Andy Farrell highlights ‘big picture’ win over Wallabies despite Ireland ‘feeling sorry for themselves’
Andy Farrell watches Ireland warm up.
Ireland head coach Andy Farrell has detailed his pride at how his side ground out a tough 22-19 win over the Wallabies, despite claiming his side “felt sorry for themselves” at the Aviva Stadium.
Farrell’s men had to come back from a 13-5 deficit at half-time, and only secured the win thanks to a 78th-minute try from hooker Gus McCarthy.
“We were feeling sorry for ourselves”
The win was by no means a vintage one, and at times it looked like Ireland were headed for a second defeat of the autumn. Despite dominating much of the possession and territory in the first-half, sloppy errors denied them at crucial times and ultimately allowed Australia to gain the upper hand.
It also took some serious efforts off the bench from Craig Casey, Jack Crowley, Iain Henderson and the aforementioned McCarthy to fully turn the game back into Ireland’s favour, and Farrell was quick to point out how his missed plenty of opportunities.
“We had enough possession and territory to win the game twice over in the first half,” Farrell told the media after the game. “But, we spilt enough ball and made enough errors to lose two matches as well.
He added: “We were feeling sorry for ourselves, but you have no right to think that everything will go your way the whole time and it’ll be all singing and dancing. We got over ourselves and came back strong.”
Whilst he highlighted the errors his side made, which has been a theme throughout the autumn, he also detailed his pride at seeing his side claim another “hard-fought” victory.
“The big picture of the game is that I’m proud of the win. It was hard-fought against some adversity, so I’m delighted to get the win.”
“No emotion” ahead of Ireland departure for Lions gig
Farrell will now hand the reins over to assistant coach Simon Easterby, with the former rugby league legend now heading to the Lions, but he revealed there will be “no emotion” as he leaves his Irish post, albeit temporarily.
“I’ve no emotion, honestly. The only thing that matters is this autumn but there is a bit of planning that needs to be done,” he said.
