The Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) Performance Director, David Humphreys, believes coach Andy Farrell will be missed as Ireland near their opening game of the Six Nations Championship against England on Saturday. Farrell has taken a sabbatical from Ireland to coach the Lions team later this year in Australia with Simon Easterby taking control for the five games of the championship.
“Andy Farrell will be missed for any coaching team. In my opinion he’s the best rugby coach in the world and that’s why he’s become such an important part of what we do,” said Humphreys, who is in Portugal’s Quinta do Lago with the Irish squad.
Despite that the former Ulster and Ireland outhalf has seen at close hand how the current backroom coaches have performed and has no concerns for the current team in the defence of their title.
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“Having been on the Emerging Ireland tour and seen how Simon [Easterby] and Paulie [O’Connell] and Andrew Goodman work together, I have absolutely no doubt it will be an easy transition in the next few months,” said Humphreys.
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“Even here this week and back in Dublin, yes Andy isn’t here, but nothing else has changed. Simon has been a big part of the success over the last few years, he has head coach experience, and I have no doubt he’ll thrive under the pressure that will come with head coach over the next few weeks.”
The Performance Director also has confidence in Ireland raising levels after a flat Autumn Nations Championship last November. Ireland won three games but were far from dominant following a long year after a World Cup, and lost to New Zealand. Recent club performances in the Champions Cup, however, points to many of the Irish players finding form.
“When the review was taken of the November series, when you look before that, coming into that competition, the provinces weren’t playing particularly well. Some of our key players were probably struggling a bit with their form,” said Humphreys.
“Compare that with the last month where I think you’ve seen a lot of our top players playing really well in Europe. That’s why we’re going into the Six Nations in a really good spot. The players are playing with a lot more confidence that comes from having played well.”
[ How the Irish rugby team are preparing for the Six Nations in PortugalOpens in new window ]
Humphreys also expects Irish prop Tadhg Furlong to play some role in this year’s championship. Furlong left the Irish team base in Portugal with a calf strain at the weekend and will not play against England in the opening match.
“You know how central Tadhg has been to Ireland’s success over the last 10 years,” said Humphreys.
“Yes, there’s no doubt that as any player gets older there’s an increased risk of injury. But he worked incredibly hard with the medical team over the course of the last few weeks to get back for the La Rochelle game and it’s certainly not as significant as it was back then, and we’d hope to see him back playing in the Six Nations.
The 32-year-old Furlong recently signed up for a new two-year contract with the IRFU.
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