Andy Farrell says Ireland have “battened down the hatches” in their quest to retain the Guinness Six Nations title after some players received online abuse in the wake of their last-gasp loss to England.
Ireland’s pursuit of successive Grand Slams ended following Marcus Smith’s dramatic drop goal in last weekend’s 23-22 Guinness Six Nations defeat at Twickenham.
Members of Farrell’s squad, including veteran scrum-half Conor Murray, were subsequently targeted on social media for their performances in south-west London.
Farrell last year branded the “circus” surrounding his son Owen “absolutely disgusting” before the England captain decided to take a break from international rugby to prioritise his mental health.
The Ireland head coach, whose side host Scotland in a championship title decider on Saturday, seemed resigned to players having to deal with online hate but expressed hope the situation will change.
“Everyone would be lying if they said they hadn’t (been aware of it),” said Farrell.
“But that’s been the way of the world for some time now, hasn’t it, really, in regards to social media etc?
“We’ve battened down the hatches as far as our concentration on what we need to do to improve our performance and make sure that we’re the best of ourselves.
“And come Tuesday afternoon after the training session and a big session on Wednesday as well, it seems to be that the focus is right where it should be.”
Murray was vilified for kicking away possession in the closing minutes as Ireland attempted to protect a 22-20 lead, while captain Peter O’Mahony was criticised following a costly second-half yellow card.
Former Ireland international Andrew Conway described the negativity and disrespect aimed at players following his country’s second defeat in 22 games as “staggering”.
“It’s one loss and the bounce of a ball, an interpretation here and there,” said Farrell.
“But that’s the way of the world, you’ve got to roll with the punches as far as that’s concerned because we’ve all talked about it, we’ve all discussed it at length, certainly in this room (referring to Owen Farrell).
“It’s not for changing any time soon. Hopefully it will do though.”
Farrell has named an unchanged starting XV to face the Scots in Dublin, including retaining Calvin Nash on the right wing.
The 26-year-old Munster player was forced off by a head injury inside five minutes against England following a heavy collision with Tommy Freeman.
Farrell insisted he trusts the medical experts as he moved to allay fears about the selection of Nash.
“If you’re in the inner circle and you understand the process that these players have to go through now, you would thoroughly back that process,” he said.
“One, he has gone through it with flying colours and he never looked like failing for one second. And two, the process, I think is very sound.
“He passed the three stages that he had to go (through). He trained fully yesterday without doing contact within the session, but had to do contact after the session.
“(He) passed that with flying colours, no problem whatsoever. He had to see an independent doctor – if it’s a seven-day turnaround, you have to do that, and he passed that with flying colours as well.
“You trust the experts on this.”
Farrell has made two alterations on his bench.
The Englishman has scrapped the six-two split of forwards and backs by selecting centre Garry Ringrose ahead of lock Iain Henderson, while Ciaran Frawley, who is unavailable due to a head knock sustained after coming on for Nash last time out, is replaced by fly-half Harry Byrne.
Nyeem Young to lead West Indies Academy squad named for Ireland tour
Cricket West Indies (CWI) has unveil the squad selected for the upcoming West Indies Academy tour of Ireland, slated from June 8th to June 29th, 2024.
This tour will comprise five matches, encompassing three 50-over matches and two four-day matches against Ireland’s Emerging Men’s Team. It signifies a reciprocal tour following Ireland's visit to the West Indies in November 2023.
“We continue to be methodical in our approach by exposing our academy players to various opposition and conditions across different formats. This is key to their development and fosters resilience and adaptability," said Miles Bascombe, CWI Director of Cricket.
Nyeem Young will continue as Captain, with Teddy Bishop as Vice-Captain for both formats.
"Nyeem’s leadership qualities have been evident throughout his tenure, notably steering the Academy team during the Super50 and West Indies Championship campaigns. His continued captaincy is a testament to his exceptional leadership skills and contribution to the team,” noted Graeme West, CWI’s High-Performance Manager in reference to Young.
Regarding Bishop's selection as Vice-Captain, West highlights, "Teddy Bishop's elevation to Vice Captaincy underscores his growing stature within the team. His adept handling of leadership responsibilities during Young's absence and his invaluable experience with the West Indies A Team and Senior Teams make him an ideal choice for the role."
The full squad is listed as follows:
Nyeem Young - Captain
Teddy Bishop - Vice Captain
Kadeem Alleyne
Jewel Andrew
Ackeem Auguste
Joshua Bishop
McKenny Clarke
Joshua James
Jordan Johnson
Leonardo Julian
Johann Layne
Ashmead Nedd
Kelvin Pitman
Ramon Simmonds
Carlon Tuckett
Team Management Unit:
Head Coach: Ramesh Subasinghe
Assistant Coach: Rohan Nurse
Physiotherapist: Neil Barry
Strength & Conditioning Coach: Shayne Cooper
Manager & Team Analyst: Kesh Ramphal
Fraser Brown ‘hugely proud’ of Scotland career as he announces rugby retirement
Fraser Brown declared himself “hugely proud” of his Scotland career as he announced his retirement from professional rugby.
The 34-year-old Glasgow hooker has not played since rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament while playing for the World XV against the Barbarians at Twickenham last May and he has now conceded defeat in his bid to return to action.
Brown won 61 Scotland caps, with the first of them coming against Italy in 2013 and the last in the Six Nations match at home to Ireland in 2023, the same game incidentally in which Stuart Hogg won his final cap. The front-rower went to both the 2015 and 2019 World Cups.
“When you have a serious injury like I did with an ACL at the end of your career, it is always going to be hard to come back from,” Brown told Scottish Rugby.
“That probably made it a little easier to announce my retirement but it’s still a surreal and strange feeling.
“I’m hugely proud to have played so many times for Scotland during my career. To get one cap was great, but then my second one came against the All Blacks at Murrayfield which was such a special occasion.
“To reach 50 caps was a big moment as I had to deal with a lot of injuries throughout my career and to be part of the growth process of the team which has resulted in where they are now has been cool.”
At club level, Brown made 141 appearances for Glasgow after joining from Edinburgh in 2011.
The hooker helped them win the Guinness Pro12 in 2015 with victory over Munster in the final in Belfast, while his last appearance for Warriors proved to be last season’s Challenge Cup final defeat by Toulon in Dublin.
Glasgow head coach Franco Smith paid tribute to Brown, saying: “Fraser is the epitome of a modern professional and someone who should serve as a role model to any young player starting their journey.
“The respect with which he is held, not only within the Glasgow Warriors community but within the wider rugby family, should serve to underline the achievements he has earned throughout his career and the manner in which he has achieved them.
“His work ethic and determination to bring the best out of the people and players around him has been clear to all throughout his career.
“I wish him the very best for whatever comes next and I know he will apply that same work ethic and determination that made him one of this club’s most distinguished Warriors.”
Brown becomes the second experienced Scotland front-rower to announce his retirement in the space of a month after Edinburgh prop WP Nel recently revealed he would be hanging his boots up at the end of this season.
England tap into knowledge of Brian Ashton to play entertaining brand of rugby
England have been tapping into the knowledge of veteran attack guru Brian Ashton to achieve their aim of filling Twickenham.
The Red Roses ran in 14 tries in an 88-10 victory over Ireland that places them on the brink of claiming a sixth consecutive Guinness Women’s Six Nations title when they face France on Saturday.
A thrilling attacking performance before a 48,778 crowd was born out of the belief that in order to play in front of a full house of Twickenham at next year’s home World Cup, they must play appealing rugby.
And helping them achieve that aim is Ashton, a former England men’s head coach regarded as a visionary in the game whose expertise has been enlisted by Red Roses boss John Mitchell.
“Brian makes us ask questions. ‘If this is the picture, what is the easiest way that you can take the wins?’” said Dow, who ran in a hat-trick against Ireland.
“I do think it is about asking those questions and having Brian Ashton available throughout the week…I absolutely adore the man.
“The way he phrases things almost makes you re-think the philosophy of rugby. I think in the English brand the philosophy is ‘let’s kick to the corner, let’s take the territory’. But is that the philosophy of all rugby? Can we expand that?
“At the end of the day, professional rugby is a business in its own way. We need to be proving to the whole of England that we can play an exciting brand of rugby.”
While England march on by overwhelming the opposition in front of them, Ireland’s blowout highlights the gulf in class in the women’s game and affects the credibility of the Six Nations.
The Red Roses have accumulated 228 points after four rounds and France are the only European team capable of taking the wind out of their sails when the rivals clash in Bordeaux.
“I 100 per cent think teams will catch up and as much as we may be on top now, it is on us to try and work to keep that place and demand more from ourselves,” Dow said.
“Because as much as we’d love the game to grow, we want to keep the gap ourselves and continue to prove that we can be the best.”
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