Six Nations 2026: Frustration from France loss still driving Ireland, says John Fogarty
Ireland scrum coach John Fogarty spoke to reporters on Tuesday before Saturday's Six Nations game against Italy in Dublin (14:10 GMT). Here are some snippets of what he said. On the mood in camp after crushing France defeat: "I think initially there was huge disappointment in the playing group at the performance, particularly in the first half."I think there's still a frustration within the group, which is fairly natural to have because they understand what they're capable of and what they served up wasn't that."And some of the reviews, we're turning the page really on France and into Italy, so there's a mix of frustration and some guys getting the opportunity to put on an Irish jersey at home in a Six Nations game."On the perception that Ireland are falling away from the top nations:"They [the squad] are very much here and now as people. I think the bigger picture stuff, maybe I'm wrong, I guess everyone's a little bit different, I haven't thought about that too much. That's just me."I'm sure there's other guys that will consider that massively. That hasn't been spoken about or as a coaching group, it's not been mentioned."What we're focused on is making sure we front up as an Irish team. I said it at half-time that we have character, that we represent where we're from properly."I think that's what's on our mind. There is an understanding within the group that if we do our stuff well, we're going to be a very difficult team to play against."So that's where we're at, I think, mentally."On Tadhg Furlong being back fit: "He's healthy. He's trained now. We've done live scrums today. We're doing a few more tomorrow."So he has completed all his bits and he was in live scrums. He did the session. It's brilliant to have a player like him back."
