‘Joe Schmidt is an overthinker who tries to play mind games' – Former IRFU high-performance director David Nucifora
The mind games, it seems, have started even before the British and Irish Lions have boarded Saturday's flight to Perth.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Examiner
20 minutes ago
- Irish Examiner
Jack Conan eager to witness fanfare of a full-blown Lions tour
Jack Conan has been a British & Irish Lion before but given it was the Covid-hit tour to South Africa of 2021, the Ireland No.8 is relishing the opportunity to embrace a proper Lions touring experience when the squad leaves for Australia on Saturday. Conan, 32, was in the stands at Aviva Stadium on Friday night as Andy Farrell's squad faced Argentina ahead of departure for Perth and an opening tour match against Western Force next Saturday. Like another eight of the 12 Leinster players heading Down Under as Irish Lions, the back-rower was held at bay six days after lifting the URC trophy at Croke Park but he was kept busy on matchday. He and four provincial team-mates Jamison Gibson-Park, Hugo Keenan, Andrew Porter and Josh van der Flier as well English Premiership final participants, Finn Russell and Will Stuart from newly crowned champions Bath and runner-up Ollie Chessum of Leicester Tigers were on Lions duty at Dublin's UCD Bowl earlier in the day, hosting a training session for 90 school children, girls and boys ranging from 8-12 years of age, and from four primary schools nominated by the Irish provinces. Even a meet and greet with young rugby fans was out of bounds for the Lions on their last tour, with South Africa in lockdown and matches played in empty stadiums as Conan started all three Tests at No.8 against the Springboks, each game behind closed doors in Cape Town with the players bussed in and out from a secluded team hotel and training base outside of the city. The chance to experience a proper tour, backed by tens of thousands of travelling supporters forming a 'Sea of Red' in Australia, is a return to tradition, albeit one eagerly awaited by Conan. "Four years ago was still great, I loved it and had a great experience,' he said. 'In a way, you get to know the lads in such a different way because it was eight weeks of kind of solitary confinement. You have to mix. 'You still have to mix now but you're getting out and about in smaller groups whereas four years ago, everyone was just kind of sitting around.' Conan was even looking forward to watching the Lions on Friday night as they played on Irish soil for the first time in their illustrious 137-year history, just to see those red jerseys play in front of the fans, giving him a taste of what is to come over the next six weeks across 10 tour matches and three Tests against the Wallabies in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney. "The only taste we got of that was four years ago against Japan in Edinburgh (pre-tour) and there was around 16,000 there with spaced seating, so definitely a bit different. 'I can't wait to get over there, everyone says it's just a different fanfare, a different level of excitement when you get properly on tour. But you can even see it walking around town at the moment, people in jerseys, there's a pop-up shop, so many kids outside the Shelbourne (Hotel). It's special and I'm looking forward to getting a proper run-out at some stage." Conan does believe the 2021 tour, which ended in a 2-1 Test defeat to Rassie Erasmus's 2019 World Champions, can stand him in good stead for this summer's tour, with certain provisos. 'You know what's expected of you when you put on the jersey and when you come into this environment, into camp. Other than that, it's more just the detail, the plays, calling structures and all that, it's different. 'You've lads from other countries coming in is a little bit differently than we would do, so it's just getting used to each other a little bit. 'Now, luckily, the way we want to play is quite similar to how Ireland would play so it's not that difficult to get up to speed, but the calls are all different. There's a bit of overlap with a few Leinster calls but they're different things. The same wording, so I was caught out a few times on Tuesday when you just go into autopilot a little bit. 'So that's the real challenge. But no-one expects it to be perfect in the first few days. Even in the first few games we're going to build throughout the tour and continue to get better. That's the challenge, more than anything else.'
The 42
23 minutes ago
- The 42
'There are no excuses, we should have been better'
THE SENSE OF frustration was clear on Andy Farrell's face before he had uttered a single word in his post-match press conference. His first game as Lions head coach, being played at home in Dublin, ended in a 28-24 defeat to a sparkling Argentina team. Test or no test, this was not the tour launch he expected from his players. 'Honestly, losing hurts, especially in this jersey,' Farrell said. Advertisement 'So we need to find the solutions pretty quickly and be honest with ourselves. There has to be some good come from this.' His disappointment was sourced in a disconnected team display, Farrell describing some of the attacking play as 'clunky' and highlighting issues around the lineout and breakdown. 'We made it a tough game, didn't we? Obviously the first and appropriate thing to say is congratulations to Argentina, they thoroughly deserved to win the Test match. They capitalised very well on the back of quite few errors from us. Congratulations to them. I'm sure that's a big moment in Argentinean history.' The obvious 'out', if he wanted to reach for it, is that this group have been only been together for two weeks, and some of the squad only arrived into camp earlier this week. 'Oh no. I wouldn't give that excuse. We need to do better than that. It is what it is. The Lions players, good players coming together, of course we ask a lot of them, and maybe we put too much pressure on the side because it certainly looked like we was a little bit disconnected at times. 'Look, we'll review what we said was was going to own, and then we need to make sure that we get something positive from that because it's all about how we move forward. There are no excuses, we should have been better today, more accurate today, but as with other areas of the game, we'll learn and get better together.' The Lions fly to Australia tomorrow morning and their next assignment is a date with the Western Force the following Saturday. A full week to address to holes in this opening performance and start working toward the type of display that will be needed to topple the Wallabies. 'Obviously (we need) a better all-round performance. You can single out one thing but it's not just one thing, it's a compounding of quite a few bits. The amount of balls that we threw blindly, either to the opposition or the floor, is probably a stand-out. If you combine that with the kicking game and the aerial battle and what is disappointing is scraps on the floor from that type of battle, it always seemed to go to Argentina so there's a bit of fight and hunger from them that we can't accept. 'Then you combine stuff at the breakdown, the lineout or whatever, and it's too much. It's too much when it all comes together, it's just compounded, and there's a reason why people do get cramp or look a bit tired or are not able to capitalise on opportunities you have created, because probably subconsciously you're suppressing yourself with the compounding of errors. It obviously needs to be addressed. 'We're not sugar-coating anything because we need to be honest because if we're not honest how do we gain trust with each other,' he added. Related Reads Farrell's Lions beaten as brilliant Pumas spoil Dublin leaving party Pride, infamy, and Argentina's rope-a-dope: Remembering the Lions' last meeting with Los Pumas 'We have to say it as it is. There are certain things we said we were going to do and we need to own that and review that properly.'
RTÉ News
33 minutes ago
- RTÉ News
Andy Farrell delivers scathing assessment of Lions defeat to Argentina
Andy Farrell didn't hold back in his criticism of his side's performance, as the British and Irish Lions prepared for their tour of Australia with a 28-24 defeat to Argentina at a sold-out Aviva Stadium. Despite dominating possession and territory against Los Pumas, the Lions were left to rue a litany of handling errors and careless offloads, as Argentina twice hit them with stunning counter-attack tries, to claim a famous win. "We made it a tough game, didn't we?" was Farrell's opening remark after full-time. Those in attendance at his press conference were left in no doubt about his thoughts on the performance. "You can try and throw it all around and say we had plenty of opportunities, and we should have done better to convert that, but the whole story of the game is that we compounded too many errors. "In the end, we weren't able to put the pace on the game because of that. "You can single out one thing, but it's not just one thing, it's a compounding of quite a few bits. "The amount of balls that we threw blindly, either to the opposition or the floor, is probably a stand-out. "If you combine that with the kicking game and the aerial battle, and what is disappointing is scraps on the floor from that type of battle, it always seemed to go to Argentina, so there's a bit of fight and hunger from them that we can't accept. "Then you combine stuff at the breakdown, the lineout or whatever, and it's too much. It's too much when it all comes together, it's just compounded, and there's a reason why people do get cramp or look a bit tired or are not able to capitalise on opportunities you have created, because probably subconsciously you're suppressing yourself with the compounding of errors. It obviously needs to be addressed." Argentina held a 21-10 lead at half time, but that was in large part down to errors from the Lions. Luke Cowan-Dickie had a try disallowed for an offload early in the game, while Sione Tuipulotu was guilty of poor handling in a promising position. Defensively, they were opened up far too easily for Ignacio Mendy's opening try (below), while they were caught napping at the breakdown right on half time, as the Pumas sprinted clear for Tomas Albornoz to score after a ball popped free at the ruck. While it could be easy to use a lack of familiarity or teething problems to write off an opening defeat, Farrell refused to take that line. "I wouldn't give that excuse. We need to do better than that. It is what it is. "They capitalised very well on the back of quite a few errors from us. Congratulations to them. I'm sure that's a big moment in Argentinean history. "I think some players will have done themselves proud and they will be hurting for the team because they're all team players. Some people will be happy and some people won't and will be dying to get another chance out there. "We know where we're at, we're underway, so we're going to have to learn a lot of lessons from that. "We're not sugar-coating anything because we need to be honest. If we're not honest how do we gain trust with each other? We have to say it as it is. There are certain things we said we were going to do and we need to own that and review that properly," he added. Normally one to keep an even keel when speaking to the media, Farrell made no attempt to hide his dissatisfaction with both the result and performance. There were positives though. Fin Smith looked sharp at out-half, and had little to do with the sloppiness of those around him, while the scrum dominated throughout, with Finlay Bealham and Ellis Genge in particular making a strong statement in the front row. Bealham was also busy around the pitch, leading his team with 12 tackles, although even in praise of his tighthead prop, Farrell's frustrations with the overall performance couldn't be hidden. "That's what happens when you make so many errors," he said of the amount of tackles the Connacht prop had to put in. "But yeah, I thought himself and Ellis were really good today. "It [the scrum] was aggressive, the lads who started the game especially, they were aggressive and good and had Argentina under the pump a few times. So yeah, very pleased with that." And Farrell even saved the final criticism for himself. "Obviously not good enough," was how he assessed his own coaching. "I always take full responsibility, that's my role. It doesn't matter what department or whatever, I'm in charge of the job lot so it obviously wasn't good enough and I need to be better."
