New Ireland head coach Andy Farrell was happy with his side’s win over Scotland in the Six Nations, although a number of injuries are cause for concern.
The Wigan native was speaking to Virgin Media after the game and was delighted to see his men come out on top of a physical encounter.
“It was a tough old test match. Very happy to get the win. That’s what you have to do in the Six Nations, especially the first game. At home as well so delighted to get the win and move onto next week.
“Like I’ve been saying for the last week, we’ve got to stand for something. It’s quite clear what we are trying to stand for. The guts was phenomenal to defend our own line after a few errors in the first half.
“Scotland are a very dangerous attacking outfit and for us to keep them out for that first effort was outstanding. Then you get to that last five minute and you see people putting their bodies on the line.
“We were dropping like flies as far as injuries are concerned. It was some effort. The rest we can build on,” Farrell said.
"I thought we got a little bit too excited at times"
Ireland Head Coach Andy Farrell reflects on today's win with @sineadkissane.#GuinnessSixNations #IREvSCO #VMTVRugby pic.twitter.com/4lvz8JefPb
— #IREvSCO live on Virgin Media One. (@VMSportIE) February 1, 2020
While Farrell was happy overall with the game, he did pick out the team’s decision making under pressure as one of the major weaknesses.
“I thought we got a little bit too excited at times with our decision making. Some of it was good and some of it wasn’t so good. We played with a nice flow when we got into the 22 I thought. It looked like we were making good yards.
“Sometimes we got a penalty and we took that. So there’s plenty to work on but it’s round one. We’ve had five training sessions and it’s onwards and upwards from here hopefully,” Farrell commented.
Debutant Caelan Doris and Dave Kilcoyne both had to be substituted due to head injuries, while Garry Ringrose didn’t emerge for the second-half after a hand injury.
The former rugby league player didn’t go into detail on any of his injured players but did give some reassuring news on Doris after a worrying collision.
“[Doris] is fine. He’s smiling. He had to go through the protocols so he wasn’t allowed to go back on. Same for Dave Kilcoyne as well.
“There’s a few bangs within the room - cramp, etc because of the energy that was spent out there. It was a proper test match wasn’t it? It was very attritional so we need to recover properly from this one,” Farrell said.
Ireland take on Wales next Saturday at the Aviva Stadium in the second round of the Six Nations with both sides looking to continue their winning starts.
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