Ireland's reliance on Andrew Porter at loosehead prop is made painfully clear by appearance stats. The system has struggled to produce viable replacements and Andy Farrell is now paying the price.
The system has produced world-class players, but stories like Jerry Cahir’s and Joshua Kenny’s show why a broader, more scientific approach to talent identification is overdue.
As Andy Farrell, Leo Cullen and a host of senior coaches approach contract expiry after the next World Cup, Irish rugby is nearing a once-in-a-generation moment. Recent provincial chaos suggests the system that once excelled at succession planning will face an unprecedented challenge.
2026 must deliver greater coherence, alignment, and hopefully a few more trophies. However, this may require fundamental shifts in thinking and more difficult personnel decisions.
Fans are paying concert-level prices for European rugby’s biggest nights, only to be served shadow teams and strategic indifference. The Champions Cup’s biggest threat may be the clubs treating it as optional.
Irish players are getting penalised for actions that have been coached into them – deliberate, trained behaviours that are all about pushing boundaries. The problem is that referees now have their number.
Despite developing a fierce rivalry over the past 20 years, the Irish and South African teams are reflections of one another than opposites. The question is: who's copying whom?
Andy Farrell's Ireland pride themselves on evidence-based decision-making, but right now the numbers are showing clearly that they're well off the level they attained in 2023. The big question is: are they willing to confront what the data is telling them?
Tadhg Beirne’s rescinded red card wasn’t just a mistake — it was a symptom of a deeper problem. Referees are no longer judging the game; they’re taking instructions from invisible voices.
To beat the All Blacks for a second time at Soldier Field, Andy Farrell's men must follow the Joe Schmidt playbook in 2016, when ghosts were exorcised: attack, attack, attack.
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