IN JUST UNDER 14 months’ time, Ireland will be underway at the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia. So if there’s anything Andy Farrell wants to clean up with his squad, the window in which to do so is narrowing.
The recent Nations Championship series was far from convincing – continuing a trend that lasted across the 2025/26 season – with Ireland beating Australia and Japan before the visitors were well-beaten by New Zealand in Eden Park.
Not all doom-and-gloom, but enough holes to keep Farrell and Co busy as they plot toward Australia 2027.
Former Ireland international Ian Madigan viewed the series as something of a mixed bag for Farrell’s squad, but highlights the manner of the opening win over Australia as something which can stand to the group in the long run.
“It impressed me that we weren’t necessarily on a ‘going day’, we didn’t play particularly well, particularly in that first half, but we found a way to win. And that’s what you’ve got to do and that’s what the best teams do when they’re not on a ‘going day’, they still find a way to win.
“And I felt like we really got on top of Australia in particular in that last 25-30 minutes, where we were just pounding them and eventually the dam finally broke.
“It did have a little bit of a feeling of déjà vu with the New Zealand game in the World Cup where we were pounding their line but weren’t quite able to get over the line.
“I think that’s a performance that will really stand this Irish team in good stead over the next season and a half leading up to the World Cup, because not every game is going to go to plan.
“You’re going to go behind, but when you’ve got a performance like that in the bank you can rely on and know that we can change strategy mid-game and get the 15/23 players on board, that fills you with real confidence.
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Ireland boss Andy Farrell. Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
“And then I suppose the crescendo of the Nation Series (v New Zealand) was this Irish team after a really long season post the Lions, a full November Series, Six Nations, URC and Champions Cup campaign, were they going to be able to dig deep one more time?
“I certainly hoped they could, but in hindsight, it was a game too for the group and I thought on the day our accuracy in attack wasn’t where it needed to be, and that’s certainly a big area of growth for this team as we head into the Nation Series in November and onto the Six Nations.
And then the other big area of growth, I still think our defence, we need to figure out our identity there.
“We need to either go all-in on being a team that has a rush defence or make it clear to both the players and supporters that, what is the identity, what is the way that this Irish team defends?
“And maybe we’re just really hard to break down, but not necessarily getting high off the line. But I thought in that New Zealand game in particular, we got caught between two stools and got caught in between those two systems.”
The challenge for Andy Farrell is that there’s not a huge amount of time together between now and the World Cup, with just four November fixtures and the five Six Nations games in the diary before Farrell’s group are preparing for their World Cup warm-up games.
“No, there’s not a huge amount of time as regards the Irish team being together,” Madigan says.
“But there’s plenty of time for players to go away, and look, there is a closed skill element of pass accuracy and lines of running that you can work on and see significant improvement in over a relatively short space of time.
“Like, if you were to do an extra 15-20 minutes of passing at the end of every session, that’s north of an hour a week, four hours a month, 12-16 hours over three months. That is significant.
“If you did that for three months, the ball’s going to feel a lot better in your hands come the start of month four, and that would be the point where this team are going to be heading into the November Series and suddenly Andy Farrell’s looking at players going, ‘Well he’s been working on his passing over the last three months.’
“So it’s not all about what he can do with the team. Andy’s trying to formulate a game plan that’s going to suit the team’s skill set, and he’s always going to be pushing that, but if you’re a player who is a mediocre passer of the ball and suddenly you become an excellent passer of the ball, you’re giving Andy and his coaching team more options to formulate a game plan that’s going to break down the opposition, and suddenly you’re converting those 4-on-3, 3-on-2 opportunities that we saw this team execute impeccably well against England in the Six Nations.
“So it’s not that they can’t do it. This team certainly can, but they’ve got to do it consistently. And if you focus on the two performances against New Zealand last season (Chicago and Nations Championship), our pass quality and skill execution fell below the standard of that what’s needed to be a top three ranked team in the world.”
At provincial level, Madigan’s home club, Leinster, are planning for a new head coach following the confirmation Leo Cullen will move on at the end of the summer.
The former Leinster and Ulster player feels there’s plenty of suitable candidates around, but would be surprised to see Ronan O’Gara switch La Rochelle for Donnybrook.
“I personally don’t see that happening,” Madigan said.
La Rochelle head coach Ronan O'Gara. Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
“I think he’s a fantastic coach, but I just think from knowing ROG and how much he loves that rivalry and competitiveness, I’m not too sure if he’d come back and be wearing the blue of Leinster.
“It’s hard to start listing off names because you’re always going to leave someone out but the interesting ones that are a possibility, but it’s difficult to call a year out.
“Scott Robertson, it’s hard to know how much coaching he would do if he came in. Would he come in as the Director of Rugby and have the coaches reporting up to him? With the likes of Jacques (Nienaber), could he step up into that Director of Rugby role or, from his standpoint, would he rather continue coaching, or would he be more a coach that heads up the team?
“It’s hard to see what Leinster will do from that kind of organisational standpoint.
“Could one of the coaches involved with the Irish set-up look at the Leinster job and see it as an opportunity? Obviously the likes of Easterby has headed up teams and Johnny Sexton is in there now. I think Paul O’Connell has already ruled himself out, but would certainly have head coaching capabilities.”
Ian Madigan is an ambassador for this year’s Aer Lingus College Football Classic between the TCU Horned Frogs and the UNC Tar Heels, taking place at Aviva Stadium on Saturday, 29 August. A limited number of tickets are still available at www.Ticketmaster.ie/collegefootball
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Madigan: The issues Ireland need to fix and why I don't see O'Gara at Leinster
IN JUST UNDER 14 months’ time, Ireland will be underway at the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia. So if there’s anything Andy Farrell wants to clean up with his squad, the window in which to do so is narrowing.
The recent Nations Championship series was far from convincing – continuing a trend that lasted across the 2025/26 season – with Ireland beating Australia and Japan before the visitors were well-beaten by New Zealand in Eden Park.
Not all doom-and-gloom, but enough holes to keep Farrell and Co busy as they plot toward Australia 2027.
Former Ireland international Ian Madigan viewed the series as something of a mixed bag for Farrell’s squad, but highlights the manner of the opening win over Australia as something which can stand to the group in the long run.
“It impressed me that we weren’t necessarily on a ‘going day’, we didn’t play particularly well, particularly in that first half, but we found a way to win. And that’s what you’ve got to do and that’s what the best teams do when they’re not on a ‘going day’, they still find a way to win.
“And I felt like we really got on top of Australia in particular in that last 25-30 minutes, where we were just pounding them and eventually the dam finally broke.
“It did have a little bit of a feeling of déjà vu with the New Zealand game in the World Cup where we were pounding their line but weren’t quite able to get over the line.
“I think that’s a performance that will really stand this Irish team in good stead over the next season and a half leading up to the World Cup, because not every game is going to go to plan.
“You’re going to go behind, but when you’ve got a performance like that in the bank you can rely on and know that we can change strategy mid-game and get the 15/23 players on board, that fills you with real confidence.
“And then I suppose the crescendo of the Nation Series (v New Zealand) was this Irish team after a really long season post the Lions, a full November Series, Six Nations, URC and Champions Cup campaign, were they going to be able to dig deep one more time?
“I certainly hoped they could, but in hindsight, it was a game too for the group and I thought on the day our accuracy in attack wasn’t where it needed to be, and that’s certainly a big area of growth for this team as we head into the Nation Series in November and onto the Six Nations.
“We need to either go all-in on being a team that has a rush defence or make it clear to both the players and supporters that, what is the identity, what is the way that this Irish team defends?
“And maybe we’re just really hard to break down, but not necessarily getting high off the line. But I thought in that New Zealand game in particular, we got caught between two stools and got caught in between those two systems.”
The challenge for Andy Farrell is that there’s not a huge amount of time together between now and the World Cup, with just four November fixtures and the five Six Nations games in the diary before Farrell’s group are preparing for their World Cup warm-up games.
“No, there’s not a huge amount of time as regards the Irish team being together,” Madigan says.
“But there’s plenty of time for players to go away, and look, there is a closed skill element of pass accuracy and lines of running that you can work on and see significant improvement in over a relatively short space of time.
“Like, if you were to do an extra 15-20 minutes of passing at the end of every session, that’s north of an hour a week, four hours a month, 12-16 hours over three months. That is significant.
“If you did that for three months, the ball’s going to feel a lot better in your hands come the start of month four, and that would be the point where this team are going to be heading into the November Series and suddenly Andy Farrell’s looking at players going, ‘Well he’s been working on his passing over the last three months.’
“So it’s not all about what he can do with the team. Andy’s trying to formulate a game plan that’s going to suit the team’s skill set, and he’s always going to be pushing that, but if you’re a player who is a mediocre passer of the ball and suddenly you become an excellent passer of the ball, you’re giving Andy and his coaching team more options to formulate a game plan that’s going to break down the opposition, and suddenly you’re converting those 4-on-3, 3-on-2 opportunities that we saw this team execute impeccably well against England in the Six Nations.
“So it’s not that they can’t do it. This team certainly can, but they’ve got to do it consistently. And if you focus on the two performances against New Zealand last season (Chicago and Nations Championship), our pass quality and skill execution fell below the standard of that what’s needed to be a top three ranked team in the world.”
At provincial level, Madigan’s home club, Leinster, are planning for a new head coach following the confirmation Leo Cullen will move on at the end of the summer.
The former Leinster and Ulster player feels there’s plenty of suitable candidates around, but would be surprised to see Ronan O’Gara switch La Rochelle for Donnybrook.
“I personally don’t see that happening,” Madigan said.
“I think he’s a fantastic coach, but I just think from knowing ROG and how much he loves that rivalry and competitiveness, I’m not too sure if he’d come back and be wearing the blue of Leinster.
“It’s hard to start listing off names because you’re always going to leave someone out but the interesting ones that are a possibility, but it’s difficult to call a year out.
“Scott Robertson, it’s hard to know how much coaching he would do if he came in. Would he come in as the Director of Rugby and have the coaches reporting up to him? With the likes of Jacques (Nienaber), could he step up into that Director of Rugby role or, from his standpoint, would he rather continue coaching, or would he be more a coach that heads up the team?
“It’s hard to see what Leinster will do from that kind of organisational standpoint.
“Could one of the coaches involved with the Irish set-up look at the Leinster job and see it as an opportunity? Obviously the likes of Easterby has headed up teams and Johnny Sexton is in there now. I think Paul O’Connell has already ruled himself out, but would certainly have head coaching capabilities.”
Ian Madigan is an ambassador for this year’s Aer Lingus College Football Classic between the TCU Horned Frogs and the UNC Tar Heels, taking place at Aviva Stadium on Saturday, 29 August. A limited number of tickets are still available at www.Ticketmaster.ie/
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Ian Madigan Interview Ireland Rugby