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IT WOULD HAVE been understandable and maybe even more fitting of the occasion if Andy Farrell had opted against getting into World Cup chat on Saturday night just after watching his Ireland team claim a rare Grand Slam.
He was given a few outs in this regard, with one member of the media suggesting that Farrell probably didn’t want to talk about the World Cup.
But he did. The Ireland boss brought it up himself several times. This has been a theme in his public dealings since last year simply because Ireland themselves have been talking about the World Cup for a while now. They’re not obsessing about overcoming any quarter-final hurdle. They’re obsessing about winning the thing.
“I said to you in New Zealand [last summer], ‘This was the start of our World Cup year,’ and it was.
“I suppose the most pleasing thing is that we’ve continued to be successful, you know, to find a way. Everyone was nervous about that except us.
“So this is part of the journey, isn’t it? Obviously, this stands in its own right, as does the New Zealand tour, but it’s part of the journey of us as a group going forward into a World Cup.”
Farrell was looking forward to the celebrations as he spoke on Saturday evening and it was easy to think that he was looking forward to Ireland camp breaking up after eight or nine weeks of living in each other’s pockets.
But in truth, Farrell hasn’t seemed all that stressed over the last couple of months aside from a bit of normal in-game anxiety that comes with the territory.
“I haven’t really been [stressed] because it is what it is,” said Farrell.
“I mean, what can you do when lads are injured? What can you do when you know that England are going to come bouncing back and they’re going to be 30% better than they were the week before? What can you do when Scotland are going for a Triple Crown?
“It’s a brilliant place to be. Embrace it and see what you can get out of it, not just as a team but personally as well. That’s the challenge, isn’t it? And that’s why we all love the Six Nations in that regard.”
Farrell’s sense of calm clearly filters into his players, although there were obviously edgy at times last weekend with the Grand Slam on the line. Perhaps our expectations for this Ireland team are already getting too lofty but Farrell himself feels that this team has only really scratched the surface in this Six Nations.
You wouldn’t even be surprised if a few of the players woke yesterday with a tinge of frustration in the back of their minds about not delivering a more complete performance on the final day of the championship. That’s the level they hold themselves to.
It’s a nice place for Farrell and Ireland to be when they can come back into camp in June to begin their World Cup prep as the number one team in the world with lots of scope for getting better.
“We’ll get two or three months pre-season training for the first time together and I expect ourselves to be better obviously because of that,” said Farrell.
“We’ve carried on winning. Is that the yardstick? I don’t know. I suppose we just go on the performances and the performances were pretty good in New Zealand and we’ve continued to find a way.
“It’s never been perfect but the game is not like that, so the mental strength of our game and large parts of our game are in a good place.
“But like I said, there’s a long way for us to go for us to be at our best which is a great sign.”
The journey continues and it promises to be a hell of a ride.
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I’ll just Google how to bake bread.
@David Dickson: Irishtimes have a good article
@David Dickson: I already did this and now Google how to make flour.
@cortisola: how to lay an egg
My baking soda is best before 12/1982.
Should be grand but this hatching is tiresome.
@David Dickson: What came first David Dickson or the Egg?
That is the question!!
Is there anything else happening in the world the journal can report on? Most of us are stuck at home bored and we know it’s cold, there’s no transport and people have been stock piling bread. Surely there’s a Trump/Hicks story or it’s the Russians what done it that could get an argument going
@Anne Marie Devlin: Watch a movie, I recommend “cold skin”, lots of similarly bad weather. Snow, wind, isolation with a bit of fantasy thrown in for good measure.
@Anne Marie Devlin: I anticipate this new article 9 months from now. “Ireland sees population boom as number of births increase.” Lol
We need metro underground – maybe it won’t be that easy to disrupt by our common natural disasters?
@cortisola: metro in Rome closed due to snow. They’re not impervious to the weather.
@cortisola: Common? How often does this happen?
@cortisola: For sure. That’s the justification to spend the excessive budget right there. A blizzard of magnitudes not seen since 1982.
@cortisola: The Phoenix Park tunnel wasn’t even open this morning, don’t have much hope for them maintaining a metro.
@Ala Alowska: knew you’d be too stupid to get it!
@Paddy Reid: Metro in Strabane still operating. Lifford bus stalled at the Camel’s Hump.
@Neal Ireland Hello.: I wont be surprised to hear Irish pubs in Sydney closed due to blizzard in Dublin…
@Paddy Reid: New York subway closes due to snow. Obviously not the underground portion but the majority of the network that’s overground does.
https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Snowstorm-Blizzard-Thursday-NYC-Tri-State-Mass-Transit-Subway-LIRR-Metro-North-NJ-Transit-NY-NJ-467921183.html
Anyway Metro is coming…….
@joe: I lived in New York for 2 years and that happened once when I was there and there was a hell of a lot more snow.
@Seamus McGillicuddy: It happened in January this year also as per that article. How do you know there was more snow. It hasn’t even come yet!
Luas,DART and trains running yesterday and this morning. They have stopped as a coordinated effort to keep people safe. I’m sure they could keep running if requested to.
They closed schools expecting 4-6 inches of snow. We are expecting 7.5- 15 inches!
And the taxis keep rolling untill every one is home safe, while the buses just jump ship. They should of kept going until 3:30 4. No buses in Galway all day.
@brendan H: taxi can be controlled a bit easier than a bus if it hits a dodgy patch of snow/ice. Also, less risk of injury in a taxi than a bus full of people… Use your head Brendan.
@Alan Madden:city Buses are all on cleared gritted roadways, there was no ice or snow in Galway city at at even 6pm. USE Your Head and read comments carefully.
Eh my flight is getting to Dublin airport tomorrow at 2pm, it’s not cancelled or anything. So how will I get from the airport. Now this is quite interesting
@Krystian Brzezowski: not as interesting as if you try to walk.
@Krystian Brzezowski: roads at the moment are perfect in Dublin. If planes can’t get out of Dublin, don’t know how you’ll get in
Thank Chroissssst. Hopefully, that will keep Bono out for a day or two. I’d rather have a plague of locusts.
Dublin airport are all flights from 4pm.
Why did they cancel the morning flights.
Thank god for common sense of most airlines. However I was due to be in the airport tomorrow with 31 students for a school tour to Iceland. It took us until 3.30pm today to convince wow air that there was even an issue in Dublin airport. Then they told us our flight would still depart at 10.45 am Friday and we’d find out 2 hours before if it was cancelled. Our bus driver said he wouldn’t bring us to the airport due to the warning (which is fair enough). We have finally gave out enough (teachers parents and travel company) that they may now be willing to reschedule our flight. But this has been on going since midday today. I would warn anybody flying with wow air of their poor customer support. My colleague was left on hold for over 30 minutes on numerous occasions since last night.
If we ever have a crisis ..were doomed.. snow and the hole place comes to a stop..
So, we are going to fit a day and a half into a single afternoon. You have to tell me how it’s done.
@Ben Gunn: Put your head between your legs and follow your nose, Ben.
Lots of Flights from Dublin cancelled today, weather ok so far.
@Benjamin Dolan: It’s closed from 4pm in anticipation of zero visibility and poor weather. Snow clearing and de-icing takes time so airport can’t operate at full capacity. They could run all flights with delays but that would lead to flights later in the day being cancelled. I assume they cancel flights to cities with multiple flights a day and hope that free space on later flights can take up the slack.
Also fligths to busier airports have tight windows that they have their slot for. If they miss this they may not be able to land at their destination.
Anyway all that to say that the cancellations this morning were probably more likely as a result of delays and missing time slots than planes not actually being able to leave.
@joe:
Ok Joe that make sense thanks for your reply
It better be bad LEO, you’ve closed the country down. Teachers closed schools
And teachers closed the country as well.
God help Ireland if it ever has an emergency.
IRELAND led by a wimp.
Why do you keep saying the “entire “ county? Please make an effort and check Met Eireann
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