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Andy Farrell posed the one question that all Irish fans want answered
By Liam Heagney
Andy Farrell gave away few if any clues when answering the question most Ireland fans want answered ahead of their Six Nations opening versus Scotland - just who will wear the No9 jersey on February 1?
Conor Murray had been the long-term first-choice scrum-half under former Irish boss Joe Schmidt.
However, while a campaign has built steadily over the winter for the inclusion of in-form Ulster player John Cooney, new boss Andy Farrell kept his cards close to his chest at the Six Nations launch in London before flying out for a week’s warm-weather camp in Portugal ahead of his team’s tournament opener in Dublin.
“We’re in a great place, not just in scrum-half but in many positions,” he said. “I believe all 36 are in good form. Yeah, competition for places at scrum-half is obviously at a premium as well.
“There is a lot of people being asked a lot of questions about John Cooney today and he is playing really well. He is really confident and he is loving his rugby at this moment of time.
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“But we picked five scrum-halves in the camp just before Christmas and Caolin Blade and Jamison (Gibson-Park) were very unlucky to miss out on this squad because they were playing good rugby as well.
“At the same time Luke McGrath got man of the match at the weekend, Conor Murray got man of the match at the weekend and as I said, a big thing for us driving forward has got to be competition for places - and that is certainly one of those positions.”
WATCH: Andy Goode and Brendan Venter didn’t hold back on this week’s The Rugby Pod as they discussed Saracens and the ongoing salary cap scandal that has gripped English rugby.
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Latest Comments
It is if he thinks he’s got hold of the ball and there is at least one other player between him and the ball carrier, which is why he has to reach around and over their heads. Not a deliberate action for me.
Go to commentsI understand, but England 30 years ago were a set piece focused kick heavy team not big on using backs.
Same as now.
South African sides from any period will have a big bunch of forwards smashing it up and a first five booting everything in their own half.
NZ until recently rarely if ever scrummed for penalties; the scrum is to attack from, broken play, not structured is what we’re after.
Same as now.
These are ways of playing very ingrained into the culture.
If you were in an English club team and were off to Fiji for a game against a club team you’d never heard of and had no footage of, how would you prepare?
For a forward dominated grind or would you assume they will throw the ball about because they are Fijian?
A Fiji way. An English way.
An Australian way depends on who you’ve scraped together that hasn’t been picked off by AFL or NRL, and that changes from generation to generation a lot of the time.
Actually, maybe that is their style. In fact, yes they have a style.
Nevermind. Fuggit I’ve typed it all out now.
Go to comments