Rugby

Andy Farrell tips ‘second to none’ Ireland coaches to excel in his absence

Simon Easterby has taken over from head coach Farrell on an interim basis.

Ireland head coach Andy Farrell has begun his spell with the British and Irish Lions
Ireland head coach Andy Farrell has begun his spell with the British and Irish Lions (Brian Lawless/PA)
By Ed Elliot, PA

Andy Farrell expects Ireland to “kick on” in his absence as he turns his attention to assembling a coaching team for next year’s British and Irish Lions tour to Australia.

Simon Easterby took over from head coach Farrell on a temporary basis following Saturday’s 22-19 win over Joe Schmidt’s Wallabies and will lead the back-to-back champions into the 2025 Guinness Six Nations.

Farrell guided Ireland to those two titles, including the 2023 Grand Slam, a historic series win over New Zealand in 2022, spells at the top of the world rankings, and has won 43 of his 54 Tests in charge.

Yet the Englishman insists the achievements are not purely down to him.

Simon Easterby, pictured, has taken over from Andy Farrell on an interim basis
Simon Easterby, pictured, has taken over from Andy Farrell on an interim basis (Mike Egerton/PA)

“It’s certainly nothing to do with me why we just win trophies,” he said.

“We’ve always done it together and the coaching staff that we’ve got are second to none so that’s not changing. I’d expect us to kick on.

“The future is bright for me because we have the right people on the bus so we’re excited about that.”

Farrell’s staff also compromises forwards coach Paul O’Connell and scrum coach John Fogarty, while backs coach Andrew Goodman replaced Mike Catt ahead of an Autumn Nations Series which brought three wins from four.

Ireland begin the Six Nations on Saturday, February 1 when England visit Dublin.

Farrell revealed additional support for interim head coach Easterby, who will also spearhead a summer tour next year, could be brought in, if required.

“There certainly is scope there if we need it, whether we need it or not that’s another story,” he said.

“We tend to dovetail pretty well in all types of areas and people will take responsibility not just for their own area but helping his team-mates out as well.

“So that’s all obviously been talked about over a long period and we’re getting there with how we’re going to go about it.”

Farrell was previously involved in British and Irish Lions tours under Warren Gatland
Farrell was previously involved in British and Irish Lions tours under Warren Gatland (Brian Lawless/PA)

Farrell was appointed Lions head coach in January, taking over following three series overseen by Warren Gatland.

The 49-year-old has deliberately held off picking a coaching team as he prepares for further reunions with former Ireland boss Schmidt in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney.

“My way of doing things is if you get things done too early you can’t undo it,” said Farrell, who was Gatland’s defence coach for the 2013 and 2017 tours.

“So a little bit of patience and now I’ll have a bit of time to be able to hopefully see the path as it should be.”

Ireland bounced back from an opening defeat to the All Blacks to beat Argentina, Fiji and Australia in November.

Farrell said: “Three from four, some good stuff and some not so good stuff but that’s what you want in an autumn, isn’t it?

“A few new caps, you want to find out a little bit about yourself, of how you’re going to punch on for the competition that is the Six Nations.

“The first game that Ireland’s got is England here so they (the players) have got to be better coming in (than they were against New Zealand).”