Andy Farrell ready for England blitz because Ireland have 'coach that made it up in the first place'

Andy Farrell says his Ireland team will relish taking on England’s new-look blitz defence at Twickenham a week on Saturday, not least because his players are trained “by the coach that made it up in the first place”.

After bonus-point victories in their first three games of this year’s Six Nations, Ireland are fast closing in on successive grand slams. Their latest win, over a spirited but limited Wales at the Aviva on Saturday, was far from perfect. But Farrell praised the “resilience” his team showed, particularly during a tricky 10-minute period in the second half when they were down to 14 men and Wales were within 10 points. “Our defence is top drawer, there’s no doubt about that,” he said. “It has been for quite some time now.”

England will present a different challenge at Twickenham. Under Irish defence coach Felix Jones, Steve Borthwick’s team are attempting to implement the same aggressive blitz defence that Jones deployed to great effect to help South Africa claim back-to-back World Cup victories.

It has been a mixed bag for England so far, definitely raising the intensity of their defence but also leaving them exposed as they rush up.

Farrell – speaking before Duhan van der Merwe ran in a hat-trick of tries to inspire Scotland to a 30-21 win over England at Murrayfield – said “teething problems” were to be expected when any new system was introduced, but added that he was sure Jones would not back off.

“It’s certainly different,” Farrell admitted of England’s blitz. “It is something that we know is the South African defence and I know that Felix will constantly try to put his stamp on implementing that, you know.

“There’s always going to be teething problems at the start. But they’ll go harder. There’s no doubt about that because that’s the philosophy. So it’s something that we’ve come up against before and we all know that.”

Farrell then added, with a smile: “Our lads are coached by the coach that made it up in the first place, you know.”

It was unclear to whom he was referring, possibly himself, possibly Jacques Nienaber, the former Springboks coach under whom Felix Jones worked and who now coaches many of Ireland’s players at Leinster. Although when he was asked whether he meant Nienaber, Farrell responded cryptically: “You said that. Do you think that’s what I meant?”

Either way, the remark sounded like a gentle dig at Wales counterpart Warren Gatland who claimed in his Telegraph Sport column two weeks ago that he had first introduced the blitz defence blueprint used by the Springboks when coaching at Connacht in the late 1990s and later when he became head coach of Ireland.

After joining Wasps in 2002, Gatland said that he and Shaun Edwards then refined the system. “We had our moments but ultimately it proved a great success for us at Wasps, where we won three Premiership titles, a Heineken Cup and the European Challenge Cup,” Gatland wrote.

Whether it will ultimately yield similar success for England only time will tell, but Farrell’s men will surely be licking their lips at the prospect of trying to expose the flaws of a work-in-progress.

Ireland’s attacking phase play, strike moves and handling will certainly provide a stern examination of Borthwick’s men. Ireland attempted 10 offloads on Saturday and racked up 12 line breaks, and that was on a day when Farrell described his team as “too passive” in attack.

Farrell is hopeful of having Hugo Keenan available for the clash after the Leinster full-back picked up a knee injury in Ireland’s 36-0 win over Italy earlier this month. Ciaran Frawley deputised to good effect against Wales, scoring Ireland’s third try on what was his first Six Nations start. But Keenan is arguably the best 15 in world rugby at the moment.

Asked whether Ireland would be licking their lips at taking on the blitz, Farrell demurred. “Ah no, it’s good,” he said. “It’s exciting because Wales are a different defence, Italy are a different defence and certainly France as well.

“So that’s the best part of the game, you know, that everyone’s got their own ideas. So we look forward to trying to take that [the blitz] on.”