Bono Drops In To Inspire Ireland Squad

The U2 frontman was invited by Andy Farrell to speak to the squad before the match against England.

Bono Drops In To Inspire Ireland Squad

Ahead of Ireland’s Six Nations contest against England this weekend, which could earn them the Triple Crown, head-coach Andy Farrell has looked to give the Irish an extra-edge after inviting U2 icon Bono to speak to the team.

“[The idea] is to reiterate what it really means to be a proud Irishman,” Farrell said. “I suppose it means a little bit different to each individual but just understanding the connection as a whole, not just to the people in Ireland, not just those at Twickenham but that live in the UK as well, what it means to families going over there.”

Clearly Bono seemed to strike a chord with many of the Irish players, such as Cian Healy and Jacob Stockdale.

“There were a lot of angles,” said Cian Healy to The Guardian. “[Bono] was a good rambler now. There’s a lot of angles he went on but he did touch on it and how the Irish are perceived abroad and how they’re liked.”

Young star Jacob Stockdale said to The Irish Examiner; “Faz (Farrell) wants to give us a sense of our identity. He is doing that through our training but also through things like speaking to Bono and last night he talked about Irishness, what it means to be Irish and what’s special about it. That’s definitely something that Faz is bringing in and something we as a team are really buying in to. It is quite exciting.”

Learn from the best: O’Connell gives young star James Ryan some advice (Getty Images)

Farrell also invited legendary Irish forward Paul O’Connell into his setup ahead of the match as he looked to try and recapture the Irish form of 2018.

“[As a squad] we talk about 2018 a lot. We train like that a bit more now,” Farrell said. “The Scotland game was really physical and that did us the world of good going into the Welsh game. We know how England want to play. They play hard on the gainline, try to win quick ball, winning collisions. We want to turn up and express ourselves in that way as well.”

The match will be played at Twickenham on Sunday the 23rd. Kick off is at 3pm.

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