Spotlight turns to Ireland after interpro derby drama
Much to admire about Irish system at the moment, but real acid test for national team is looming large
HE has come under plenty of fire in recent times, but David Nucifora will have been quietly pleased with some of his recent work. The IRFU’s performance director has been busy recently. It’s contract negotiation season and – despite the severe financial challenges in the wake of Covid-19 – the Australian has successfully locked down the likes of Johnny Sexton, Iain Henderson, Cian Healy and Peter O’Mahony on new deals. Big business as we move into the second half of this World Cup cycle.
The fact that Sexton and Healy were offered one-year deal says everything about the current state of affairs.
Sexton, who will turn 36 in July, remains a key figure in the national team and has captained the side since Andy Farrell became head coach. However, his age and injury profile over the next 12 months will decide if he gets another extension which would take him towards the big one in France in 2023.
Same goes for Healy. The 33-year-old remains the frontline loosehead for province and country, but he must prove this is still the case in 12 months’ time. Everything is performance related these days, and that’s the way it should be.
‘A new wave of Irish talent is breaking through’
Since Nucifora arrived in town in 2014, he has invested heavily in reviving Ireland’s Sevens programme, a strand of the national team which had been neglected for years. Watching last weekend’s round of Pro14 interprovincial derbies, Robert Baloucoune, Cormac Izuchukwu and Shane Daly were prominent. All three honed their skills on the Sevens circuit along with Hugo Keenan. Nucifora may feel that’s another box ticked on his list of KPIs.
Having come from Super Rugby where free movement between franchises was the norm, Nucifora sought to implement the same policy in Ireland. Relieving a logjam at one province and giving a frustrated player exposure in another jurisdiction makes sense, doesn’t it? The net result has seen John Cooney flourish at Ulster and Joey Carbery finding a new home down in Limerick.
It has created tension, however. Leinster, with their prolific academy, have not been overly pleased with such scenarios in recent times.
Still, Nucifora would say that the system works. Witness Gavin Thornbury and Paul Boyle’s big displays against Munster. Both forwards failed to make the breakthrough in Dublin, but are flourishing in Galway. The sight of Mike Haley – the Preston-born full-back with Irish ancestry – scoring a decisive second-half try for Munster will have been greeted with another nod of approval from Nucifora. Haley was recruited via the Ireland IQ project, which has sought to find Irish-qualified players abroad.
To top it all off, the IRFU can look forward to an all-Irish Pro14 final on March 27. Leinster and Munster will meet again in the league finale. The fact that the whole thing has been wrapped up with two rounds to spare says everything about the dominance of the Irish provinces in recent times, a point emphasised by the fact that Connacht and Ulster were the only teams keeping them honest in each conference.
There is a wider issue there in terms of the long-term health of this competition. It’s the reason why the heavyweight South African sides are coming on board soon. Nucifora and the IRFU will be delighted about that prospect.
There is a new wave of Irish talent braking through across the four provinces, with Baloucoune, Max O’Reilly, Jimmy O’Brien, Dan Sheehan, Scott Penny and Gavin Coombes all catching the eye last weekend.
Steamrolling substandard Scottish, Welsh and Italian teams every weekend is one thing. We will know what these kids are really made of when they take on the Bulls, Stormers, Lions and Sharks on their home turf. The sight of Penny and a fledgling Leinster pack going head-to-head with a grizzled Bulls pack in Pretoria would be telling. A priceless experience, as the current Ireland head coach would put it.
So, there is plenty to get excited about it at the moment.
And yet, Nucifora will be feeling the heat in the coming weeks. Ireland are gearing up for a massive fortnight. First up is the Scots in Murrayfield next Sunday before England arrive at the Aviva six days later. This will be the real acid test for Farrell and his squad. The Six Nations title is gone for another season. Finishing with a flourish and some positive results is paramount now.
Nucifora has made plenty of good decisions but the jury remains out if he backed the right horse when
Joe Schmidt told his employers that he would be seeking pastures new after the 2019 World Cup. Nucifora felt Farrell was the obvious choice to step up and step into the top job. Despite that shaky first year at the helm, Nucifora doubled down and stated the former defence coach was ‘absolutely’ the right man to lead the national team.
Be that as it may, this is a results business. The recent resounding win in Rome was badly needed after those losses to Wales and France. It was just a temporary respite because failures to Scotland and England and the pressure will ramp up again.
As the provinces showed across the weekend, there is nothing wrong with the infrastructure. The quality and quantity of players across the country has never been healthier. Dig a bit deeper and the underage and scouting systems are operating efficiently as well. Likewise, the standard of coaching.
The national team should be feeling the benefits of all of this positive work in the community. Yet Ireland’s progress at Test level continues to stutter.
Farrell will argue that there was plenty of mitigation in the opening rounds with officiating and injuries contributing to their downfall.
You would imagine he had similar conversations with Nucifora in private. But Farrell now has a close to full squad to choose from and no shortage of depth should a frontliner fall in the coming weeks.
There is no room for excuses, going forward.
‘There is plenty to get excited about just now’