Ireland finished off their November series with three wins out of four losing one against New Zealand, but will it be a November that Andy Farrell will live to regret ..
The former Rugby League player will head off to concentrate on the Lions tour for the next six months, but should Andy Farrell have given more young players a chance?
Peter O’Mahony, Conor Murray and others will surely be hanging up their boots come the end of the season, should Ireland not be building for the Rugby World Cup in 2027 down under?
Coaches are all about winning, but they have to be about building squad depth too and it was a bit disappointing not to see Gavin Coombes, Tomas Ahern, Cormac Izuchukwu and others not get more game time or any time at all.
The last 20 years have been brilliant for Irish Rugby, the game and the team have just got bigger and bigger on the Emerald Isle, Ireland are the current holders of the Six Nations with winning the Championship last year and winning the Grand Slam the year before.
What every Irish rugby supporter wants to see now, is Ireland to make it past a quarter-final of a Rugby World Cup. Ireland came extremely close in 2023, led by the brilliant and inspiring Johnny Sexton at out-half, only to fall short in a blockbuster of a game to the hands of New Zealand.
The next Rugby World Cup will be in Australia and half of Ireland is currently living down under. If Ireland go down there with a good squad of youth and experience you’ll get great odds from Irish bookmakers of going all the way.
That won’t happen if Andy Farrell doesn’t make some big calls and say good luck to the likes of Conor Murray and Peter O’Mahony, who have been great servants to Irish Rugby, but will not be around for that RWC in 2027.
Yes, Andy Farrell gave the talented Sam Prendergast a chance against Fiji and then backed it up against Australia, but let’s get some more fresh faces into that Irish squad asap and if we lose a game in the process, bit deal, the bigger picture has to be taken into consideration.
If Irish supporters can trust in Andy Farrell and Farrell can trust in a few more players, Ireland might be in strong and rude health come 2027 down under.