Ireland head coach Andy Farrell has claimed that the Irish team are delighted with the close 22-19 win against Argentina but admits that Ireland really needs to work on their discipline.
Ireland won the game, but for the second time in this Autumn Nations Series, they gave away too many penalties. Last night, they conceded 13 penalties, which allowed their opponents to stay in the game.
Finlay Bealham and Joe McCarthy also received yellow cards during the game.
After the loss to New Zealand the week prior, Farrell admitted he was relieved to get a win under their belt in game week two and that winning ugly was a positive.
"Obviously, the overriding feeling is we’re delighted to get the win. There were a few things we needed to learn from last week and some things that we didn’t address on the field. But we said last week we had a chance of winning ugly. We did that this week; that’s a plus," he told RTÉ Sport.
"We showed really good intent in how we started the game. We were direct, we were piling into them, we were hard to handle playing off quick ball.
A hard-fought Test W! 🤝#TeamOfUs pic.twitter.com/dTpCY9QQHw
— Irish Rugby (@IrishRugby) November 15, 2024
"But we know the kind of side they are. They’ve improved out of sight. And the pressure they put on us, and that we put on ourselves, obviously brought them back into the game. To cut a long story short, we held our nerve towards the end and just about got there."
Farrell last week claimed that Ireland’s discipline was "desperate" and used this word again to describe the poor discipline shown at the Aviva Stadium. Patience is needed according to Farrell.
"We were rolling pretty nicely at this stage, but our discipline at times was desperate," Farrell said on Virgin Media Sport immediately after the game. He elaborated on those issues later.
"It’s something that we’ve been outstanding on over the last ten years, actually. But certainly, in that amount of time you’re saying there (last three games), it’s not done out of players going out there to be ill-disciplined.
"It’s coming from the right place, if that may sound stupid. All they’re trying to do is do the right thing by their team. They just need to be a little more patient individually and trust the team and what they’re about."
Farrell also suggested that the issue could be lethargy but acknowledged that Argentina is a fine side. In his closing remarks, he admitted that Ireland will improve as the weeks progress.
"We looked lethargic, and you could say that’s because of penalties given or losing the collision or whatever that may have been, but in general, I think that the quality of opposition has been very strong in these first two games and will get better as we go through."
Ireland’s next game will be against Fiji on Saturday, November 23, followed by a match against Australia for Irish rugby’s 150th Anniversary Test on Saturday, November 30 (kick-off 3:10 p.m.).
All of these matches will be broadcast live on Virgin Media in the Republic of Ireland and TNT Sports in the United Kingdom.
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