A lot done but more to do before Joe McCarthy thinks of the Lions
Test Dublin Stadium, Irfu 30/11/2024 150 Match, Aviva
Joe McCarthy has revealed that the Ireland players will return to their provinces this week with Andy Farrell’s urgings ringing in their ears and one eye on the job at hand next spring when they go about the job of trying to win another Six Nations.
Three wins from four in the November internationals made for a perfectly respectable return on the balance sheet but Saturday’s defeat of Australia mirrored the earlier success against Argentina in that it couldn’t hide some shortcomings.
The most fluid of their four outings was the week three beating of a disappointing Fiji but add in the opening loss, and non-performance, against the All Blacks and Farrell’s Ireland were looking at more of a pass mark than an honours grade.
“We’re happy with that win, obviously,” said Joe McCarthy after the Wallaby victory. “After losing to New Zealand in the first game, our goal was to go three out of three from there, so I suppose we’re very happy to do that. Obviously it wasn’t perfect.”
Farrell was happy enough after the last game, his focus landing on the character his side showed in putting a sloppy first-half performance behind them and recovering from a 13-5 deficit to win courtesy of Gus McCarthy’s 73rd-minute try.
Handling errors crippled momentum at times. There were 84 in all through the four games. If that is an individual issue then the spluttering lineout is a more systemic problem that needs fixing and one that has haunted the side since last year’s World Cup.
“There's definitely improvement to be had,” McCarthy agreed. “[Saturday] was a bit crazy, there were 24 lineouts so I think we were, on the run, trying to make up some new lineouts and we had gone through all of them about twice.
“We've got good success, we had good mauls throughout the year, focused very much on good drill and things like that, but we probably slipped away from that in a few games, leaking a few lineouts, a few sloppy bits, but I think it's been relatively strong enough.”
The next year will be interesting as the side goes about fixing some of these issues without the hands-on input of their head coach who, as of now, is on secondment to the British and Irish Lions through to the completion of next summer’s tour to Australia.
Farrell joked about how he isn’t exactly leaving on an extended holiday when quizzed about it at the weekend and he has made it clear to the players that they won’t be far removed from his thoughts as he goes about the new gig.
“He said he’s still living in Sandymount, which is only around the corner, so he’s not completely gone.
“He just challenged us when we go back to our provinces to make sure we keep getting better. We need to be ready first up in the Six Nations when we are back, so making sure we stick to good habits to be in tip top shape coming back in.”
Ireland could become the first team to ever win a hat-trick of Six Nations and if they do then it’s hard to imagine it happening without a considerable input from McCarthy who has become integral to the team in a very short time.
The Leinster lock has started all eleven of the team’s games since the World Cup. Still only 23 years of age, he already has 18 caps and he was chuffed to look back on a 12 months that delivered a Championship medal, a win in South Africa and more again.
The message remains the same though: more to come. Maybe not just with club and country but with the Lions as well. Farrell is clearly a fan and it would be a shock at this stage if he isn’t a part of that touring party.
“I'd say most players would like to be there. That's a lot of rugby to be played until then. I know that's a clichéd answer but I try to focus on the now. That'll definitely be an aim, but lots of rugby to be played for Leinster and Ireland, hopefully.”