IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE defeat on Friday, Andy Farrell was unsure how brutal the review with his players was going to be.
He knew he had plenty of evidence of poor play – anyone who watched Ireland’s performance could see that – but the head coach hadn’t decided yet how far he would go in that team meeting breaking down their 23-13 loss to the All Blacks.
Farrell said he hadn’t raised his voice in frustration at half time, nor post-match, but he was still weighing up whether that would be the right approach on Sunday when the players regathered in camp.
“I’ll see how I feel and the mood,” said Farrell on Friday night.
“Sometimes you need a bit of help to try and pick the mood up. Sometimes a bollocking is when you get a reaction. Sometimes you need to nurture as well.”
Back in July, Farrell laid into his players in the wake of their first Test defeat to the Springboks.
It wasn’t the result that had fired him up. Farrell was pissed off with Ireland’s lack of work rate off the ball, how they hadn’t stood up for each other, and their meek response to positive moments from the Springboks.
Farrell’s review before the second Test was scathing, with some Ireland players taken aback by how angry their boss was with the display in Pretoria. That meeting sparked fire in Irish bellies and they delivered a dramatic win in Durban off the back of it.
It seems Farrell and Ireland are in a similar spot now, coming off the back of a poor performance in which they compounded their errors, failed to fully impose themselves, and lacked the kind of energy that has driven them to previous successes.
If he wanted clips of Ireland doing bad stuff, Farrell had plenty to choose from.
And yet, he was keen to stress on Friday that he was confident about Ireland producing a response to their frustrating showing against the Kiwis. An in-form Argentina side visit Dublin this Friday and Farrell has faith in his men to come up with the goods.
Indeed, Farrell was less than impressed with suggestions that he might be worried for the longer-term by the nature of Ireland’s defeat to the All Blacks.
Ireland’s success in recent years means expectations are higher than ever, so defeats can lead to immediate worries among some fans and media about everything falling apart.
“You don’t become a bad side in one game, do you?” said Farrell.
“Good teams bounce back, don’t they? So we’ll see what we’re about. We’ve tended to do that in the past.
“It’s amazing because we’re the ones that’s brought the expectation, so we’ve got to get back on the horse and build it again. After one game, it’s amazing really that we’re talking about shit like that.”
Farrell said Ireland trained well in the build-up. He was happy with their camp in Portugal. Most of the time, good prep transfers into a good performance. But not on Friday.
Farrell’s key initial takeaway from the game seemed to be a mental one for Ireland.
“Compounding errors,” said Farrell when asked what they will focus on most this week. “Our lack of accuracy on the back of how we made ourselves feel is something that we’ve been very good at actually, staying pretty level-headed through the good times and the bad times.
“It’s something that we’ve been pretty good at, to keep managing our way through the game but I thought we compounded too much stuff and therefore our mood wasn’t what it should have been and both of those things aren’t right.”
Farrell knows the mood needs to be right this Friday.
Ireland have enjoyed good wins over Argentina on the Pumas’ three most recent visits to Dublin in 2016, 2017, and 2021 but this clash is clearly a dangerous one for Ireland.
The Pumas are playing thrilling rugby under head coach Felipe Contepomi, with attack coach Kendrick Lynn also influential, and warmed up for this clash with Ireland by hammering Italy 50-18 in Rome.
“I think they play some really good rugby,” said Farrell before that game in Udine.
“Obviously, they have took their game to another level and had some big wins, and they’ll certainly be coming here looking for a victory.
“So hence why we have to get back on the horse.”
Written by Murray Kinsella and originally published on The 42 whose award-winning team produces original content that you won’t find anywhere else: on GAA, League of Ireland, women’s sport and boxing, as well as our game-changing rugby coverage, all with an Irish eye. Subscribe here.
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