void it’s been a shared responsibility, so I’m sure the leadership group will take a little bit of that on too. But yeah, there’s a tonne of faith in Si, definitely.”
Ireland go into the Six Nations aiming to become the first team in the modern era to win three championships in a row.
“From the very first meeting yesterday it’s about our evolution and improving and the awareness that all these teams around us are very competitive, that’s the great thing about this competition,” said Doris.
“Each game, you can’t take anything for granted. For us, we’ve got England first up and it’s hard to look beyond that for now. But in terms of our preparation and our mindset generally, it’s one of needing to evolve and needing to improve collectively. It’s an exciting prospect but it’s game by game.
“There’s an awareness that if we don’t keep improving, someone else will take the reins.”
It’s going to be an interesting season. It’s hard to call who’s going to win it since all the clubs change around so much. Dundalk should win it again on paper but this Cork side looks good. I really rated Bolger last season and thought he held pats together in midfield so with the players around him I’d say cork could be that bit harder to beat.
Are clubs still paying a yearly registration fee. If so what is it this year?
Hard to know if Dundalk will still have the hunger. Last season was all about becoming the first Dundalk team to win two in a row, this season, I think a decent run in Europe is the aim. Maybe that will affect our league progress. Having said that, it’s hard to see a better team in the league.
Maybe fix up the ground should be part of this seasons plan too for Dundalk with the recent success , it has to be the worst stadium in Ireland. How it got approved for European football last season still has me shocked.
Problem with lease that is preventing them from upgrading. http://www.the42.ie/dundalk-statement-oriel-park-2585281-Feb2016/
Compleatly forgot about that ! Fair point it’s a sticky situation.
Have to agree with you, the stadium is in a shocking state. Unfortunately the leasing issue seems to be holding up any developments. Personally I’d love to see the pitch ripped up and a return to grass.