Warren Gatland - Why Ireland's coach is a mastermind

By Warren Gatland

In the aftermath of Ireland's first Test defeat by the All Blacks, I sent a text message to Andy Farrell.

I have known the Ireland head coach for a long time, first working closely with him when I appointed him as defence coach for the British and Irish Lions tour of Australia in 2013 and again four years later for the tour of New Zealand. I would have taken him to South Africa last year too, but the Irish Rugby Football Union were not keen on him going.

"Hi Faz, I was at the game, hard luck on the defeat," I wrote. "I thought the scoreline flattered the All Blacks a little bit and the two tries before half-time blew the score out."

Significantly, his upbeat reply proved to be equally perceptive. "Thanks mate, I think we will be a lot better for that next week."

Those outside the camp may have wondered if Ireland's tour was in danger of going off the rails in the wake of the 42-19 defeat at Eden Park, coming just days after a bruising and costly reverse against the NZ Maori, with injuries mounting. Yet Farrell and his impressive coaching team had other ideas.

They had clearly seen enough in the first Test to suggest that with some minor tweaks and improvements, the All Blacks were beatable, and the turnaround was stunning. The performance in Dunedin not only made history, the 23-12 victory Ireland's first against the All Blacks on New Zealand soil, but also underscored Farrell's standing as an international head coach of the highest quality.

The ability to fix things in real-time during a series as tough as this one is when you are properly tested as a coach. Farrell and his team did just that. Ireland's scrum and line-out had not been good enough in the first Test, but their set piece improved dramatically. So did their tactical kicking, generating much more pressure in the aerial contests and the defensive pressure forced the kind of mistakes we are not used to seeing from the top All Blacks players.

Farrell's journey to this point has been an eclectic one. I rated him highly enough as a defence coach to bring him to Australia with the Lions in 2013, even though it meant having one of the toughest rugby conversations I have had in telling Shaun Edwards that I would be leaving him behind. From a selfish point of view, I wanted to see what Faz would bring to the table and see how he could improve me as a coach as well.

I got a glimpse of Faz's innovation during an early defensive meeting when Paul 'Bobby' Stridgeon, our strength and conditioning coach, interrupted the meeting when his phone went off. Faz gave him both barrels and demanded that Bobby repeat back to him the defensive structure and strategy he had outlined.

We all sat back in our seats in embarrassment for Bobby but were stunned when he repeated word for word what Faz had said. It was only later that I discovered the whole thing had been set up as a ploy for Faz to get his message across to the players. If the fitness guy can remember our defence, so could they.

My only criticism of him in 2013 was that at times he took too long to deliver his instructions, which can dilute the message to the players but four years later in New Zealand he had improved enormously.

I was impressed by the way that he dealt with his experience with England in the 2015 World Cup and learned from it. He was much more concise in delivering information. Less is often more, particularly on a Lions tour when it is important not to overload the players.

That evolution continued under Joe Schmidt with Ireland and in the last year he has begun to step out of Joe's shadow and put his own stamp on things. The thing that I admire about him is that he has strong ideas and thoughts, but he is very loyal as well.

He also has a great feel for an environment and the psyche within a team. That can be as important as the coaching side as success depends on the dynamics within a group. You can see that in the tightness of the Ireland coaching team.

I see a lot of similarities with Shaun Edwards and I think that comes from the fact that both of them were in a professional sports environment from a very early age in rugby league.

He has a good feel for when players need an arm around them or alternatively when they need some harsh words to give them a kick up the backside.

He has earned that right. But we are all conscious now that the way the modern game is you have to be careful with your language and the way you criticise players because times have changed in that respect.

Strategically, he has got it right too with his decision to take a large squad to New Zealand and play two midweek games against the New Zealand Maori, a move to ensure that Ireland do not fall into their previous habit of peaking too soon before World Cups.

There is no doubt in my mind he would do a good job as a successor to Eddie Jones as England head coach after next year's World Cup, but then he might decide to stay on with Ireland and achieve something really special with them.