Andy Farrell calls for Ireland to be more ruthless after Argentina victory

Andy Farrell was content with what he felt was a good night’s work in beating Argentina 42-12 at the Aviva Stadium in the first of three home games in the inaugural Nations Championship. But the Irish head coach admitted this 12th win in a dozen home games with Los Pumas may have come at a cost.

Dan Sheehan departed an HIA before half-time and didn’t return while both Sean Jansen and Robert Baloucoune were limping slightly when forced off, while Josh van der Flier and Mack Hansen carried on despite apparent lower leg problems. Jansen appeared to be in more discomfort but any injury concern for Baloucoune is heightened by his history of hamstring issues.

“Rob Baloucoune, there’s a little bit of something going on, not quite sure yet, so waiting to hear confirmation of that,” said Farrell. “Sean Jansen, there’s a bang to his knee.

“Josh, there’s a bit of something going on with his ankle. Mack and Josh carried on, I think Mack’s [injury] is an ankle as well, so a few bumps and bruises.

“Tadhg [Beirne] went down for five minutes and should have got up but didn’t, did you see that?” said Farrell, chiding the player who had taken over the captaincy on field from Sheehan. “He’s all right now.

“So we’ll see tomorrow. Dan came off with a HIA, but seems fine, certainly in the dressingroom.”

These concerns aside, Farrell was pleased with the overall performance, not least the six tries to two winning margin, which made this Ireland’s second biggest win over Argentina, while knowing his side could have been more ruthless.

“Obviously, the scoreline is a good one because not many teams do that to Argentina. They’re a very good side and a dangerous side. We saw that certainly at times. We fought hard to scramble back, so the 12 points [conceded] is very pleasing.

“The 42 [total], six tries, I thought some outstanding stuff, some really clinical stuff. But I think the story of the game is we missed a chance to be ruthless.

“Having said that, the opportunities that we did have in the right parts of the field showed the dominance as far as field position and territory.

“So, for a hit out, first up, international game, a big one at that, for us, playing at home, it’s a good day.”

One of the highlights of the Irish performance was the cutting edge provided by the heavily involved back three of Mack Hansen, in his first Test since last November, Baloucoune and player of the match Hugo Keenan.

Between them, they had 40 carries, made 236 metres and nine line breaks, while beating 11 defenders and gave Ireland a distinct edge in the aerial duels, with Keenan also scoring his first Test hat-trick in his first home game since the loss to France in March 2025.

“Yeah, I thought the back three was outstanding. I mean, Hugo Keenan, it’s 22 months since he played here; he didn’t even remember what side of the pitch we warmed up on, which is a bit of an insult. But, wow, he was immense, wasn’t he?

“Same with Mack and Rob, the pace that he put on to the ball, he was a threat every time he got his hands on the ball, offloading the ball, good in the air, etc. So, delighted with the back three.”

Another highlight was the performance of Ryan Baird in what was, like Hanen and Andrew Porter, a first Test since last November. Baird’s aerial athleticism helped give Ireland a slick launching pad off their own lineout as well as undermining Argentina by stealing six of their throws.

“I said to you that he [Baird] is obsessed with his set-piece stuff. Obviously, the lineout. He’s been a leader for us in the defensive lineout for a while now. But he’s certainly progressing as well as far as he’s done some calling lately, obviously with Leinster.

“So, he’s a fantastic lineout forward and that makes a massive difference, doesn’t it, stealing ball? But some of his stuff in general play was pretty good as well.

“For the likes of him, Hugo Keenan, Ports and Mac, they’ve all been out for a while in international rugby. I thought it was immense them coming back into the fold and showing everyone what we’ve missed.”

Felipe Contepomi lamented his team’s costly accumulation of errors against a team for whom his respect is manifest

“You see the structure, the shape, the intensity; it’s the intensity that they played with. You know that’s coming. It’s how you stop it. Obviously, you try to not give the ball to them, but they had it enough.

“When we had it, we made errors, and then we give the initiative again. When you concede, the initiative is very hard against a team that loves to play with the ball.”

There is a possibility these two teams could meet in the World Cup quarter-final in Brisbane on October 31st next year.

While Ireland have now won all dozen clashes between the countries in Dublin, Argentina have three of the four previous World Cup meetings, though Contepomi was not remotely inclined to look that far ahead.

“To be honest, I’m thinking about next week,” said Contepomi, whose squad travel to Parma tomorrow en route to facing Italy in Genoa next weekend seeking a second win in five games.

“I’m not very good at records and so on, and I think every game is a different story. I know there’s records and history and blah, blah, blah, but every game is a different story.

“I think this Irish team will arrive to the World Cup really well-prepared, because you can see them. They are planning new guys into the team, and they play very cohesive. They’re physical, they’re well-trained, well-coached.”

“So I don’t know, records are records. They don’t count when the game starts 0-0. I think we will focus on ourselves, how we can get there.

“We know Ireland is one of the best teams, one of the best three teams in the world for the last 10 years. They will arrive, I think, in the same position. I say so.”