Ireland Rugby Press Conference, Aviva Stadium, Dublin Head Coach Andy Farrell Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/Nick Elliott
Saturday’s Test match is a significant milestone in the story of Irish rugby. There’s history to be marked and made as Ireland play Australia in the IRFU 150 Anniversary Test Match.
Head Coach Andy Farrell knows the importance of the game on a number of levels, “Aside from the 150th celebrations, for Cian (Healy) it presents the opportunity to break the Test cap record, which is a remarkable achievement considering the robustness of his position. Cian is a giant of Irish rugby and we are determined to provide him with a performance that he deserves.”
To do that he says that the team need to produce their best performance of the Autumn Nations Series against Joe Schmidt’s Wallabies.
“Our best performance of the autumn and maybe more, hopefully. That’s what you’re always wishing for, isn’t it, to progress. Australia are certainly progressing.
“We feel that the occasion, the importance of it, everything that we put on, trying to kick on in any type of series is enough for us to see the best of ourselves. The 150th anniversary is a special place for us. It’s a huge privilege for us all.”
Farrell always puts a huge emphasis on the presentation of the jerseys to the team on a Thursday night. For this special week they asked Ireland legend Ollie Campbell to make the presentation. Campbell’s first three caps came against Australia, the first in 1976 and then two more on the famous 1979 winning tour against the same opposition. Sharing his alma mater, Belvedere College, with Cian Healy is another link in the history of the game.
“We’ve Ollie coming in , presenting the one-off jerseys we’re going to use. So it’s a privilege for us because we talk about our history a lot in this type of position when it comes around on our shift.”
Assessing the series so far and the four new caps – Sam Prendergast, Tom Clarkson, Gus McCarthy and Cormac Izuchukwu – Farrell is pleased with how the squad is evolving.
“I think it has been good. The four debutants, but it’s not just that, we’ve four new members of staff as well, so we are developing, growing, getting tighter together as a group.
“That has certainly been evident over the last five months. The camaraderie around the team is just the same, if not kicked on, as it should do in our game, in how we’re trying to go about it, there’s a nice edge to the want to do that. Hopefully we can show that on Saturday.”
Looking at Australia, who have recorded two wins from three in the Autumn Nations Series, Farrell said he can see the resurgence in the side who are rebuilding since a difficult Rugby World Cup campaign in 2023.
“They’ve got their DNA back. I think if you look over the history, they’ve been unbelievably difficult to play against because of that DNA. They’ve brought a little bit of that back with a little bit more structure as well, which probably goes hand in hand at making them a better team.
“That is probably showing in the last couple of months, of how they’ve played and that’s only going to get better. Therefore, it’s a brilliant test for us.”
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