GRAND CENTRE STATION
Midfield sees benefits of IRFU policies as problem area has become a position of strength
TEN years ago, the Irish rugby media descended on Cork Airport to lay out the red carpet for the arrival of marquee Munster signing Jean De Villiers.
The South African was a bona fide rugby superstar, a World Cup winning centre whose on-pitch excellence was reinforced by his dashing image off it. De Villiers did not come cheap but Munster reckoned it was a good deal on the back of his undoubted world class and huge marketing potential.
Those who questioned the wisdom of the signing were scornfully dismissed because this was a time when the provinces held sway, a period when supporters regularly and proudly posited their preference for the European Cup over the Six Nations — even after Ireland’s Grand Slam success.
That attitude extended to a rugby media still in thrall to the hype surrounding big overseas signings and the fawning reception in Cork for De Villiers’ blond hair and flashing smile verged on the nauseous.
At the time, the national side was overly-reliant on Brian O’Driscoll and Gordon D’Arcy as their first-choice centre options. Both had a few years to go but there was precious little coming through behind and it left the national team vulnerable.
Not only did De Villiers represent a roadblock to the likes of Keith Earls (widely touted as a long-term O’Driscoll replacement at the time), there were similar impediments for Irish centre talent throughout the provinces where overseas imports were the order of the day.
Around that 2009-10 period, Lifeimi Mafi was already on the books at Munster and when De Villiers turned out to be an expensive one-season mistake, he was replaced by All Blacks centre Sam Tuitupou.
In Ulster, Kiwi Paul Steinmetz and Scotland international Rob Dewey were hindering the Irish progression pitch.
Connacht relied on the likes of Troy Nathan and Niva Tau’auso to give them midfield punch with Aussie Shaun Berne the go-to understudy for O’Driscoll and D’Arcy at Leinster. It meant a lack of choice for then Ireland coach Declan Kidney, who had no-one pushing Ulster’s Paddy Wallace as regular back-up to O’Driscoll and D’Arcy.
A decade later and the extent to which Irish rugby has finally got its priorities straight is emphasised by the eye-watering array of quality options for the Nos12 and 13 jerseys.
There was understandable panic when O’Driscoll and D’Arcy came to the end of their careers five years ago but that coincided with the arrival of David Nucifora as IRFU elite performance director, and the Australian made it his mission to open up pathways for Irish talent.
These days, non-Irish qualified imports do not cloud the bigger picture — they are carefully monitored so as not to impede the progress of players Ireland need to progress. It has changed the landscape with regards to overseas imports and, certainly, at centre there is little requirement given the amount and quality of Irish qualified options.
It is why, at the start of the season, we questioned in these pages whether there was any need for Leinster to sign Joe Tomane given the homegrown talent at their disposal.
A little over four months later, Tomane is injured and nobody has noticed. Distinctly unimpressive in his nine appearances to date, Tomane’s injury has allowed the likes of Rory O’Loughlin, Conor and Jimmy O’Brien to show what they are capable of and even the academy centres have looked more effective than the 17-times capped Wallaby.
Do not be surprised if Tomane is quietly let go on a ‘thanks for your time’ basis. He is a decent bloke who has ability but Leinster don’t need him — and never did.
Similarly down in Munster, Springbok international Jaco Taute has been overtaken by the rise in homegrown options.
Brought in on a shortterm deal a couple of seasons ago when Munster were caught short in midfield, Taute proved a big hit and the province made it their mission to sign him up on a fulltime basis.
However, with the indigenous crew of Sam Arnold, Chris Farrell, Rory Scannell and Dan Goggin all flourishing — not to mention Irish qualified out-halves Tyler Bleyendaal and JJ Hanrahan bringing extra playmaking capacity to the centre when needed — there is no need to have a Springbok getting in the way, and Taute is being linked with a move to Leicester.
In Ulster, Will Addison has been hugely effective since being brought over from Sale, striking up an excellent partnership with Stuart McCloskey and doing well for Ireland in November.
With James Hume showing great potential and the explosive but forgotten Luke Marshall (11 caps since 2013 and only 27) still on the books and hopefully soon back to his best after injury, Ulster are producing Ireland candidates also.
As are Connacht, where Bundee Aki continues to inspire and Tom Farrell has been a revelation this season to force his way up the pecking order.
Andy Friend’s expansive style is bringing the best out of Connacht’s midfield and, while the accomplished Wallaby Kyle Godwin is not Irish qualified, there is further Irish depth at the Sportsground in the likes of Peter Robb, Eoin Griffin and Craig Ronaldson.
It all adds up to an extremely healthy situation for Ireland coach Joe Schmidt, who deserves credit, along with Nucifora, for their option-widening policies since Ireland were found wanting depth-wise at the 2015 World Cup.
He now has plenty of specialist cover at centre and the situation has improved dramatically from early in his tenure when, with O’Driscoll and D’Arcy gone, he was picking Jared Payne and Robbie Henshaw when both were playing full-back for Ulster and Connacht respectively.
Henshaw forms Schmidt’s probable first-choice partnership with
“The imports don’t impede progress of Irish players”