Holley hails 'quick and destructive' Ireland ruck

Former Ospreys head coach Sean Holley is excited by Andy Farrell's Ireland and a big admirer of the team’s new style of play.

Wales are first up for Ireland as the Guinness Six Nations gets under way on Saturday afternoon (2.15pm).

Holley, who led Ospreys to win five major trophies, including the famous Pro12 victory over Leinster at the RDS in 2010, told the RTÉ Rugby podcast: "Andy Farrell] is more of a man-manager than the likes of Joe Schmidt.

"He sort of gets it, he gets the lads a little bit. He’s a great bloke and they will respond to that.

"Their speed of ball, their first guys arriving to the ruck are so quick and destructive that it creates such quick platform for [Jamison] Gibson-Park and co.

"If you look at Caelan Doris’s try against the All Blacks. It enables the Irish forwards to win the race around the corner. That’s all that happened in that one.

"The clear-out from James Ryan just prior to that try was fantastic.

"If you can bottle that up as a coach and inject it into your players, then you’ll be a World Cup-winning coach.