Dan Sheehan on what Andy Farrell said to the players ahead of England showdown
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Belief.
Dan Sheehan has revealed the message from Andy Farrell that helped drive Ireland to their historic 42-21 victory over England at Twickenham — and it centred on belief.
Speaking after the final whistle, with Irish supporters still roaring in the London stands, Sheehan admitted the squad had felt the noise in the build-up.
“We’re such a hungry group, and we believe in ourselves a lot,” Sheehan said.
“You know we’ve probably been in the pump of the media quite recently, and we knew we had a lot of Irish support here.
“We tapped into it well, and I think we came out of the blocks extremely wel,l and you know that performance right there is right up there with one of the best we’ve had.”
It was a performance that silenced plenty of outside chatter. Questions about regeneration. Questions about selection. Questions about whether Ireland were still the force of previous campaigns.
Inside the camp, that talk never took root.
“I think we stuck together really well and sort of ignored that (the talk of Ireland regenerating). We have a lot of belief in this group,” Sheehan said.
“Everybody that we need is in the group and when we all come together we can make special things happen and you know to get a win in Twickenham and see this Irish crowd, yeah it’s pretty special.”
Former Ireland captain Brian O’Driscoll then put it directly to Sheehan: what exactly had Farrell said during the week to spark such a response?
The hooker didn’t hesitate.
“I think he just reminds us that if we get our systems going right we have a plan to beat anyone and you know I think we saw it out there today the way we wanted to play rugby” Sheehan said.
“We wanted to put pressure on other teams, all this talk of England putting pressure on other teams by playing in our half and you know I think we counteracted that really well with our plans done well, and I think Faz gives us incredible belief even when times are… you know, you look on the outside of the group and there isn’t a whole lot of belief in the group.
“I think Faz and the whole coaching team has done a great job of just making us believe that we can do it and we can put out a performance like that today”
There was no dramatic rallying cry, no headline-grabbing speech. Just a consistent message: trust the system, trust each other, and trust the work done on the training pitch.
At Twickenham, that belief translated into one of Ireland’s most emphatic performances on English soil — a statement built on clarity and confidence rather than noise.
And if Sheehan’s words are anything to go by, the message inside the camp is simple.
Block out the outside world.
Back the plan.
And believe.
