News about Andy Farrell

CHRIS FOY, THE WORLD OF RUGBY: Ireland retained their Six Nations title after winning after a hard-fought victory on Saturday afternoon in Dublin. Andy Farrell's side was the team to beat during the tournament, with France finishing second and England barely beating 33-31 in their match in Lyon on Saturday night due to a last gasp kick from Thomas Ramos. However, Wales was sad, with a 21-24 loss to Italy that put an end to Wales' Six Nations campaign with the wooden spoon. Despite Wales' two late attempts from Will Rowlands and Mason Grady, Warren Gatland's men who were outplayed by an impressive Italian side were perhaps flattering.

IAN HERBERT IN DUBLIN: Andy Farrell spent Saturday morning on the touchline of a Dublin junior rugby field, watching his son play for the Blackrock College Under 13s in their win over St Michael's College. He should have done so on the day when Ireland announced themselves to be the world's best rugby nation. Of course, the Ireland coach's motives were paternal. On Saturday night, he was delighted to announce that he had told his boy, Gabriel, that Blackrock's victory had put him some anxiety,' because imagine you winning and we not.' However, the strength of the country's junior rugby explains why Ireland went out a few hours later and won back-to-back Six Nations titles for the third time in history. The emerald isle may have lost to England, but they have defeated them back to the throne with a sliver of their player base and a swish of their money. By recruiting talent like no one else, it has established itself as Europe's best rugby nation.

SIR CLIVEWOODWARD: I thought the first two games of Six Nations' 'Super Saturday' were quite disappointing. The tournament's last game of the 2024 Championships was also alive. The England-France match was fantastic. By the time it was announced, Ireland had already deservedly claimed the title. But Steve Borthwick's team and France produced a special 80 minutes. It was clear to me how both teams mingled at the last whistle and discussed a game to remember. We're here discussing the positive way England has played, not just about pick.

IAN HERBERT: For the majority of the match, Scotland maintained a knife edge, with Farrell claiming it made the 17-13 victory even sweeter. If Ireland had not lost to England, it would have been a memorable first of back-to-back Grand Slams for Ireland, but Farrell said losing at Twickenham brought the most value of all the team's matches in the tournament. Despite winning only two matches, Scotland captain Finn Russell said he thinks his team is improving, but he must avoid doing so much in games.

Six Nations' blockbuster came to an end, with Ireland as the crowned champions once more. Andy Farrell's team survived a thrilling showdown against a defiant Scotland to keep their title, delving England to drop third after a dramatic loss to France. After Thomas Ramos kicked a penalty in the final minute, England barely got out in Lyon, but Scotland did finish higher than Scotland in two bonus points. But which players stood out at the tournament and who scored the best try? Here is Mail Sport's NIK SIMON's picks...

Ireland held their nerve in a dramatic final in Dublin to keep the Six Nations title. With a converted Dan Sheehan try and Jack Crowley's penalty, Andy Farrell's side led 7-6 at halftime. As Ireland piled on the pressure, Furlong was refused a try by the TMO and Henshaw was detained on the line.

IAN HERBERT: The Irish people have returned home for St Patrick's weekend, with talk of glory in the air. Given that a victory or draw against Scotland will clinch the Six Nations championship, this seems to be the optimum elision of time and place. However, there is still the tenacious, dreary, 'if-only' that has stalked Ireland's capital ever since the last-gasp England drop goal at Twickenham a week ago. A triumph over the English would have been the start of Ireland's return to the Six Nations era's first back-to-back Grand Slams.

WORLD OF RUGBY: Six Nations 'Super Saturday' is coming, and it has become a very popular triple-header to bring the annual tournament to a close. If the games ran concurrently, it would make it even more awesome. Of course, it is a made-for-television blockbuster schedule that runs for the first eight hours. At 2.15 p.m. UK time, Wales versus Italy will meet in the final, and the France-England match is expected to conclude a few minutes before ten p.m. Ireland is on track to win another title in game two in front of their home audience in Dublin, but imagine if there was an unexpected twist. With the latest timetable, those playing earlier are likely to go for broke, but later games have the benefit of knowing exactly what they need to do. Anything that results in such a disparity is unjustified.

CHRIS FOY AT TWICKENHAM: This means that all the stirring words are no longer hollow. This means they are really on to something. A victory over Ireland can be tricked by no Test team in the world. Andy Farrell's crew arrived in Twickenham to take the penultimate step toward a historic back-to-back Grand Slam, but they were sent home defeated, stunned, and reduced, at least fleetingly. The better team triumphed. Justice was served. Now they have done it, but just enough to know that the oval-ball richer scale exists. Since the Irish thumping, opening-night victory over France in Marseille, there was a suspicion of an Irish clean-sweep, but Jamie George and Co defied that script.

SIR CLIVE WOODWARD: I wrote before the game that England had no chance of winning and that the game was about being competitive against what I think is the best team in the world. For England to win, they'd have to play near the perfect game. Although England defeated Ireland, I still think they will do even better. What a fantastic spot for the team to be in. They were unfounded. Borthwick's men can and must also bring more impetus to their conduct. However, there can be no doubt that this Twickenham triumph against a team as strong as Ireland is a major step forward for everyone in English rugby. This victory would be a big lift for Borthwick fans, I'm sure.

Marcus Smith's kick towards the stars had just dropped over Twickenham, the atmosphere had started to crackle, and Marcus Smith had just kicked it at the stars. The stadium held its breath, a flash point where time stood still, and watched his drop-kick soar toward the posts. He knew it was fine, but it was so bad that it sparked a sensation that hasn't been present in this area for years. The last play of the game, the dramatic move that ended Ireland's undefeated run. Smith had been waiting for this moment. The poster boy of England is finally getting his poster boy moment. Lift off. It was England's biggest victory of the Steve Borthwick era. A show filled with venom, attacking motivation, and a belief that did not die until the game's final play. Even Borthwick, the mild-mannered one, participated in the war, exchanging words with Ireland coach Andy Farrell at halftime. The crowd loved it.

During their Six Nations match against Twickenham, England head coach Steve Borthwick exchanged tense words with Ireland counterpart Andy Farrell. After the halftime whistle went, tempers boiled over, with Ireland at the time being 12-8 ahead of the hosts. Both the two mannered bosses stepped down from their positions in the stands as they headed to their respective dressing rooms, but as they left the pitch, they came face to face each other.

After being called off for England's Six Nations match against Ireland on Saturday, England captain Jamie George has urged his team to 'defend their home.' Ireland is a strong favorite to win at Twickenham as they charge toward a Grand Slam, with coach Andy Farrell. England was defeated by Scotland in Edinburgh, but George believes his team will use their underdog status as a weapon.

As England hosts Andy Farrell's side at Twickenham this Saturday, they will be hoping to bounce back and derail Ireland's attempt to win an unbeaten 2024 Six Nations campaign. Given Ireland's recent form in this year's Six Nations, it's no surprise that the defending champions enter the race on Saturday as a landslide 2/9 favorite. Despite having home advantage, England, who won their first two games against Italy and Wales before losing to Scotland, are 7/2 outsiders to upset Ireland.

This week, there was chaos outside the England team hotel in Surrey, with cones out and work continuing. People were trapped and not making progress, looking tense and impatient. It's been a similar tale on the other side of late's gates; cones have been issued, lots of work has been going, but no one is really sure that anyone is heading in the right direction. On Saturday evening, when Ireland thrashed Twickenham on a Grand Slam crusade, the whole thing would change. Borthwick, the British Prime Minister, needs his home team to be able to relax and reclaim some energy for this difficult Six Nations assignment. During England's loss to Scotland in the last round, the head coach revealed on Thursday that his players had been "weighed down" by the England shirt. That means there had been a lot of anxiety within the team and that had led to them to break down.

I had no idea I'd say this about an England team playing at Twickenham. However, winning in the Six Nations Championships against back-to-back Grand Slam-chasing Ireland on Saturday isn't about winning. It's all about being ultra-competitive against what is arguably the best team in the country right now. It pains me to say it, but England does need a minor miracle to win this game. I have been wrestling with this all week because I have never felt this way about England before. The fact that Ireland is supposed to win says a lot about how good they are, but also much about England's fall from grace.

SIMON of Northern Ireland. All started over lunch at the Beyerskloof wine estate in Stellenbosch, South Africa. Andy Farrell, a native of Saracens, was on tour in Cape Town against the Stormers in 2009. As Farrell first received an invite from Brendan Venter, the former Springboks who will be replacing Eddie Jones as coach this summer, he was basking in the sun. 'Andy was at the end of his playing career at Saracens,' according to Venter.' 'The money men - Nigel Wray, Edward Griffiths - were saying to me, "It's not going to work with Andy as a player, could you use him as a coach?" 'I wasn't aware of Faz' I didn't know.' "Let me go for lunch with him and see," I was just starting at Saracens. We joined Colleen, his wife, to this stunning wine farm. Faz is a compassionate human being who treats others well. I was convinced after lunch. His leadership abilities were never going to be a problem when captained Great Britain in rugby league.'

This player may have been a regular member of Steve Borthwick's England squad in 2024, but almost 20 years ago, he may have been preparing for Ireland ahead of the team's Six Nations match on Saturday. The heavily decorated player had split loyalties for a while, until a youth rugby team treated him properly. Here, the player weighs in on the highly awaited Twickenham tussle. Can you guess who it might be?

Ireland will be a 'one of the finest of the modern age' at Twickenham on Saturday, just two games away from making Six Nations history and becoming 'one of the finest of the modern age.' And, what's especially worrying for Steve Borthwick's England is that former Irish captain Rory Best believes Andy Farrell's side will still get much better. Ireland is on track to sweeps after a grand Slam triumph of 2023 and three straight bonus-point victories over France, Italy, and Wales so far this year. No team in the Six Nations history - since Italy joined what was previously a five-team tournament - has achieved such success.

ALEX BYWATER: Keith Wood's reaction when asked to identify the new Ireland incumbent Dan Sheehan is particularly striking. He was certainly the first to reimagine the hooker role. I'm keen to discuss Dan because of his age and what I've seen from him, I'm sure he's the best I've seen anywhere,' Wood said. Any remark. Wood, the first World Rugby player of the year in 2001, was a force of nature for Ireland and the British & Irish Lions with No. 2 on his back. Wood took things to a whole new level in a situation that had traditionally only concentrated on hooking the ball at the scrum and throwing it into the line-out.

ALEX BYWATER: As the aspiring doctor prioritizes his continuing medical education, England wing tyro Immanuel Feyi-Waboso will miss the national side's three-day training camp in York this week. After a breakthrough season with Exeter, Feyi-Waboso has burst on to the international stage in this Six Nations. In the round one victory over Italy, he made his Test debut. After coming off the bench, the 21-year-old, who was born in Cardiff but qualifies for England through family connections, scored his first try in England's Calcutta Cup loss to Scotland last weekend.

CHRIS FOY - THE WORLD OF RUGBY: France is in serious trouble. Matthieu Jalibert is likely to miss the remainder of the Six Nations, Jonathan Danty is set to be banned, Romain Ntamack is still missing, and Antoine Dupont is still living in Tinseltown. Although the defunct captain is gearing up for the Los Angeles version of the Sevens circuit ahead of this summer's Olympics, the national team he left behind is unraveling at a breakneck pace. Following the opening-night loss to Ireland and a let-off against Scotland at Murrayfield, they were 13-13-13 against Italy in Lille on Sunday. Not at all. France's players have been asked repeatedly and again if they are still haunted by the humiliation of losing by a single point to South Africa in the quarter-finals of their home World Cup, but they are being questioned again and again. They have denied that they had investigated it, parked it, and continued, but they seem to have been weighted down by luggage.

ALEX BYWATER: Warren Gatland's playing career taught him a little bit about personal regret as a man who never gained a Test cap for New Zealand and was forced to sit on the bench for 20 consecutive internationals behind legendary All Blacks captain Sean Fitzpatrick. Gatland framed the travails of his current Wales team in the light of his own journey after a 31-7 loss at the hands of Ireland and blows to Scotland and England. After his Welsh rookies scored four tries at the Aviva Stadium, I take a look back on my career as a player and playing for Waikato against Auckland after the 1987 World Cup.'

Ireland will not be shocked by England's blitz defense, according to Andy Farrell, because so many of his players are already working with a South African World Cup winner at Leinster. After An Irishman Felix Jones joined England, who put on a poor showing to be defeated 30-21 by Scotland on Saturday, the Boks have a new defensive system. He was South Africa's attack coach, but he has taken England the defensive system used by the country to win the World Cup in 2019 and 2023.