Belief still ‘100 per cent there’ as Ireland excited by Six Nations ‘opportunity’

Adam Kyriacou
Ireland huddle during Rugby World Cup game.

Ireland huddle during Rugby World Cup game.

Ireland scrum coach John Fogarty insists the pre-Rugby World Cup belief still shines bright in the squad ahead of the side’s defence of their Six Nations crown.

The Irish headed into last year’s global tournament as the bookmakers’ favourites after winning the Grand Slam and sitting on top of the World Rugby rankings.

However, a painful 28-24 loss to New Zealand in the quarter-finals ended their Rugby World Cup dream, bringing to an end a 17-match winning run in the process.

France first game

Now Ireland will hope to lay those ghosts to rest in the Six Nations and a win in their opening fixture away to France would certainly go a long way in doing so.

“There was so much belief going into that game, I don’t think that belief has slipped away,” said Fogarty, according to the Irish Examiner, ahead the weekend.

“That belief is 100 per cent there in the squad. You can see it in mini-meetings, unit meetings, how the players are interacting with each other. They’re preparing to perform now.

“The (New Zealand) game, fine margins and small margins, and it’s not untrue. There was small margins, but we need to make sure we’re on the right side of those.

“What an opportunity now for this squad. Andy says ‘go and make it happen’.

“There’s a lot of belief within the squad, a lot of clarity and it’s going to be difficult because of a huge crowd, France at home in Marseille. It’s incredibly exciting.”

Ireland head into the 2024 Six Nations with no injury concerns and with a new skipper at the helm after Peter O’Mahony took over from the retired Johnny Sexton.

Clean bill of health

They are currently on a warm-weather camp on Portugal’s Algarve and with head coach Andy Farrell set to name his team on Wednesday, there was a positive update.

“We’re good, a clean bill of health, which is great,” said Fogarty.

“For us, it’s (about) building on what we’ve done over the last few months and couple of years.

“We have a good body of work done, there’s really good experience built into the squad, and there’s been some tough days over the last number of years, and there’s nice resilience built into the squad.”

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