Four-year deal a statement that IRFU believe Farrell can keep winning

IF ANDY FARRELL sees out his new contract until after the 2027 Rugby World Cup, he will be the longest-serving Ireland coach ever.

That would be true even if you decided to take out the time that Farrell is set to spend on a sabbatical from the job to lead the British and Irish Lions to Australia in 2025.

The 48-year-old Wigan native is expected to be confirmed as the new Lions boss next week and it remains to be seen exactly how long he’s away from his role with Ireland. With the IRFU giving Farrell their full backing to take on the Lions role, he could miss the 2024 November Tests, the 2025 Six Nations, and the 2025 summer Tests.

But even if Farrell is away for the full 2024/25 season on Lions duty, he will still have spent the longest time as Ireland boss cumulatively if he gets to 2027.

Add in the fact that Farrell was an assistant to Schmidt from 2016 until he took over after the 2019 World Cup and it could be more than a decade working with the Ireland team.

The IRFU confirmed Farrell’s new four-year contract last month, making him the first Ireland coach since Eddie O’Sullivan to sign back-to-back deals of that length.

Schmidt first joined Ireland in 2013 on a two-and-a-half-year deal before he penned a one-and-a-half year extension in 2015, then in 2017 he signed a two-year deal that took him up to the end of the 2019 World Cup.

Before that, Declan Kidney had joined in 2008 on a three-and-a-half-year deal that was extended by a further two years soon before the 2011 World Cup.

Eddie O’Sullivan was appointed by the IRFU in 2001 on a contract that ran for just over three years before he signed a four-year extension in 2003 and then another four-year extension in 2007 just before that year’s World Cup. But O’Sullivan resigned from his role after the 2008 Six Nations.

Farrell with Joe Schmidt in 2016.

How things unraveled so soon after O’Sullivan signed his four-year deal in 2007 was seen as a warning that the IRFU should be careful about committing to such long-term deals, especially with such a big event looming, perhaps partly explaining why Kidney only got two more years before the 2011 World Cup.

Now, the IRFU has committed to another four years under Farrell and the union is convinced that this is excellent business.

Farrell has the best-ever win rate of any Ireland coach at 81%.

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Schmidt had a 72% win rate but was in charge of a lot more Tests – 76 to Farrell’s 43. O’Sullivan was next best in terms of win percentage at 64% from 78 Tests.

The Farrell era has been an intriguing one to follow. The initial stages were rather sluggish-looking on the pitch as he began to alter Ireland’s tactical and cultural approach.

Still, Ireland were in contention to win the Covid-disrupted 2020 Six Nations on the final weekend but lost away to France.

They finished third in the 2020 Autumn Nations Cup and seemed to be meandering along in the 2021 Six Nations until things clicked in the final round against England. For the second year in a row, Ireland finished third in the championship.

But the momentum generated in that convincing win over the English carried into the 2021 November Tests when they thrilled their fans in wins over Japan, New Zealand, and Argentina. Farrell’s men never looked back from there.

They earned a Triple Crown in the 2022 Six Nations, losing only away to France as they finished second, beat the All Blacks in their 2022 summer series in New Zealand, then had another autumn clean sweep later that year.

2023 brought Irish rugby’s fourth-ever Grand Slam and a new record of 17 consecutive wins until New Zealand edged a thrilling World Cup quarter-final three months ago. Despite that exit, Farrell is also now the reigning World Rugby coach of the year.

Farrell with his players after the World Cup exit.

For some people, it’s strange that the IRFU would give another four years to a coach who couldn’t help Ireland past the quarter-finals for the first time but the circumstances of the 2023 World Cup should be considered.

For the first time, Ireland were clearly one of the four best teams in the World Cup, even beating eventual winners South Africa in a brutally-fought pool game. Unfortunately, the lopsided draw for the World Cup meant two excellent teams had to go out in the quarter-finals.

Sure, Ireland weren’t at their very best on the night against New Zealand and there were some tough lessons for Farrell, his coaching staff, and his players, but this quarter-final exit does not belong in the same category as some of the previous ones.

New Zealand gave arguably the best team performance of the entire World Cup that night in Paris, a real 10/10 effort inspired by more than a year of hurt at what Ireland had done to them and also inspired by clever coaching from the likes of Schmidt. Farrell’s side couldn’t hit those heights and had a damaging start but very nearly won.

It was one of the great World Cup games, although that’s of scant consolation now. One match, even at a World Cup, should not define how a coach is viewed and it would be churlish to think Farrell hasn’t done an excellent job as Ireland boss just because they didn’t edge that battle.

Indeed, had Ireland exited after that contest in a semi-final, which it really should have been, there might not be many questions at all.

It is interesting that outgoing IRFU performance director David Nucifora was the man to sign off on a new four-year deal for Farrell so soon before he heads off into the sunset. Nucifora highlighted this as something of a parting gift as he said that Farrell is “a very sought-after coach on the world scene.” Farrell will have to build a strong working relationship with the incoming David Humphreys now.

For Farrell’s part, extending for four years must have felt like a bit of a no-brainer. His family are happy in Dublin and he loves working with these Irish players.

He also probably feels like he still has some growth ahead as a head coach. It’s worth remembering that this is still his first head coaching gig in rugby. The impression in recent years is of a man who has hugely grown into his job and as a force behind the scenes. These days, Farrell is palpably comfortable and confident in his skin as the big boss.

Farrell at the Leinster v Munster game with his wife Colleen son Gabriel and Ireland scrum coach John Fogarty.

There is no sense that the Irish players have in any way tired of his messages. If anything, they have become more and more fanatical about their leader as the past four years have gone on.

We have yet to encounter a bad word said about Farrell, which often isn’t the case for head coaches even when things were going well. In fact, some of the players who Farrell doesn’t regularly pick to be involved in games still seem to be in awe of him.

Farrell will need to manage a bit of change in his coaching team from next summer as Mike Catt heads back to the UK and Andrew Goodman joins from Leinster as backs coach. There is obviously some continuity there given that Goodman knows so many of the Ireland squad well.

It may be the 2025/26 season before Farrell really gets the chance to work hands-on with Goodman due to the Lions role. It’s expected that defence coach Simon Easterby will step up as the interim Ireland head coach while Farrell is away with the Lions.

There is plenty on Farrell’s plate with his playing squad too as Ireland get set for the post-Johnny Sexton era. It’s a gigantic hole to fill in terms of sheer playing quality, the power of Sexton’s personality, and his job as captain. Keith Earls, another leader, has also retired so this is the start of a new chapter.

Whatever about that break from his role with the IRFU, Farrell’s job now is to keep winning as much as possible. While things can change suddenly in sport, the foundations of Irish rugby appear to be in excellent condition, with the system producing plenty of promising players and taking good care of the established ones.

The IRFU needs a successful men’s national team to help fund the whole operation, as underlined again in the latest union accounts. That’s why Farrell has to keep chasing every Six Nations title he can and make sure the Aviva Stadium is full for every single home game.

The 2027 World Cup is obviously another big mission for Farrell but that’s a fair way down the tracks at this point, while the new Nations Championship launches in 2026 and offers a new shot at silverware.

Having spent a lifetime in professional rugby, league and union, Farrell’s desire to win shows no sign of abating. The IRFU is banking on him continuing to stay on top.