{"id":23224,"date":"2021-01-26T21:00:23","date_gmt":"2021-01-26T21:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.anfocal.ie\/?p=23224"},"modified":"2021-01-26T20:34:55","modified_gmt":"2021-01-26T20:34:55","slug":"ireland-six-nations-preview-will-farrells-men-find-consistency-in-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.anfocal.ie\/index.php\/ireland-six-nations-preview-will-farrells-men-find-consistency-in-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"Ireland Six Nations Preview: Will Farrell’s Men Find Consistency in 2021?"},"content":{"rendered":"

2020 was meant to spark the beginning of Andy Farrell\u2019s fresh start after a brilliant seven-year run by previous coach Joe Schmidt. The stop-start nature of year was reflected throughout Ireland\u2019s performances in the Six Nations and Autumn Nations Cup.<\/span><\/p>\n

While it is hard to take some of last year\u2019s results at face value, some themes remain within the team. Ireland seemed to rely on heavy, one-off ball carries, instead of maybe using the wider channels to break the oppositions defences.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Paul O’Connell has joined Farrell’s backroom staff ahead of the 2021 Six Nations.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Moving on from their lacklustre year, Farrell has named his 36-man squad with improvements in the coaching set-up also announced this month. Ireland stalwart Paul O\u2019Connell has joined as Forwards coach, which will have only a positive impact on Ireland’s talented pack.<\/span><\/p>\n

There are two uncapped players in Ireland\u2019s 2021 Six Nations squad – Munster scrum-half Craig Casey and Ulster Prop Tom O\u2019Toole. Casey has shown consistent performances for the province with an Irish call up being a huge step-up for the young player, who seems to relish pressure situations. Andy Farrell seems to be putting faith in youth rather than picking Leinster\u2019s Luke McGrath, Connacht\u2019s Kieran Marmion and Ulster\u2019s John Cooney who have all been in form for their respective provinces. Casey, like O\u2019Toole, is more of an investment in the future.<\/span><\/p>\n

22-year-old O\u2019Toole has been selected alongside the experienced shoulders of Leinster\u2019s Tadhg Furlong despite having a calf injury since February of 2020. Leinster\u2019s Andrew Porter has also gotten the nod for tight head position, with Munster\u2019s John Ryan missing out.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Jacob Stockdale’s knee injury sees him miss out on a spot in the squad.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The overall squad is largely relying on the tried and trusted players who have been called on by Irish coaches for years now. Any squad which welcomes back players with the proven calibre of Tadhg Furlong, Dave Kilcoyne, Rhys Ruddock, Garry Ringrose and Jordan Larmour, should be stronger as a result. Even with these returns, it looks like a host of players are coming into this tournament with relatively little rugby of late under their belts.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Noticeable names are missing from the squad like Stockdale who is absent with a knee injury. During the 2020 six nations campaign, Stockdale looked out of place at full-back throughout most of their games, maybe his absence now will result in an emergence of a more comfortable player at 15. Connacht\u2019s Jack Carty and Ulster\u2019s John Cooney can feel the most aggrieved by the selection as the two in-form players are not favoured by Andy Farrell once again<\/span><\/p>\n

It will be very interesting to see the impact new coaches have had on the squad in their first match against Wales on the 7<\/span>th<\/span> of February. Hopefully, Andy Farrell\u2019s squad can leave behind their 2020 matches and return to their winning ways.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Fixtures: Wales v IRELAND -Principality Stadium, Cardiff. Sunday, 7<\/span>th<\/span> February, 3 pm<\/span><\/p>\n

IRELAND v France- Aviva Stadium, Dublin. Sunday, 14<\/span>th<\/span> February, 3 pm<\/span><\/p>\n

Italy v IRELAND- Stadio Olimipico, Rome. Saturday 27<\/span>th<\/span> February 2.15 pm\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Scotland v IRELAND- BT Murrayfield, Edinburgh. Sunday, 14<\/span>th<\/span> March, 3 pm<\/span><\/p>\n

IRELAND v England- Aviva Stadium, Dublin. Saturday, 20<\/span>th<\/span> March. 4.45 pm\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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2020 was meant to spark the beginning of Andy Farrell\u2019s fresh start after a brilliant seven-year run by previous coach Joe Schmidt. The stop-start nature of year was reflected throughout Ireland\u2019s performances in the Six Nations and Autumn Nations Cup. While it is hard to take some of last year\u2019s results at face value, some […]<\/p>\n

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