Hard act to follow
Australian has set the bar extremely high for successor Humphreys
THEIR convalescence over, the first survivors of Ireland’s newest World Cup trauma are back at work. Supporters may be dubious about the palliative effects of the United Rugby Championship after the highs of France eventually ended in another crash to earth.
But players who were on the fringe of the Irish adventure in September and October returned to training this past week. Jack Conan, Joe McCarthy, Ryan Baird and Craig Casey were among the World Cup squad members who got back to domestic duties.
And if the charms of wet nights against limited, mullocking opposition rather pale compared to the operatic dramas of the Stade de France, these are the first steps on the path to somewhere grander.
Come the second week of December and the resumption of European competition, the stars will all be present, and when Leinster visit La Rochelle on Sunday December 10, the game will be resounding to a fevered beat once more.
This lulls us into the belief that sport follows the seasons as inevitably as nature, that everything just re-starts and then goes on.
But the best systems have a guiding hand, and are driven by people with goals and the clarity of thinking required to succeed.
This is especially important in a rugby culture such as Ireland’s, where playing numbers are relatively small and maximising their potential brings the only hope of competing against the best teams in the world. That is precisely what has been achieved in the decade since David Nucifora became the first performance director appointed by the IRFU.
There have been tensions and frayed relationships, resistance to decisions and grumbles about the power he commanded, but it is beyond argument that the high standing of professional rugby in Ireland today is down, to a very important extent, to the impact made by the Australian.
It has been known for months that he was departing in the coming months, and speculation around his replacement veered towards the glamorous when there was a flurry of speculation linking Rassie Erasmus with the job.
Wherever it emerged from, the gossip didn’t start in Ireland, and whatever its purpose it never rooted itself in reality.
The same went for stories linking Joe Schmidt with the position, even if it would have been intriguing to see him succeed the man whose review of the 2019 World Cup provided such a stinging punctuation point on Schmidt’s transformational time in this country.
Nucifora also deserves to be discussed in similar terms. Like Schmidt, along with his technical skills, he brought the perspective of an outsider schooled in an established, high-performance system.
One of his last significant acts will be likely to oversee a review of his latest World Cup disappointment.
It’s unlikely to be the bloody pageturner that the 2019 edition proved to be, and despite the concluding disappointment in the quarter-final against New Zealand last month, the terrific form of Andy Farrell’s national team over the past two years is a tribute to the cohesion of the professional game on the island.
That, to put it generally, is the job of the performance director – they must ensure that all aspects of the Irish professional system are operating efficiently and, crucially, for the ultimate benefit of national teams. David Humphreys’ successful candidature for the job emerged in the days before the news was confirmed midweek.
The IRFU boasted of the exhaustive efforts made in searching for a replacement for Nucifora, and it was telling that Gary Keegan was part of the interview panel. He was mentioned on at least a weekly basis by Ireland players during the World Cup for the impact he had on the squad as a performance coach. Mental preparation is his speciality, and from his successes with Irish boxing and the Dublin footballers, he moved into the corporate world. His company provides advice on the nebulous area of high performance to businesses, while he also continues to work with the Irish players.
Humphreys came through what IRFU sources were very keen to stress was a rigorous process that involved two interviews, and he was also required to give a presentation and outline his target areas on taking office.
He will commence work in March, working alongside Nucifora until the end of the season, when he takes sole control.
It’s expected that the men’s and women’s sevens’ teams competing at the Paris Olympics will mark the last involvement by Nucifora with Irish rugby.
He will see that as fitting given his unstinting dedication to the form. It has paid off in a couple of ways, with the glory of Olympic involvement (the men’s team also competed in Tokyo last time out) also bringing with it State funding support.
Advocates of the sevens’ game also argue that it benefits the 15s game, improving players’ skills and adaptability. The latest example is brilliant South African back row Kwagga Smith, schooled in sevens and who won his second World Cup medal a week ago.
Tensions over the availability of players for the women’s national team owing to their involvement have sporadically erupted, but the sevens programme must be regarded as one of Nucifora’s successful legacies.
Another is the greater movement of playing resources among the provinces, again at the cost of rows with some figures in provincial management.
But accelerating and refining this practice looks like being one of the main challenges Humphreys will face.
The academies are producing talent, especially in Leinster thanks to the thriving private school system. Giving those players the chance to play matches, and improve to the point where they come into Test contention, should see them moved to provinces where they have a better chance of playing matches.
The improbable calls for the IRFU to take over London Irish, before their collapse into administration, stemmed from the realisation that there are only four outlets in the Irish game for young players.
Handling this will be perhaps the biggest task facing Humphreys.
His ruthlessness has been praised in recent days, and his extensive experience in sports administration suggests competence.
He will need it. He has a hard act to follow – and a national team to keep strong.
Ireland’s high standing has a lot to do with the Australian’s impact here