The Ireland 'headaches' Andy Farrell explains he can't get enough of

Andy Farrell sat very prettily last Sunday in the Aviva Stadium media auditorium having just watched his Ireland team go two wins from two in the opening rounds of their Guinness Six Nations title defence.

There was no getting carried away with his team’s top-of-the-table position; he made sure to suggest on a couple of occasions that the challenge was allegedly set to get much steeper with Wales next up in Dublin on February 25 followed by March assignments versus England (in London) and Scotland (back in Dublin).

What he also mentioned a few times was the current hectic competition for places in his team, headaches he claimed he was happy to have ahead of the task of selecting his round three team in a campaign where Ireland are looking to win back-to-back Grand Slams for the first time since France in 1998 when the tournament was the old Five Nations.

Following a Rugby World Cup quarter-final exit where Farrell was criticised for not rotating his squad enough, leaving some players slow on their feet in the closing stages versus New Zealand, it was January 17 when he confirmed the 34-strong squad he would take to Portugal for warm-weather training heading into the opening round match away to France in Marseille.

With two games now played, that squad must be buzzing with the way Farrell has gone about using more of his resources in the Six Nations compared to France 2023 where 27 players tasted action in the opening September matches against Romania and Tonga, 17 as starters and 10 as sub with six players idle.

So far this February, 30 have seen action in the two outings versus France and Italy – 21 as starters and nine off the bench, with only Garry Ringrose, Jacob Stockdale, Tom Stewart and Nick Timoney not featuring.

The fit-again Ringrose is expected to be available for Wales, adding another layer to the midfield conversation, but that won’t be the only area where the midnight oil could be burned as the second row is an especially congested area.

“Yeah, that is what we wanted,” purred Farrell after watching a round two XV showing six changes from the record win over France see off Italy 36-0, the first time in 37 years that Ireland had nilled an opposition in the championship (1987 when England were beaten 17-0 in Dublin).

“That is what we do it for, to give people the chance because no headaches, we are in the wrong place as a group. We have a few more, haven’t we, after this performance and we welcome that and so do the rest of the squad.”

Just look at Ireland’s second row riches. Joe McCarthy, the fired-up rookie who is blazing a trail; the bang-in-form Tadhg Beirne, the point-to-prove James Ryan and also the seasoned Iain Henderson.

McCarthy and Beirne had first dibs on the spots in Marseille, with Ryan as the back-up. Last Sunday, though, Ryan paired with McCarthy to start, with Henderson providing bench impetus.

“It’s exactly what it should be and it worked really nicely this week,” explained Farrell when asked to share his thoughts on the engine room selection puzzle he now faces due to the way he picked his round one and two teams.

“Now all four of them realise that, that all four of them are in good form and it means a lot. James is always going to try and prove a point.

"Iain Henderson has been outstanding on the bench actually in the last few games that he has done that. Big Joe gives us new blood as you know. Tadgh Beirne was immense last week.

“The competition for that is exactly where it should be. How we go about selecting is a great problem to have and I suppose it comes down to the type of game and the opposition we have.”

It wasn’t that long ago when Ryan would have been viewed as the Ireland captain-in-waiting with Johnny Sexton heading towards his post-2023 Rugby World Cup retirement.

"It didn’t work out for him, Peter O’Mahony instead getting named as Sexton’s successor and then when O’Mahony was rested for the Italian fixture, the responsibility passed onto Caelan Doris for the first time.

It’s a scenario that surely must have been unpalatable to Ryan, but his reaction was to get on with it and not cause a ruckus. Why? “He is a team player,” insisted Farrell.

“The best example of that and you have heard me say it before, Pete O’Mahony got dropped a couple of years ago for this man actually (Doris) and he was the first one to help Caelan to be as prepared as possible he could be.

“When you have got examples like that it shows what it matters to be a team player for Ireland and people follow that type of example. James had done exactly the same.

"There was a lot of responsibility on his shoulders in terms of calling the lineout (against Italy) and he was fantastic. His calling was great so he was able to be himself because of that.”

Andy Farrell's 2024 Ireland squad appearances

Two starts (9): Keenan, Nash, Henshaw, Lowe, Crowley, Porter, Sheehan, McCarthy, Doris;

One start + one run as sub (6): Gibson-Park, Bealham, Ryan, Baird, van der Flier, Conan;

Two runs as sub (1): Kelleher;

One start (6): Aki, McCloskey, Casey, Furlong, Beirne, O'Mahony;

One run as sub (8): Murray, Frawley, Byrne, Larmour, Healy, Loughman, O'Toole, Henderson;

Unused (4): Ringrose, Stockdale, Stewart, Timoney.