Next stop France on green line to success

Steve Borthwick is the man staring at the screen in departures. It’s Paddy’s weekend. If there is a hotel room left in town then he’ll need to talk to his Credit Union before raising the cash for a bed with no breakfast. The bad news is, he checked in a bag that has to be retrieved. This is as grim as it gets.

When Jaco Peyper blew the final whistle at a rammed Lansdowne Road the stress of Ireland supporters had been replaced by relief. You lost count of the times crowd noise had been dulled by anxiety. Even when Jamie George scored for England with seven minutes left to make it a two-score game, the crowd felt they had endured enough scary moments. They were home and hosed and closed their minds to any other scenario.

The video of this Championship journey will hit the shelves soon enough, and it will have ‘adversity’ somewhere in the title. Between injuries in the run-up to games and then injuries in play, it was battle stations from start to finish.

Which brings us to Borthwick’s opposite number.

Andy Farrell decided maybe a year ago that the only way to go forward was to accept diversions as opportunities to take another look at the map and plot that progress again.

​If his coaching adventure was an 800-metre race then when the bell went at the end of the first lap he was well down the field, out of stride and looking a bit confused. But by the time the leaders were going around the final bend they had Farrell and his team for company, in a groove and with gas still in the tank.

The finish line is the World Cup, with Ireland a nose ahead in a cluster with France, South Africa and New Zealand. It will be a sprint finish and Farrell looks confident. Unlike four years ago when the Six Nations that followed the 2019 World Cup was confirmation of serious trouble under the bonnet, there is no need for mechanics this time. Maybe a bit of fine-tuning in the warm-up series before that tournament, but nothing major.

Coach and captain have been central to this success. Yesterday Johnny Sexton’s right boot took him into record points’ scoring territory; his ability to ride out a woeful run of form early in Farrell’s tenure, and come back stronger, has been in perfect sync with a coach who has all the bases covered.

The theme has been the happiness of the group. Yesterday we asked an old Wigan mate of his, Phil Clarke, about the current version of Farrell as a coach whose credo is to care for the men who rely on him. Is it removed from the hard-nosed warrior at the heart of Wigan’s success back in the day?

Clarke spoke at first about his friend’s work ethic and determination. And then added this: “First and foremost he’s quite a kind person, so if he was back working as a joiner in Wigan he’d still be a kind person and helping people that way. So if you start off with those characteristics then building a culture in a sporting environment is much easier because it’s real. It’s not fake.

“I like to see all my friends being successful in all walks of life. I don’t judge success by what you do on TV — it’s about being a good parent and good friend. That’s equally important. That’s Andy. And he’s done really well. I love watching Ireland rugby union play because it’s what people in Wigan would call good rugby. It’s remarkable. They’re brilliant to watch.”

Does it matter that the game that makes them the most successful in Irish history was jittery and sometimes hard to endure? Of course not. For one of the teams this was a cup final. It’s an entirely understandable human reaction to struggle with pressure.

​Ireland made 15 handling errors in the first 50 minutes on a pitch that had dried well on a drizzly Dublin day. Lots of little bits and pieces were missing. It took a long time for them to figure there was more capital to be made by attacking close to the ruck rather than out wide when they didn’t have the numbers to support that.

The clinical exposure of England’s defence at the back of a maul, for man of the match Dan Sheehan’s first try, was the best illustration of Ireland working it out. That too has been a constant on this journey: take a deep breath and figure out first how to hang on and second how to reclaim lost ground.

Peyper laid a few paving stones along the way. As is so often the case in the modern game, a tackle that previously would not have caused a second thought now demands an investigation. Frequently the review costs a team a player. In this case Freddie Steward was unlucky to see red after he clattered Hugo Keenan in the head with his shoulder.

Keenan could be said to have been unlucky that Steward didn’t react in a safer way, for it cost Ireland’s fullback the rest of his game after just 38 minutes. If anything it only added to the pressure on Ireland: they started against a team coming off the back of a hammering, and when handed a one-man advantage were expected to win at a canter.

There was nothing handy about it though. The scrum was uncomfortable but could have been worse; the breakdown was a struggle to provide quick, usable ball. But they dealt with it and got over the line with a bit to spare.

In six months’ time Steve Borthwick will be back in the departure lounge. So will Andy Farrell, albeit the one reserved for business class. They will remember this afternoon for different reasons. Ireland have a top-four finish in the World Cup as a minimum. Their form in the past two seasons frames that as a staging post before pushing on towards the summit.

It’s a short enough flight to France, whatever your destination there. The World Cup will be a slog, demanding energy and focus, nimble footwork and staying power, and a chunk of luck when it’s needed.

Ireland and their coach have proved they deal with all those demands and come up smiling, and appreciate the good fortune when it arrives. Probably best not to fill the flight time with enervating word games. Catch a nap and arrive fresh and ready to go.