Ireland’s poor start to the Six Nations has raised all manner of questions as to whether or not Andy Farrell’s side is over the hill.
Talk of a great demise has been perhaps overblown. But there can be no doubt that Irish rugby and a proud sporting nation did indeed hit a new low on Sunday when new cap Edwin Edogbo was subjected to racist abuse online.
Edogbo, a promising forward who was born in Ireland to Nigerian parents, made his Test debut in Saturday’s scrappy 20-13 win over Italy in Dublin. On Sunday, social media posts from Irish Rugby celebrating the 23-year-old’s achievement were flooded with horrific racist responses, forcing the union to turn off comments and issue a strong statement condemning the ‘cowardly actions of a minority’.
It represented a dark moment for the game. Now, no-one is suggesting a small section of ignorant keyboard warriors reflects the mood of all Irish fans. Far from it, in fact. Edogbo was cheered loudly at the Aviva Stadium when he came on, but his targeting reflects a dark, more widespread mood in Irish rugby.
There is genuine concern that a team which won back-to-back Championships in 2023 and 2024 and rose to world No 1 under Andy Farrell is starting to struggle.
Ireland’s fans have become used to success, such has been the impressive nature of the team which Farrell has built since succeeding Joe Schmidt. But for the first time, there are now doubts over his operation and how it has evolved.
There is genuine concern that a team which won back-to-back Championships in 2023 and 2024 and rose to world No 1 is starting to struggle
Questions are being asked of Andy Farrell and how he has overseen the evolution of his team
Ireland have slipped to fifth in World Rugby’s rankings – their lowest position in four years. Farrell’s men are not suddenly a poor team. Equally, all is not rosy.
Why? Well, the reasons are complex but at the heart of it are concerns that the players central to their past successes are now starting to tire. The fact last summer’s Lions tour was not only led by Farrell but contained an Irish-heavy playing squad is undoubtedly one reason behind the nature of their leggy displays so far.
Try-scoring machine Dan Sheehan is one player who looks knackered. Key players in Andrew Porter, Mack Hansen, Ryan Baird and Robbie Henshaw are among a number on the sidelines with injury.
Tadhg Furlong, Tadhg Beirne, Jamison Gibson-Park and Garry Ringrose – who are all the wrong side of 30 – also haven’t hit their peak with club or country this season. Their fellow golden generation players such as Johnny Sexton, Conor Murray and Peter O’Mahony are now also retired, with the former now a member of Farrell’s coaching staff.
Ireland were strongly fancied for the 2023 World Cup, but failed to make the semi-finals once again. Now the question is, has Farrell left it too late to evolve his team for 2027?
‘In 2024, Ireland lost away to England to stop them winning a Grand Slam but I don’t think that team actually played that well,’ former Ireland forward and top analyst Bernard Jackman tells Daily Mail Sport. ‘Post the 2023 World Cup, other teams started their new cycle and Ireland went with the same again, obviously except for Johnny who retired. Now it looks like France and England are close to hitting their peaks and Ireland are still carrying a bit of a hangover.’
Ireland were well beaten by France in Paris on the tournament’s opening night, failing to fire a shot. Last weekend, they were pushed all the way by Italy. Had Azzurri wing Louis Lynagh’s try stood, the pressure would have been heaped on Farrell yet further.
One theory put forward in Ireland has been that the presence of South Africa’s World Cup-winning coach Jacques Nienaber at Leinster has changed the way the country’s dominant domestic side has played. Leinster’s players have made up the majority of Ireland’s best teams, so the insinuation has been that Nienaber’s club changes have hurt the national outfit.
One theory put forward in Ireland has been that the presence of South Africa’s World Cup-winning coach Jacques Nienaber (left) at Leinster
Well-placed sources in Ireland say Nienaber is not to blame, but the fact different parts of Irish rugby are blaming each other shows all is not well
Ex-England and Leinster coach Stuart Lancaster – now in charge of Connacht in Galway – has been one to say that’s the case, alongside other high-profile former Ireland players. Well-placed sources in Ireland say such a theory lacks real weight, but the fact different parts of Irish rugby are blaming each other shows all is not well. Ireland’s harmonious system has rightly been heralded for its unity in the past. Now, it seems the wheels might be coming off.
‘Jacques has given the Leinster players a South African-type mindset. But the players love Jacques,’ says Jackman, who is a former Leinster forward.
Last season, Ireland’s Under-20 side finished with a Six Nations spoon, winning only one of five games. Ireland’s pathway of players has been bountiful but there is a concern over the new generation.
Farrell is desperately trying to inject fresh blood into his team. Cormac Izuchukwu started against Italy and Edogbo appeared off the bench. Farrell likes Brian Gleeson, a young Munster forward and Matthew Devine, a scrum-half currently with Connacht but who is off to Ulster.
Even accounting for what is to come in the years ahead, Ireland have issues now. The sight of Furlong nearly being put on the Aviva roof by Italy’s scrum was not just a concern for the legendary prop’s welfare. It was reflective of a side which has been so good for so long, now struggling.
Italy’s scrum was dominant in Ireland, leaving Farrell with questions to answer as they prepare to face England at Twickenham on Saturday. Ireland are still without suspended centre Bundee Aki who was handed a four-game ban for ‘verbal abuse and disrespect’ of a referee for an offence committed playing for Connacht against Leinster before the Championship began.
Ireleand are without Bundee Aki who was handed a four-game ban for ‘verbal abuse and disrespect’ of a referee for an offence committed playing for Connacht
Farrell is desperately trying to inject fresh blood into his team with Cormac Izuchukwu starting against Italy
‘It only really came to a head around Christmas when it was properly out of order. The Bundee incident was a Godsend for Farrell. He was going into the Six Nations thinking: “How am I going to get these lads to understand that at international level, Ireland can’t give away more penalties than the opposition and expect to win against teams like France or England?”
‘One area that’s a big concern for us is discipline. We’ve completely lost the plot there. The Bundee thing couldn’t have come at a better time,’ says Jackman. ‘It’s obviously horrible an individual has to miss the significant part of a Six Nations to send a message home. I was getting a backlash from players for questioning their discipline, but for me it’s massive thing and the Bundee incident is only the tip of the iceberg.
‘I’ve listened to the referee’s microphone in a lot of Ireland games and matches involving the four Irish provinces and the amount of s**t they get from Irish players is unreal.
‘One of the other biggest issues in Ireland is that we’ve got carried away with the new rules around the aerial contest and considered it all very unfair. There’s an element to it that Irish players and coaches are feeling sorry for themselves that the rule changes in that area have not helped them.
‘There’s a bit of a conspiracy theory that South Africa have brought this into the game, rather than just accepting that’s the way the game is now refereed. Ireland have always been good in this area, but it’s an issue now. It’s amazing because theoretically, Ireland should be the best in that area because a lot of our players played Gaelic football growing up which is big on aerial contests.
‘Mack and James Lowe wouldn’t have grown up with Gaelic having been born in the southern hemisphere, but a lot of our players did. It’s a mindset thing. Recently, Mike Prendergast, who is a coach at Munster, had a real go at the laws around kicking, saying there’s no point trying to keep the ball in hand now. That was after Munster were beaten by Bath. The kicking game had nothing to do with it. Bath’s power game was too strong.
Edwin Edogbo was subjected to racist abuse online on Sunday following his debut for Ireland
Ireland and their No 10 Sam Prendergast visit Twickenham on Saturday
‘Ross Byrne, a former Ireland No 10 now at Gloucester, has said similar things. We’ve been used to Ireland setting the trends. Under Schmidt, they had a very typical way of playing – high ruck count, multiple different attacking shapes, squeezing teams and forcing them to give away a lot of penalties.
‘Andy took that on and Ireland had some big results – Six Nations titles, a series win in New Zealand, beating South Africa away. We were ahead of the curve and now it looks like we’re behind it. At the moment, we’re looking for inspiration and a player who’s got unbelievable X Factor – someone like Mack.’
After their poor performance and Calcutta Cup defeat by Scotland, England have big questions to answer ahead of facing Ireland.
Fortunately for Steve Borthwick and his players, their opposition this weekend are also far from firing on all cylinders and it’s been a long time since you’ve been able to say that about an Ireland team.