Andy Farrell has revealed the thing said about the Ireland camp that \u201cp***** me off\u201d while he has also distanced himself from the infamous \u201churt arena\u201d speech he made on the 2013 British and Irish Lions tour.<\/p>\n
With the four-match Autumn Nations Series finishing for the Irish with two wins and two losses, Farrell has begun plotting for the upcoming 2026 Six Nations which starts on February 5 for Ireland<\/a> away to France, the defending champions.<\/p>\n The 2025 series-winning Lions coach<\/a> has also been promoting his autobiography, The Only Way I Know, and doing some corporate speaking.<\/p>\n One of his markings was the recent Christmas lunch hosted in Dublin for clients of non-bank lender Capitalflow. Farrell was interviewed on stage by Alan English, a former national newspaper editor who now works for online platform The Currency<\/a> as an associate editor.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a bit gimmicky\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n A chunk of that Q&A has now become public, including the coach\u2019s reflection on the blood and thunder speech he delivered when assisting Warren Gatland on the Lions tour to Australia 12 years ago. Dismissing it now as gimmicky, he explained that it is something he would never do again.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m a little embarrassed with that speech, but at the time I thought it was something that was needed,\u201d said Farrell<\/a> about his demand that the Lions take the Wallabies to the hurt arena. \u201cThat type of macho bull****. A speech like that, you\u2019re not actually being yourself, you know?<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you sit up and write something, and you\u2019re trying to memorise it word for word, that\u2019s not you being your actual self. I would have come on leaps and bounds from that.<\/p>\n \u201cEven though it still gets talked about to this day, for me it was a bit gimmicky. At the time, in 2013, it was what was needed. You judge yourself on how that came across to a group at that time. Was it okay? Maybe, yes. But would I do it again? No.\u201d<\/p>\n New \u2018zero interest\u2019 Rugby World Cup format dismissed as \u2018absolute dog s***\u2019 by ex-Ireland star<\/a><\/p>\n Rugby World Cup draw: Five takeaways as Ireland handed \u2018best opportunity\u2019 to end hoodoo amid another \u2018lopsided\u2019 tournament benefiting England<\/a><\/p>\n One thing that has been said regularly about Farrell\u2019s Irish set-up since 2020, compared to what existed under his predecessor Joe Schmidt, is that the atmosphere under the Englishman is very different from the more intense environment created by the Kiwi. However, the way this difference gets talked about is jarring for Farrell.<\/p>\n \u201cIt actually pisses me off when people say publicly it\u2019s a great place to be, a great culture to be part of \u2013 because that\u2019s perceived on the outside that it\u2019s just a bit of fun. And it\u2019s a lot more than that. It\u2019s built on people being able to have an opinion and us working through things together.<\/p>\n \u201cBut at the same time, my job is to make sure that the individual can get better as a rugby player, but as a person as well. And the team is at the centre of all that. We\u2019re a team-first organisation; that\u2019s 100 per cent bottom line. But to do all that, you\u2019ve got to have a bit of trust \u2013 and to get that trust, you\u2019ve got to be honest with people.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ve got to tell them things with one hundred per cent honesty. For men growing up in my day, it was hard enough to take a b*********, but it was even harder to take praise, because you felt a little bit uncomfortable. And we do all of that today \u2013 because the only thing that matters is telling the truth. If you let things slide, then you\u2019re wasting time.<\/p>\n State of the Nation: Ireland need \u2018collective rethink\u2019 after \u2018falling behind\u2019 on back of Andy Farrell\u2019s \u2018costly Lions sabbatical\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n Nigel Owens\u2019 \u2018no ifs or buts\u2019 verdict on James Ryan\u2019s sending off for a \u2018reckless\u2019 shot on Malcolm Marx<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThe way we started this off is that we wanted feedback in real time, the whole time. I hate reviews three months after, because what a waste of time.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to know in real time how people are thinking, feeling, whether they\u2019ve been coached in a right manner, to cope with the pressure cooker of a Test match arena. So, you\u2019ve got to be as honest and open as you can to make sure that they understand what it takes to be able to deal with the pressure of international rugby. That\u2019s at the forefront of everything.\u201d<\/p>\n Ireland signed off on November with a 13-24 defeat to the Springboks<\/a>, a match where their scrum imploded and their indiscipline was punished by one red card and four yellows. The loss, which came three weeks after getting beaten by the All Blacks in Chicago, generated plenty of criticism.<\/p>\n While Farrell is very much generally perceived as being his own man and disinterested in what gets said about his team, he told the corporate lunch a very different story. \u201cI read it all,\u201d he admitted. \u201cI do, because it\u2019s my job to understand what people think and where they\u2019re at, so that you can put some reality on it.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd not just that, but when I\u2019m coming to a press conference, I need to know what people are thinking. I suppose you learn how to get better at that, as you go.\u201d<\/p>\n Ex-Ireland star on \u2018bizarre\u2019 moment that \u2018totally defeated all of my mindset\u2019 about the Springboks<\/a><\/p>\n