Former Munster player Damian de Allende has questioned if Ireland has the emotional drive to succeed under Andy Farrell because Farrell is English and the team is Irish.
Farrell, an English native now managing the Irish rugby team, has turned the national team into one of the most feared sides in world rugby. Wins against France, England, New Zealand, and South Africa have all come under the former Rugby League player.
His feats include back-to-back Six Nations titles, a Grand Slam, and a first-ever series victory in New Zealand in 2022. Not to mention being named World Rugby Coach of the Year in 2023.
This summer, Ireland and Farrell will head to South Africa for their summer tour. The games against South Africa are sure to be tense, and the Boks will be looking for revenge for their narrow defeat to Ireland at the Rugby World Cup.
The Boks never like to be mocked or seen as second-best, and this year should be no different.
Damian de Allende, originally of Munster, has thrown the first verbal barb Ireland's way. The 32-year-old questioned if Farrell could get Ireland emotionally driven for games because of his nationality, unlike the South Africans, who get it instantly.
"I think we get the emotional drive," the 32-year-old told RugbyPass.
"It’s hard to say; I think Andy Farrell is English, so I don’t know if he knows much about Ireland, its history, what has happened in the past, and things like that.
"Because Rassie is South African and he loves South Africa so much—he’s played for the Springboks, and it means so much to him—he knows how to make us tick as South Africans, and he knows how to make South Africa tick."
Ireland's historical past and what the country has seen can't be debated, nor can South Africa's. However, De Allende explained that many players who are brought up in South Africa have a very different way of looking at things when it comes to trying to get over the line.
Stuart McCloskey of Ireland is tackled by Pieter-Steph du Toit of South Africa during the Autumn International match between Ireland and South Africa at Aviva Stadium on November 5, 2022, in Dublin. (Photo by Oisin Keniry/Getty Images) )"I don’t know if Ireland has an emotional drive," added De Allende.
"The Irish don’t strike me as people who are emotional. I think South Africans are very emotional.
"Because a lot of us have tough pasts. I’m not saying the Irish don’t have tough pasts, but there’s a lot of us that came up from absolutely nothing, and a lot of us appreciate that so much and appreciate what we have now.
"But there’ll always be that emotional drive that pushes us over the line or gets us going just because we always think back to what we didn’t have and what we have now."
The two sides will meet on July 6 and 13. Ireland's last win was an 8-13 win over France. There have been other meetings, but one game that sticks out for De Allende is the time when Ireland beat the World Champions 3-38 in Dublin in 2017.
De Allende has spoken about how the media reacted to that loss and says their first meeting in July will be like a "war."
"The disrespect we got from them after that Test match, I wouldn’t say the players; maybe the players felt that we were very s***t, which we were s***t on the day," he said.
"But the way the media spoke, I think they completely disrespected us.
"For us as a group and for us as Springboks, it is about getting respect back—not their respect, but our own respect. We don’t need to, but we really want to beat Ireland. It is going to be an incredible test match.
"That first game against Ireland at Loftus, whether I play or not, is just going to feel almost like a war.
"A lot of people give them credit for being number one in the world because they play such good footy, but that’s going to be a flippin’ incredible battle."
