‘Business as usual’ for Ireland despite Farrell absence

As Ireland prepares to defend their title without head coach Andy Farrell, Paul O’Connell says, “it has been business as usual.”

With Farrell completing the feat, Simon Easterby has taken the helm of Ireland’s quest for a third consecutive Six Nations victory.

Despite Farrell’s absence, forwards coach O’Connell – a leading contender to join Farrell’s Lions coaching ticket – says there has not been a major change to his role.

We have a formula that we stick to, and we make some adjustments to it to keep it interesting. But it’s been good”, said O’Connell, speaking from Ireland’s training base in Portugal.

Before their Six Nations opener against England in Dublin on February 1st, the Ireland squad met in Dublin on Monday and traveled to the Algarve on Wednesday for training.

The world’s No. 2 team will compete in the Six Nations this year after winning victories over Argentina, Fiji, and Australia while also preparing for an emotional defeat to New Zealand in the fall.

“We]the coaches] have been living in this game since the end of the autumn internationals, that’s the challenge for us, the players have had a busy period of European games, big inter-provincial games”, added O’Connell.

“Sometimes, you want to start working really hard right away, so we have to be a little bit aware of where they’re coming from, the language they have in their heads from their provinces, and we have to drip-feed in what we’re doing here.

The first week typically involves returning to our way of doing things, which is frequently not very similar to the provinces but there are still some subtle differences and differences in the language.

O’Connell also reported a clean bill of health for Ireland eight days after the Aviva Stadium match while England head coach Steve Borthwick has lost hooker Jamie George, scrum-half Jack van Poortvliet, and back row Alex Dombrant to injury.

Before joining the Leinster squad in Portugal, uncapped prop Jack Boyle (Leinster) and scrum-half Caolin Blade (Connacht) will also play for their clubs this weekend. Dan Sheehan and James Lowe will also play for Leinster in Saturday’s United Rugby Championship game against the Stormers.

The national rugby team has enjoyed Quinta do Lago, which has become a regular stop for the squad ahead of significant campaigns in recent years, despite the island of Ireland being hit by Storm Éowyn over the past 24 hours.

“It’s a bit of a change of scenery. When we come out here, the players definitely enjoy it”, said O’Connell.

“It’s a great training facility, they really enjoy the hotel. I suppose there’s a bit of a feeling of ‘ we’re in with Ireland now. ‘

Because it was a great week, we were able to travel abroad and have this unique experience. The training pitch out there is beautiful.