Andy Farrell lays out expectations as Ireland aim to ‘get back on the horse’ against Argentina
Ireland head coach Andy Farrell and his players in action against the All Blacks.
Ireland head coach Andy Farrell and his players have turned their focus to the upcoming Autumn Nations Series fixture against Argentina at the Aviva Stadium on Friday.
This, after they came off second best to the All Blacks in most facets of play last week and eventually suffered a disappointing 23-13 defeat at the same venue.
That result was a momentous one as it handed the men from the Emerald Isle their first defeat at the Aviva since February 2021 and, in doing so, it also brought their 19-match winning streak to an end.
An obviously disappointed Farrell admitted that he is weighing his options on how to respond to his players as they start their preparations for their clash with Los Pumas, who clinched an impressive 50-18 win over Italy in Udine on Saturday.
‘I’ll see how I feel and the mood’
“I don’t know, I’ll see how I feel and the mood, but no, sometimes you need a bit of help to try and pick the mood up,” said Farrell shortly after the loss to New Zealand.
“Sometimes a b*llocking is when you get a reaction. Sometimes you need to nurture as well.”
Ireland were their own worst enemies in that defeat against the All Blacks. Although both teams crossed for a try apiece, Ireland conceded 13 penalties to five which allowed the visitors’ fly-half Damian McKenzie to slot six three-pointers off the kicking tee.
That result and the Springboks’ victory over Scotland on Sunday means Ireland have relinquished top position on World Rugby’s official rankings. Ireland have dropped down to third position with the Boks returning to the summit while the All Blacks move up to second spot.
Despite the loss to New Zealand, Farrell is not panicking but admitted that he expects improvement from his troops.
“You don’t become a bad side in one game do you?” said Farrell when asked if he was concerned about his team’s display against the All Blacks.
“I said I was excited about the game, about how we prepared and how we trained, and sometimes – most of the time for us – that transfers. Today it didn’t.
“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 isn’t it 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 isn’t it that we’re talking about sh*t like that.”
The 49-year-old highlighted areas of concern which he picked up against the All Blacks but expects his side to right their wrongs from that match.
“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,” added Farrell.
“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.”
Expects a reaction from his players
And he knows what he wants to see from his players during their preparations for the clash with Argentina, who have moved up to fifth position on the World Rugby rankings after that emphatic win over the Azzurri.
“A bit of character that we know we’ve got, we know what we’re about,” he said. “After any type of defeat you want to see a reaction and we’ll need a reaction because we’ve got a good team coming here next week.
“They play some really good rugby. Obviously we’ve been watching a lot of them lately through the Championship and they play tomorrow, so interested to see how they carry on the form but obviously they have taken 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… that’s the medicine that everyone wants, you know, another game.”
READ MORE: Brian O’Driscoll: ‘Lazy’ Ireland ‘unrecognisable’ and ‘clunky’ during All Blacks defeat
