THERE WAS A fair bit of sympathy for Jack Crowley floating around last week but Andy Farrell insisted that the out-half never wasted time feeling sorry for himself.
Crowley has been Ireland’s first-choice out-half since Johnny Sexton’s retirement, helping Farrell’s side to a Six Nations title and a second-ever win against the Springboks on South Africa soil this year.
Farrell handed 21-year-old Sam Prendergast the number 10 shirt for Ireland’s last two games of this autumn window against Fiji and Australia.
Prendergast showed his exciting potential in both outings, with Crowley making a big impact off the bench in the closing 15 minutes of Ireland’s win over the Wallabies on Saturday.
And Farrell said that performance from Crowley was the result of his positive attitude amid the competition at out-half from Prendergast and Ciarán Frawley.
“It’s not, honestly,” said Farrell when asked if the past week has been tough for Crowley.
“I know you guys think so because you’re not in it. I appreciate that you feel that he is like that, but Jack has just been himself within the squad. He gets it, you know?
“People need a chance to try and kick on to show what they’ve got. He’s had that.
“So when you guys feel like he has been dropped, he’s not. And when you guys feel like he’s pissed off, he’s not.
“He’s a team player and he gets the bigger picture himself. My conversations with the three fly-halves is that I wanted Sam to play unbelievably well, so that Jack responds and plays unbelievably well, and so Frawls does.
“And everyone keeps growing together. It’s part of the squad.”
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Sam Prendergast has started Ireland's last two Tests. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
Farrell pointed to his selections in Ireland’s midfield as another example of how Ireland use their squad depending on the circumstances.
Robbie Henshaw, Bundee Aki, and Garry Ringrose all play big roles for Ireland in the centre positions, while Stuart McCloskey has had important starts there and Jamie Osborne is now another strong option.
“Have I ever dropped Bundee, Ringer or Robbie in your eyes?” said Farrell.
“No, it’s rotation that’s good for us in the moments when somebody has played a lot of rugby, not enough rugby, to freshen the team up, etc. They’re brilliant players, they’re good team players, so we work it out together.”
Speaking after the 22-19 win over the Wallabies, his last game before starting his role as the Lions head coach and handing over the Irish reins to Simon Easterby, Farrell said he was happy with Ireland’s efforts over the autumn window.
They started with a defeat to New Zealand, then beat Argentina, Fiji, and Australia.
“As far as my feelings are towards that game [against Australia], that’s a good win that we’ll have because of the situation that we found ourselves in,” said Farrell.
“We found a way. Eight points behind, not playing well, things not going for us, feeling sorry for ourselves. We showed unbelievable character in my opinion, so really proud of that. That’s a good win.
“Obviously, three out of four in the autumn. We’d love to win all four but all the games have brought something different and we found a way in this one so we’re delighted with that.
“So I suppose that’s all that matters to me, where we’re going. The story of the autumn for us is we’ve four new debutants, we’ve four new members of staff who are settled in really well and we know where we’re going.
“The future is bright for me because we have the right people on the bus so we’re excited about that.”
Prendergast, Cormac Izuchukwu, Gus McCarthy, and Thomas Clarkson made their debuts in this window, while backs coach Andrew Goodman, head of athletic performance Aled Walters, head physiotherapist Hamish Macauley, and team doctor Stuart O’Flanagan settled into their roles.
Andrew Goodman and Andy Farrell. Andrew Conan / INPHO
Andrew Conan / INPHO / INPHO
Ireland have also had a new captain in Caelan Doris, who Farrell praised for growing into the position.
“I think it’s been good,” said Farrell. “He’s certainly more relaxed. You know when you have to completely think outside the box as far as your workload, etc., once you do that a good few times it naturally becomes easier for you.
“He’s certainly looking more at ease as far as that’s concerned and I suppose he’s sleeping better at night knowing that he can do the job. The more he’s in the hot seat, the better he’s going to be.”
Asked if he backs this Irish team to defend their Six Nations title in his absence, Farrell said he would “expect us to kick on.”
One of the things he has flagged before stepping back is that the poor start to the autumn against New Zealand wasn’t acceptable.
“We pride ourselves on being good first up and I know that the Southern Hemisphere teams are going to come in battled hardened and Test-match fit but when you’re coming into a top game like that New Zealand game, we let ourselves down in that regard,” said Farrell.
“The first game that Ireland’s got in the Six Nations is England here so they’ve got to be better coming in. It’s something that we’ve been really good at in the past but you need to keep checking on all these things.”
The Ireland boss spoke about how he believes players like Dan Sheehan, Tadhg Furlong, and Jack Conan can bring impetus as they come back into the mix for the Six Nations after missing this autumn through injury.
Farrell said there is “certainly is scope” for Ireland to add an additional coach ahead of the Six Nations if Easterby and co. feel they need more hands on deck.
'When you guys feel like Jack has been dropped, he’s not' - Farrell
THERE WAS A fair bit of sympathy for Jack Crowley floating around last week but Andy Farrell insisted that the out-half never wasted time feeling sorry for himself.
Crowley has been Ireland’s first-choice out-half since Johnny Sexton’s retirement, helping Farrell’s side to a Six Nations title and a second-ever win against the Springboks on South Africa soil this year.
Farrell handed 21-year-old Sam Prendergast the number 10 shirt for Ireland’s last two games of this autumn window against Fiji and Australia.
Prendergast showed his exciting potential in both outings, with Crowley making a big impact off the bench in the closing 15 minutes of Ireland’s win over the Wallabies on Saturday.
And Farrell said that performance from Crowley was the result of his positive attitude amid the competition at out-half from Prendergast and Ciarán Frawley.
“It’s not, honestly,” said Farrell when asked if the past week has been tough for Crowley.
“I know you guys think so because you’re not in it. I appreciate that you feel that he is like that, but Jack has just been himself within the squad. He gets it, you know?
“People need a chance to try and kick on to show what they’ve got. He’s had that.
“So when you guys feel like he has been dropped, he’s not. And when you guys feel like he’s pissed off, he’s not.
“He’s a team player and he gets the bigger picture himself. My conversations with the three fly-halves is that I wanted Sam to play unbelievably well, so that Jack responds and plays unbelievably well, and so Frawls does.
“And everyone keeps growing together. It’s part of the squad.”
Farrell pointed to his selections in Ireland’s midfield as another example of how Ireland use their squad depending on the circumstances.
Robbie Henshaw, Bundee Aki, and Garry Ringrose all play big roles for Ireland in the centre positions, while Stuart McCloskey has had important starts there and Jamie Osborne is now another strong option.
“Have I ever dropped Bundee, Ringer or Robbie in your eyes?” said Farrell.
“No, it’s rotation that’s good for us in the moments when somebody has played a lot of rugby, not enough rugby, to freshen the team up, etc. They’re brilliant players, they’re good team players, so we work it out together.”
Speaking after the 22-19 win over the Wallabies, his last game before starting his role as the Lions head coach and handing over the Irish reins to Simon Easterby, Farrell said he was happy with Ireland’s efforts over the autumn window.
They started with a defeat to New Zealand, then beat Argentina, Fiji, and Australia.
“As far as my feelings are towards that game [against Australia], that’s a good win that we’ll have because of the situation that we found ourselves in,” said Farrell.
“We found a way. Eight points behind, not playing well, things not going for us, feeling sorry for ourselves. We showed unbelievable character in my opinion, so really proud of that. That’s a good win.
“Obviously, three out of four in the autumn. We’d love to win all four but all the games have brought something different and we found a way in this one so we’re delighted with that.
“So I suppose that’s all that matters to me, where we’re going. The story of the autumn for us is we’ve four new debutants, we’ve four new members of staff who are settled in really well and we know where we’re going.
“The future is bright for me because we have the right people on the bus so we’re excited about that.”
Prendergast, Cormac Izuchukwu, Gus McCarthy, and Thomas Clarkson made their debuts in this window, while backs coach Andrew Goodman, head of athletic performance Aled Walters, head physiotherapist Hamish Macauley, and team doctor Stuart O’Flanagan settled into their roles.
Ireland have also had a new captain in Caelan Doris, who Farrell praised for growing into the position.
“I think it’s been good,” said Farrell. “He’s certainly more relaxed. You know when you have to completely think outside the box as far as your workload, etc., once you do that a good few times it naturally becomes easier for you.
“He’s certainly looking more at ease as far as that’s concerned and I suppose he’s sleeping better at night knowing that he can do the job. The more he’s in the hot seat, the better he’s going to be.”
Asked if he backs this Irish team to defend their Six Nations title in his absence, Farrell said he would “expect us to kick on.”
One of the things he has flagged before stepping back is that the poor start to the autumn against New Zealand wasn’t acceptable.
“We pride ourselves on being good first up and I know that the Southern Hemisphere teams are going to come in battled hardened and Test-match fit but when you’re coming into a top game like that New Zealand game, we let ourselves down in that regard,” said Farrell.
“The first game that Ireland’s got in the Six Nations is England here so they’ve got to be better coming in. It’s something that we’ve been really good at in the past but you need to keep checking on all these things.”
The Ireland boss spoke about how he believes players like Dan Sheehan, Tadhg Furlong, and Jack Conan can bring impetus as they come back into the mix for the Six Nations after missing this autumn through injury.
Farrell said there is “certainly is scope” for Ireland to add an additional coach ahead of the Six Nations if Easterby and co. feel they need more hands on deck.
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