It is a key part of his coaching philosophy.
For all the talk about the various problems which characterised Ireland’s first-half defensive struggles against Scotland, there was one major underlying factor which hasn’t received as much attention.
According to Ireland’s defence coach, Andy Farrell, the lack of communication, the narrow positioning and Ireland’s blatant lack of physicality was down to one simple reason.
The Irish players were simply not in the mood.
Farrell is great for coming up with short, catchy phrases which are representative of how he wants his players to approach their defensive duties.
“We are taking them to the hurt arena” and “fucking destroy and enjoy” are just two of the phrases which the former dual-code player has coined over the years in his coaching career.
So it is clear to see that Farrell want his players to relish their defensive responsibilities and he states that this wasn’t the case in Ireland’s first half performance.
“Every single time we get an opportunity to defend, we should love it, and we didn’t,” the 41-year-old told the media at Carton House.
“So our mood was affected, our appetite was affected a little bit, and we got it back in the second half.
“We’ll work on the reasons why. I’m more concerned about the mood at the time, of our lack of want to get back in the line and enjoy our defence.”
When it comes to Ireland’s defensive style under Farrell, it’s mostly represented by quick line speed, with the aim that you are constantly putting the opposition under pressure and also debilitating their potential to move the ball wide.
Unfortunately, which was the case in the first half on Saturday, losing the collisions and constantly being on the back foot, makes it all that much more difficult to get guys off the line quickly, hence Ireland’s vulnerability in the wide channels.
Although Farrell would have been buoyed by the improvement in the second half, he will need to explore the reasons and find solutions this week to the lack of desire from the Irish players in the first 40 minutes of the match.
This will be crucial for the rest of the tournament and it is something which Ireland cannot afford to happen again.
