IT’S HARD TO remember a time when Ireland didn’t have excellent options in the back row. The production of tough, mobile, skillful players in jerseys number six, seven, and eight seems to be a specialty of Irish rugby.
Andy Farrell’s Ireland group has strong operators in this department, while there are some potentially top-end youngsters who have come through the Ireland U20s set-up in the last couple of years and are now breaking through with their provinces. There is a gigantic difference between having potential and being a good Test player but there is cause for excitement for the future.
Caelan Doris, Josh van der Flier, and Peter O’Mahony are the incumbent starting back row after the World Cup, while Jack Conan has made up the matchday quartet with them when fit and available.
Ryan Baird was the other back row option at the World Cup and lock Tadhg Beirne has lots of experience on the blindside flank. Cian Prendergast was close to making the final squad, while Gavin Coombes trained with Ireland for their pre-season.
For this piece, we have looked at all the back row options in the Irish provinces together rather than splitting them up as blindsides, opensides, and number eights. The reality is that the lines have blurred between the traditional tags, with some of the best back row players capable of excelling in a couple of different roles.
There are still strong elements of the classic duties for the players wearing numbers six, seven, and eight. Many coaches like to have a relentless, hard-tackling and jackaling seven who is first to the breakdown, as well as a lineout-jumping, wide-carrying number six, and an all-rounder of an eight who is a focal ball-carrier in the middle of the pitch.
There are several specialist back row players in Ireland, but many others can shift between back row slots with ease. Putting the pieces together to best suit a team’s style of play is where the real coaching genius lies.
Leinster:
- Caelan Doris [25]
- Josh van der Flier [30]
- Jack Conan [31]
- Ryan Baird [24]
- Max Deegan [27]
- Scott Penny [24]
- Will Connors [27]
- Rhys Ruddock [33]
- Alex Soroka [22]
- Martin Moloney [24]
- James Culhane [21]
- Liam Molony [20]
Three of Farrell’s leading players are part of an impressive back row crop in Leinster, with Doris, van der Flier, and Conan having had important roles to play in green jerseys.
The 6ft 4ins Doris is still only 25. He looks certain to continue as a key man in the Irish pack at number eight for years to come and could be a contender for the captaincy, while van der Flier and Conan are still only 30 and 31, respectively.
Van der Flier has owned Ireland’s number seven shirt pretty much since 2019, although his Leinster team-mate Will Connors challenged strongly in the 2020/21 season before his rise was halted abruptly by a cruel string of injuries. 27-year-old Connors is fit again now but will have to fight his way up the pecking order in Leinster.
Conan has often been used off the bench as an impact player for Ireland but he’s a starter for Leinster, with himself or Doris switching to the number six shirt and a role that involves more lineout work and can sometimes mean fewer touches of the ball.
24-year-old Ryan Baird was predominantly seen as a second row up until last season when nine of his 12 starts came in the number six shirt. This has been a common trend across rugby, with athletic, mobile locks often being used in a hybrid role in the number six shirt. Ireland have followed suit, with Baird’s involvements before and at the World Cup coming in the back row.
Baird’s shift to the blindside slot has only added to the frankly ridiculous level of competition for places in Leinster.
27-year-old Max Deegan is a versatile player who can play across the back row. He has two Ireland caps, with his most recent coming against Fiji in the autumn of last year, while he was one of the captains on the Emerging Ireland tour last year.
There were two other Leinster back rows named for that development tour in 24-year-old Scott Penny and 22-year-old Alex Soroka. 6ft Penny is a classic tackle-jackal openside and was called into the Ireland squad during this year’s Six Nations as injury cover, while Soroka is of the lock/back row hybrid mould at 6ft 5ins. Soroka ended up missing the Emerging Ireland tour due to injury and is currently sidelined with a foot issue.
Leinster’s group of senior back rows is completed by 33-year-old Rhys Ruddock – a seriously tough, reliable operator with well over 200 appearances for Leinster and 27 caps for Ireland – and the 24-year-old Martin Moloney, a destructive presence who has been unlucky with injury.
The Leinster academy includes another Emerging Ireland tourist from last year in 21-year-old James Culhane, who was outstanding at number eight for the Ireland U20s last year as they won a Grand Slam and has already clocked up three starts for Leinster’s senior side this season. The 6ft 4ins, 113kg back row is a powerful player.
Fellow academy man Liam Molony, the first cousin of Leinster lock Ross, was part of this year’s Ireland U20s set-up and featured in their Grand Slam success.
Leinsters’s second row stocks include Diarmuid Mangan, who is in the academy and also plays in the back row, while senior lock Brian Deeny was previously capped by the Ireland U20s in the back row.
Munster:
- Peter O’Mahony [34]
- Gavin Coombes [25]
- John Hodnett [24]
- Jack O’Donoghue [29]
- Alex Kendellen [22]
- Jack O’Sullivan [25]
- Jack Daly [22]
- Brian Gleeson [19]
- Ruadhan Quinn [20]
- Daniel Okeke [21]
O’Mahony may have stepped down from the Munster captaincy recently but he will continue to be a key player for the province for the rest of this season at least. Currently sidelined by a shoulder injury, it remains to be seen what his future holds and whether he takes on the Ireland captaincy.
O’Mahony is the incumbent in Ireland’s number six shirt, having had a spell on the bench during the 2022 Six Nations when Conan joined Doris and van der Flier in the starting XV for a few games. O’Mahony turned 34 in September but has been playing some of his best rugby in recent times. While he indicated after the World Cup that he would consider his international future, Farrell will surely want him to remain central.
Along with O’Mahony, number eight Gavin Coombes has been an ever-present in Munster’s back row since taking over from CJ Stander in 2021.
Coombes, who turns 26 next month, hasn’t been able to push past the ferociously strong competition with Ireland, with his two caps coming in the summer of 2021 when the Lions tour took place. Coombes missed out on a place in this year’s World Cup squad, so will be determined to finally force his way into contention now.
Munster number seven John Hodnett hasn’t yet been in the senior Ireland reckoning but the 24-year-old was part of the Emerging Ireland tour last year, working with Irish forwards coach Paul O’Connell, and he continues to impress with Munster. He’s not the biggest back row around at 6ft and 105kg but as last weekend’s clash with Leinster showed one again, he plays big.
22-year-old Alex Kendellen has emerged with Munster over the past two seasons and was due to tour with Emerging Ireland last year but was injured just before departure. An impressive number eight for the Ireland U20s in 2021, he is flexible enough to play across the back row.
The rise of Kendellen and Hodnett meant the influential Jack O’Donoghue missed out on selection in the matchday 23 for last season’s URC final win over the Stormers. The 29-year-old Waterford man won two Ireland caps back in 2016/17 but hasn’t featured since. He remains an important figure for Munster, often captaining the team and playing across all three back row slots.
25-year-old Jack O’Sullivan has had to battle hard for regular exposure with the senior side and has 33 appearances to his name, while 22-year-old Jack Daly has been desperately unfortunate with injuries and is now sidelined again after ankle surgery.
The Munster academy includes two major prospects in 19-year-old Brian Gleeson and 20-year-old Ruadhán Quinn, both of whom have featured for the senior side.
Gleeson, who is underage for the Ireland U20s again this season, has been prominent off the bench in recent weeks and is a huge specimen at 6ft 4ins and 116kg. He appears likely to be pushing for starts sooner rather than later and may come to challenge Coombes for the number eight slot.
Quinn is another big man at 6ft 3ins and 113kg, with the same kind of rugby smarts and handling skill that most young Irish forwards seem to have these days. He was also part of the same Grand Slam-winning Ireland U20 team this year and like Gleeson, it seems likely that Quinn will soon be looking to push past more experienced players.
Munster have back row options among their locks too, with Beirne, Fineen Wycherley, and Cian Hurley all having history on the blindside flank. The dynamic 23-year-old Tom Ahern made his first start at number six last weekend.
Connacht:
- Cian Prendergast [23]
- Jarrad Butler [32]
- Conor Oliver [28]
- Paul Boyle [26]
- Seán O’Brien [23]
- Sean Jansen [24]
- Oisín McCormack [22]
23-year-old Cian Prendergast was unlucky to miss out on a place in Ireland’s final World Cup squad after making an impressive late bolt in which he showed his versatility in playing across the back row and even shifting into the second row for Ireland.
He has rapidly become a key man in Connacht since joining their academy in 2020 after missing out on a spot with his native Leinster.
32-year-old Jarrad Butler is an important leader for the province and though the Australia native is now Irish-qualified, he hasn’t come into the picture with Farrell’s Ireland.
Conor Oliver, 28, is another player whose good form for Connacht hasn’t led to international honours. The former Munster man, who played for the Ireland U20s in 2015, brings obvious openside strengths to the Connacht back row.
26-year-old Paul Boyle has been capped by Ireland under Farrell, making his debut in the summer of 2021 when the Irish frontliners were absent, but injuries and form since have meant he hasn’t been back in that mix. The abrasive number eight is now fit and will be determined to make himself a starter with Connacht again.
Seán O’Brien is one of those that Boyle has to compete with. The 23-year-old played for Leinster three times and had a short stint in the US on loan to the LA Giltinis before joining Connacht last summer. He has made a positive start, while new Irish-qualified number eight Sean Jansen got his debut against the Bulls last weekend, playing 40 minutes. The 24-year-old New Zealand native is a big unit at 6ft 3ins and 117kg, with Connacht hoping he can add ball-carrying ballast.
22-year-old Oisín McCormack has made one senior appearance in his career so far, having started at number seven for the Ireland U20s in 2021, while Connacht’s back row options also include New Zealand native Shamus Hurley-Langton, who is not Irish-qualified.
Second row Oisín Dowling started at number six for the first time last weekend in another example of that trend. Connacht don’t have any back row players listed in their academy at present.
Ulster:
- Nick Timoney [28]
- Dave McCann [23]
- Matty Rea [30]
- Marcus Rea [26]
- Greg Jones [27]
- Reuben Crothers [21]
- Sean Reffell [25]
- James McNabney [20]
- Lorcan McLaughlin [21]
- Josh Stevens [19]
- Tom Brigg [19]
The three-times capped Nick Timoney is the only one of Ulster’s back rows to have represented Ireland at senior level, though the province’s fans feel he is deserving of greater exposure. Having last played against Fiji in November 2022, 28-year-old Timoney will be hoping a big season with Ulster can catapult him back into the frame.
However, there are also high hopes for the younger crop of back row players emerging in Ulster right now.
The talented 23-year-old David McCann, who can play across the back row, has started the season strongly. He’s a fine lineout operator at 6ft 4ins and brings dynamism in contact. McCann was part of the Emerging Ireland tour last year.
21-year-old openside Reuben Crothers has had his first senior exposure in recent weeks, having made a name for himself as the outstanding captain of last year’s Grand Slam-winning Ireland U20s.
Crothers played alongside the imposing James McNabney in that U20s side and the latter has also just had his first chance with Dan McFarland’s Ulster side, impressing with his carrying from number eight against Glasgow last weekend.
McNabney is still in the Ulster academy, as is another of the 2022 crop of Ireland U20s – number eight Lorcan McLoughlin. He got an Ulster debut recently, coming on against the Lions, and adds to the excitement about the province’s emerging loose forwards.
They will have to battle their way past senior Ulster forwards, however. Zimbabwe native Dave Ewers joined from Exeter last summer and is not Irish-qualified, but the northern province hope the 33-year-old can impact this season with his grit and size.
Ballymena man Matty Rea and his brother Marcus have become experienced operators in the Ulster back row, with 30-year-old Matty regularly featuring in the number six shirt and 26-year-old Marcus fighting hard for more starts at number seven.
27-year-old Greg Jones is most often seen on the blindside flank and would love to earn more starts for the province, while the Irish-qualified openside Sean Reffell will be keen to add to his three appearances last season after joining from Saracens.
The Ulster academy includes two other back row players in Ireland U19 internationals Josh Stevens, the former Methodist College skipper, and Tom Brigg, who captained Blackrock College in Dublin before making the move north.
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This article was updated at 8.36pm to correct Brian Gleeson’s height.
For earlier articles in this series, click the links below.
