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12th Nov 2022

Andy Farrell livid with his Ireland players’ decision right before full-time

Patrick McCarry

Andy Farrell

“The less said in the dressing room, straight away, about the game, the better”

Andy Farrell is one win away from equalling a home stand record of Joe Schmidt, but he was not in a great mood after Ireland’s latest victory.

Ireland defeated Fiji 35-17, at Aviva Stadium this afternoon, but they struggled at times against a side that had two yellow cards and a sending off. They trailed 7-0 and were only 28-17 up going into the final stages before a late Cian Healy try.

Following the game, Farrell was clearly unhappy with many aspects of how his team performed. Although he was not hiding it, he did try temper some of his comments. Farrell said:

“I thought we was off; thought we was poor,” he told Virgin Media.

“We didn’t have much continuity. The way we started the game was slow. The way we finished the game was poor – kicking the ball off to the crowd, and not having a crack, summed it all up for us.”

Farrell was irate at how his players did not push for a sixth try against a flagging team with only 14 men left, after they were hit with a 45th minute red card.

The Ireland head coach said the tougher analysis of the match will come on Monday morning, in the review sessions, and that this afternoon and evening is all about celebrating new caps, Jeremy Loughman, Cian Prendergast and Jack Crowley.

Up next for Andy Farrell and Ireland, in the Autumn Nations Series, are an oddly up-and-down Wallabies side.

The Australians pushed France to the brink, last weekend, but lost 28-27 to Italy, in Florence, today.

Another home win for Ireland would be their 12th in succession, at Aviva stadium, equalling a record set by the team when Joe Schmidt was head coach.

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