Andy Farrell could yet again benefit from Leo Cullen’s exceptional talent as a selector
Ross Byrne's performance for Leinster against La Rochelle should encourage other Irish kickers to raise their games. Photograph: Billy Stickland/Inphocareer deep in the giant shadow of Johnny Sexton, Byrne was handed, when the great man finally departed, a long-term injury. Those rugby gods can be petulant. So Byrne was forced to sit in the stands and watch his brother Harry and Jack Crowley step forward and grab their opportunities. That scenario would challenge the character of any player.
The opportunity for Leinster players to experience Ireland’s holiest of sporting shrines is a motivation that both Northampton and the Irish rugby public should not underestimate. I first stood on the lush turf of Loftus Versfeld with the Emerging Wallabies in October 1993. Our team was invited to tour South Africa after the release of Nelson Mandela from his prison on Robben Island.
As a young coach, having just retired from playing, I was appointed chief bottle washer and bag carrier and felt very fortunate, as I was learning every day from my wise boss and future Wallaby coach, John Connolly. Across the following 30 years of coaching and observing teams playing on the South African high veld, the 90 per cent goal-kicking target for success has rarely been missed. Occasionally New Zealand teams have played such blistering rugby that goal kicking has been irrelevant, but those are the exceptions and not the rule.As has been the case for the last four years, Farrell is the beneficiary of Leo Cullen’s exceptional talent as a selector.
La-Rochelle-Rugby Champions-Cup Ross-Byrne Jack-Crowley Leo-Cullen Andy-Farrell Ireland-Rugby Will-Connors South-Africa-Rugby
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