New era, new coach, new captain, new training base, new haircut – and the oldest swinger in town

THE TV GUY gives his reporter the word. “Here’s Johnny,” he says. And here he comes, through the door, past the cameramen, along the walkway between the seats, towards the top table, shadowed all the way by a middle-age man with a receding hairline.

“Afternoon all,” the man says. This is different. We’re not used to this kind of conviviality and we’re not sure if we like it, delivering the kind of murmured response you get at First Mass from a bunch of pensioners who’ve forgotten to put in their teeth.

Questions come, answers follow. It’s new this and new that, fresh starts and whatever you’re having yourself. Twenty minutes the men talk. The word new is heard six times – an extension of the week’s underlying theme. Andy Farrell is here, Joe Schmidt is not.  

The danger, though, is that in talking up the present, there could be an implied criticism of the past and the Irish public aren’t quite ready for any Joe bashing just yet given how he remains the only guest to ever walk onto the Late, Late Show with a halo hanging over his head.

You have to wonder if Sexton sensed this when, 17 minutes into the conversation he was asked a question about what was different between the six-year, trophy-laden Schmidt era and the 12-week Farrell one.

Suddenly he was animated, leaning forward in his chair, retaining eye contact with the questioner, respectfully retelling the CV of his old boss. “I think the beauty of Andy working under Joe for as long as he did, is that he has taken a lot of the good stuff with him,” Sexton said.

As he said himself, he would be a fool not to because the success that Joe Schmidt had in Irish rugby was incredible.”

Then, remembering who was sitting beside him, Sexton referenced the quality of this week’s training. “Andy and Mike Catt have used their brains to add their own bits into (the system that was in place). It’s gone well so far.”

A view of yesterday's press conference. Dan Sheridan / INPHO Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO

Then again, you’d expect it to.  After all, it’s been so markedly different; Farrell giving the squad a couple of days off after their weekend’s work in the Champions Cup before he brought them out to Portugal for a week’s training. Since coming home, they’ve swapped the old-world charm of Carton House for the modern facilities of the recently built National Sports Campus.

As he and Catt talked about the culture and environment Farrell is trying to create, a school’s volleyball game came to its noisy conclusion on the giant indoor hall, just outside the press conference room. In Carton House, the clink of cup on saucer was as energetic as things got.

This was so much livelier, so much fresher. And yet you get the sense we all need to apply the brakes a little. Yes, there’s been change – a new head coach, new captain, new backs coach (Catt), new base camp, even a new haircut for Sexton.

But 10 of Saturday’s starting XV – including Sexton, the oldest player in the squad, were on the pitch when New Zealand did a number on them in Japan. And Farrell, remember, was also in the coaches box in Japan, much like Micheál Martin was at the cabinet table when things went south for Fianna Fáil.

Again, Sexton – in his new guise as Captain Sensible – had figured all this out. “Yeah, like I said previously it has gone well but it won’t count for anything until Saturday. That’s when we have to put it all together. We have to be conscious of the fact that sometimes you can prepare an expansive game and if you don’t get the right set-piece, things can disintegrate.”

Wise words, but even wiser ones would come from Catt. “Listen, you can’t forget we (Ireland) are a world-class side,” the former England and Italy backroom coach said. “You don’t get to No1 in the world by not being good. 

“You’ve got world-class players, still young, still learning. They’ve got to go all through these downs before they get to the ultimate ups, we’ve all been through that as players and as coaches so it’s how we respond on the back of it that counts. And I think Andy is going to put a good environment in place where these guys can deal with those sorts of things.”

Catt with Josh van der Flier at Ireland's new training camp. Dan Sheridan / INPHO Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO

Warming to the task, Catt spoke of the ego-free zone he has found in the Ireland dressing room. “Humility is noticeable in these guys,” he said. “They’re extremely hard working and have a willingness to learn.

In other teams I’ve played for and coached there has always been big egos. There are none here and that’s key because there is no time to have them in international rugby, no need to be above your station.

“Again that boils down to your provinces and what it means for these guys to play for Ireland. Ultimately we need to maintain that. The culture that Andy produces or reproduces is going to make sure none of that happens.”

Those were his final words. They carried the authority of a man who has a World Cup winner’s medal in his pocket and who has lived a long enough life to have a few tinges of grey in his beard. Tellingly, he made the point that one or two players are anxious to right a few wrongs.

Step one on redemption’s road begins tomorrow, a hopeful glow forecast to replace the shadow hanging over this team.

And then the hard work begins.