For a sense of occasion, and hence for experiencing extraordinary highs and lows in victory or defeat, World Cup nights in the Stade de France have set a new bar. But in the context of the Six Nations, for most Irish supporters, despite the generally sporting nature of the home crowd, there’s no better place to win and no worse place to lose than Twickenham.
And as much there as anywhere else, there’s usually no better barometer of Ireland’s performance than the degree to which the Green Army can be heard, and it often requires a try to highlight the tens of thousands who have acquired tickets at Twickenham. Two years ago it needed four Irish tries to eventually subdue a home crowd that had been whipped into a fervour by Charlie Ewels’s second-minute red card and sustained by a procession of scrum penalties before the air in southwest London echoed to The Fields.
Supplemented by the large number of Irish ex-pats in London, the role of the Irish supporters and the degree to which they can be brought into the game is not lost on the former English international and current Irish head coach.
“It’s something that we will talk about and continue to talk about for the rest of the week and build through that,” admitted Andy Farrell before the squad departed Dublin on Thursday for Saturday’s meeting with England at Twickenham (kick-off 4.45pm). “Because we always know that there’s excitement for Irish fans to go to Twickenham. Then you add the fact that plenty are there anyway and they’ll always find a way.
“I always remember being astonished when Munster were playing in Harlequins’ ground. I actually went to the game and it was Harlequins versus Munster in a European game and three-quarters of the ground were full of red shirts and I remember the fallout of people being disgusted that Harlequins’ fans had sold their tickets on for a pretty penny.
“But it just goes to show Irish fans will do anything to support their team.”
This team has compiled an Irish record of 18 consecutive home wins. But in winning 23 of their 25 Tests since last losing in the Six Nations against France in February 2022, their away form hasn’t been too shabby either. They have since visited and conquered Twickenham, Dunedin’s Forsyth Bar Stadium, Wellington’s Sky Stadium, the Principality Stadium, Stadio Olimpico, Murrayfield and the Stade Vélodrome. Nowhere seems to particularly faze Farrell’s team any more.
“Well, there’s a way of being, isn’t there?” said the Irish head coach in giving an insight into his team’s away-day mentality, adding: “Of trying to understand what gets you to the point where you’re going to be able to put your best foot forward, to give the performance that you’re after.
Ireland's Twickenham Test
“That way of being is probably more important than understanding the stadium, the atmosphere, because all you want to do is implement your game and hopefully that helps to calm everyone down. If that’s the main focus, then the atmosphere becomes a little less important.
“Of course, it’s embracing [the atmosphere], because if you get off the bus at Twickenham and you’re walking through the fans and you’re shivering in a bad way, then that’s not a good way to be, is it? Burning energy.
“It’s understanding how to handle the individual and therefore the collective as the team, not just at the stadium but all day leading up to that, so that when the kick-off comes all the energy is stored in the right place and you’re able to do what you’ve done all week.”
Farrell was speaking after confirming the return of Hugo Keenan to face England following the fullback’s recovery from the knee injury that ruled him out of the win over Wales. Ciarán Frawley thus moves from fullback to provide utility cover at number 23 in a 6-2 bench. Finlay Bealham has been restored to the replacements ahead of Oli Jager, while Iain Henderson has been added after James Ryan suffered a suspected torn bicep in training on Wednesday.
Being able to call upon a player of Henderson’s experience (80 caps) while deeming Garry Ringrose (57 caps) one of the travelling non-match day members of the squad – even though Ringrose has recovered from the shoulder injury that sidelined him for six weeks – demonstrates Ireland’s depth.
Ringrose, along with the omitted Stuart McCloskey, misses out due to that preference for a 6-2 split for the third time in four games, which to some degree at least is to accommodate the form of Ryan Baird.
“Yeah, there’s that,” admitted Farrell, adding: “You’ve got to be open-minded to change because the change sometimes is obviously right in front of your face – where people are at, individuals and combinations.”
But the emergence and versatility of Frawley, who critically also provides outhalf and goal-kicking cover, is also a factor,
“He’s had a lot of experience within the squad over the last 18 months to two years. It feels right with his way of playing and able to cover quite a few positions it certainly opens it up to us a lot more.”
Farrell was a team-mate of Steve Borthwick’s for a season apiece with England and with Saracens, and they were fellow assistant coaches on the 2017 Lions’ tour to New Zealand.
Describing Borthwick’s move into coaching as “a proper slam dunk”, Farrell said: “If there was ever a person who was going to be a coach, it was Steve. I mean, he was so driven as a player and as a captain, trying to understand the dynamics of a group.”
Ireland: Hugo Keenan (Leinster/UCD); Calvin Nash (Munster), Robbie Henshaw (Leinster), Bundee Aki (Connacht), James Lowe (Leinster); Jack Crowley (Munster), Jamison Gibson-Park (Leinster); Andrew Porter (Leinster), Dan Sheehan (Leinster), Tadhg Furlong (Leinster); Joe McCarthy (Leinster), Tadhg Beirne (Munster); Peter O’Mahony (Munster, capt), Josh van der Flier (Leinster), Caealan Doris (Leinster). Replacements: Rónan Kelleher (Leinster), Cian Healy (Leinster), Finlay Bealham (Connacht/Buccaneers), Iain Henderson (Ulster/Academy), Ryan Baird (Leinster), Jack Conan (Leinster), Conor Murray (Munster), Ciarán Frawley (Leinster).
England: George Furbank; Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, Henry Slade, Ollie Lawrence, Tommy Freeman; George Ford, Alex Mitchell; Ellis Genge, Jamie George (capt), Dan Cole; Maro Itoje, George Martin; Ollie Chessum, Sam Underhill, Ben Earl. Replacements: Theo Dan, Joe Marler, Will Stuart, Chandler Cunningham-South, Alex Bombrandt, Danny Care, Marcus Smith, Elliot Daly.
