Andy Farrell, Stuart Lancaster and Graham Rowntree: the three English coaches who helped build Irish dominance, says Alan Quinlan

Alan Quinlan, a veteran of 27 caps across a 10-year international career with Ireland, looks at the men leading the Emerald Isle’s recent run of success and can’t fail to ignore the English bloodline running through it.

Andy Farrell has steered Ireland to No 1 in the world and two wins from securing back-to-back Six Nations grand slams, a quest they will continue at Twickenham against England on Saturday.

Stuart Lancaster helped Leinster win a European Champions Cup and four domestic titles.

And Graham Rowntree has just won the United Rugby Championship as head coach of Munster.

All three formed the coaching unit of the England team that failed so spectacularly at its home World Cup in 2015.

Resisting the urge to lord it over the most expansively backed union in world rugby, Quinlan believes Ireland have benefited from the lessons those three men learned during their spell with England.

“Andy Farrell has got better and better as he’s matured,” begins Quinlan.

“Stuart Lancaster also did incredibly well at Leinster when he parted ways with England as is the case with Graham Rowntree winning the United Rugby Championship, so we’ve benefited from that group of coaches.

“It’s the same case with players, it’s not a must to have failure to be successful. But it does help so you learn things and ways you approach a situation.

"All of those three coaches would look back at that 2015 World Cup and do things differently from player selection to tactics so we’ve benefited from a group of great coaches who have made mistakes and have learnt from them.

“Sometimes you need a different environment in order to succeed, you see the same case happen in football where a manager does better at one club than another one. The Irish system has definitely benefited from this.”

Farrell, who started in rugby league with Wigan and was eventually defence coach with England and then Ireland, has been a revelation for Ireland since ascending to the top job in 2019.

For Quinlan, the authority he demands with the way he carries himself has been infectious on the Ireland team, one that even after the disappointment of an early quarter-final exit to New Zealand at last autumn’s World Cup, has picked up where they left off last year in Six Nations competition, even in a transitional phase following the retirement of the talismanic Jonny Sexton.

“Farrell had big boots to fill after Joe Schmidt, who had a lot of success with Ireland but a disappointing ending in Japan and he had to help rebuild,” Quinlan told The Yorkshire Post via Betway.

“I think he felt he was ready for the job and I love his demeanour and his presence.

“The way he walks onto the pitch pre-match, smiling. He has an attitude where he thinks if we win then brilliant but if we lose, it’s onto the next one and you believe him when he says that. He’s picked up an Irish public that were devastated after Japan.”

Despite all this, Quinlan is mindful that Ireland do not arrive at Twickenham thinking this is an easy fourth win of the tournament against England.

Steve Borthwick’s men, who went a step further than Ireland at the last World Cup, won their first two games of the Six Nations but are in regroup mode having lost to Scotland at Murrayfield 11 days ago.

They spent the latter half of last week having a training camp up in York, and Quinlan sees the fact that they are a team in transition with Borthwick yet to decide on a settled XV as a dangerous proposition for Farrell and his coaches to prepare for.

“They’re dangerous and they’re going to be unpredictable,” warned Quinlan, a versatile forward across the back and second rows in his day.

“They’ll be high octane with a lot of energy coupled with physicality. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist. If England get stuck into Ireland then they have a real chance.

“You never know what can happen in these matches. There can be a sending off, drop passes or teams getting frustrated. I wouldn’t be that alarmed if I was an English fan, they have a group of young, talented players who can make a real impact at international level

“I don’t know what Steve Borthwick’s philosophy is going forward but I would imagine they’ll want to attack the game and improve by making the team a powerhouse.

“It seems like England are getting a lot of stick from their fans, and it is frustrating to watch them, but they are unpredictable at the moment but they’ll fire out of the blocks on Saturday and really get stuck into Ireland.”

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