Fabien Galthie Andy Farrell Red Rose France Ireland Dublin Belfast Sport Rugby Farrell loss Fabien Galthie Andy Farrell Red Rose France Ireland Dublin Belfast

Andy Farrell: Nature of England's loss to France makes Irish task harder

rte.ie

England shipped a record defeat to France on Saturday but Andy Farrell says that fact makes Ireland's task more difficult on Saturday.Les Bleus are the only other team who can nick the title off Ireland but they need a demoralised Red Rose team to come and do a job in Dublin.Steve Borthwick's men conceded seven tries on the way to their biggest ever loss in Twickenham.They made 13 handling errors and missed 27 tackles, while conceding seven penalties at the ruck over the course of a 53-10 loss.

France turned them over 17 times.On the one hand, it makes for good reading from an Irish point of view because it's a fair indication of the quality of the opposition but, on the other hand, they are unlikely be so poor next weekend."They will certainly be hurting and, I mean, it's a perfect opportunity to come and spoil the party," said head coach Farrell, ahead of Ireland's bid for just a fourth ever Grand Slam and the first on home soil since the 1948 clean sweep that was crowned in Belfast."That's the reality.

So that will be a massive motivation for them."Is that bigger motivation than what we're gonna experience playing at home for our Grand Slam game on St Patrick's weekend?

We'll see."Asked to reflect on his native country's collapse against Fabien Galthie's 2022 champions, Farrell said: "I definitely don't [expect the same sort of performance]."The game ran away from them at 27-3.

Related News
England’s fly-half rivals Owen Farrell and Marcus Smith will go head-to-head as Saracens entertain Harlequins on Saturday with the vast majority of Steve Borthwick’s squad straight back into action for their clubs this weekend.
Ireland women's coach Greg McWilliams says he hopes his team can feed off the example of the men's and U20 Grand Slam Winners, when they get their TikTok Six Nations campaign under way against Wales this Saturday (live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player).
Grand Slam-winning Ireland boss Andy Farrell is the “perfect guy” to be the next British and Irish Lions head coach, according to two-time tourist Tommy Bowe.
Andy Farrell insists Ireland’s game is “nowhere near” where he would like it to be as he seeks to keep driving standards on the back of Grand Slam success.
Andy Farrell believes there is more to come from his side, after they completed a dominant Six Nations Grand Slam title on Saturday.

Latest News

Change privacy settings
This page might use cookies if your analytics vendor requires them.