DAVID HUMPHREYS IS a man with plenty on his plate, yet it’s simple enough, too.
The IRFU’s number one priority has been the same for a long, long time – ensuring that the men’s national team continues to be successful.
Andy Farrell’s side are the lifeblood of the entire sport in Ireland, bringing in around 80% of the revenue that feeds the game.
So everything that performance director Humphreys does is with this in mind.
His belief is that having stronger provincial teams across the country will drive more success for the Ireland team. His big stated goal upon succeeding David Nucifora in 2024 was to bring Munster, Ulster and Connacht up towards Leinster’s level.
Sitting in Ireland’s team hotel in Sydney after joining Farrell’s squad for a week, Humphreys reflects on how that part of the job is going.
“Are we closing the gap in Leinster? Leinster are still the dominant force, and that is likely to be the case for a long time,” said former Ulster and Ireland out-half Humphreys.
“When you look at what they’ve got, whether that’s in terms of the players coming through their pathway, the depth that they have, the number of schools that they have, they are still in a very strong position.
“I don’t believe they’re any weaker than over the course of the last couple of years.
“Have the other provinces improved? Well, I think you’ve seen this year, one of the big pieces that we set out, and one of the big positives in the last 12 months has been that in terms of the coaching, the structure under a general manager, then together with some very good coaching appointments, you’ve seen a huge upturn in performance from Ulster at the start of the year with Mark Sexton going in there.
“They tailed off a little bit towards the end of the year, which they were disappointed with.
“From an IRFU point of view, what does success look like? You’ll talk about winning things, yes, that’s part of it, but also for us, it’s having four teams playing in the play-offs, it’s four teams in Europe. From an IRFU point of view, that’s important.
“With Connacht, Stuart [Lancaster] has gone in, as we hoped, and made a huge impact. It took him some time, probably a little bit longer than he liked, but going in somewhere and trying to make fundamental changes is difficult.
“But again, you’ve seen the way Connacht finished the season, and are playing superb rugby, reflected by the fact of the two teams that I’ve mentioned, the number of players who are now represented here.
“So, to answer your question, are we closing the gap? I’m not sure that’s the right word.
“Closing the gap might have been an easy way to say we just need to make them more competitive. We need to make them better players, so that they’re better for Andy Farrell and for Ireland.
“Has that happened? I definitely think that is the case.”
It is perhaps simply an error of omission that Humphreys doesn’t mention Munster in this answer.
It has been a challenging first season for the southern province under Clayton McMillan, as they exited the Champions Cup at the pool stages, lost their only Challenge Cup game, and had to fight hard to make the URC quarter-finals.
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David Humphreys at Ireland training in Sydney. Billy Stickland / INPHO
Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO
Off the pitch, it was a tumultuous time with redundancies in Munster Rugby, the cancelled signing of Roger Randle, and McMillan openly questioning his own future.
The IRFU distanced itself from the signing of Randle at the time, so Humphreys was asked if he and the IRFU are claiming not to have known about the deal until it was signed and sealed.
“No, that’s not what I’m saying, no,” said Humphreys.
“So, the IRFU are involved in the recruitment of all Irish contracted staff, so it’s not me sitting in those interviews, but our relevant heads of departments sit in the interview process for IRFU staff.
“For others, for assistant roles throughout the system, for assistant coaching roles, the IRFU will provide some support as required, if requested.
“There have been a number of coaching appointments that have been made over the course of the last year, which the IRFU wouldn’t have been involved in at all. In terms of the Munster one, we provided some support.
“And the challenge in talking in detail about it is, as you know, there is an external review that has just started. I think that review is going to look into the process, the recruitment process, the governance piece, the oversight.
“And I think pending the outcome of that, we would be in a better position to look at how it was done and how we might do it better.”
Humphreys was asked if Munster and the IRFU had to pay compensation to Randle when the deal was cancelled.
“That’s a confidential piece that I’m not going to comment on,” said Humphreys, who said he is happy with how Munster’s coaching staff has now worked out, with Jared Payne and Jimmy Duffy coming in.
Humphreys’ stance on Munster was that with the external review into the province now underway, there was not too much he can comment on.
Humphreys said he doesn’t know when the review will be complete, nor if he will be asked to contribute.
“As far as I know, it was only kicked off last week,” said Humphreys. “I think Ian Flanagan [Munster's CEO] announced that it had been kicked off last week, so I’m not sure yet who or when. We’re obviously in Australia, so it’s slightly more difficult.”
Whatever comes next, it’s clear that Munster want to improve drastically under McMillan, who Humphreys has total belief in.
Asked if he and the IRFU have confidence in Munster to be better with their decision-making in the future, Humphreys said the union wants to ensure every province has autonomy.
“I think the reality is that we look back, and as the review is set up to look at what happened and why it happened, I think coming out of that will be very clear that there’s definitely things we could have done better and things we could have done differently,” he said.
“Based on the recommendations that come out of that, first and foremost it will be for Munster, but the IRFU will definitely be involved. Going forward, as I said, there may be some recommendations that are made that will be implemented in terms of how we see some of the higher profile recruitment.
“Because we do not want to be involved in every provincial decision. We want a huge amount of autonomy and give them the flexibility to make decisions that are right for Munster.
“Because sitting up in Dublin, you don’t have a sense of what’s required in every single decision. So from that point of view, I think that’s why we’re all waiting for the outcome.”
The other big thing happening in Irish rugby right now is the need for the provinces to contribute 40% of their players’ national contract salaries, up from the previous 30%.
With Leinster having 11 of the 14 national contracts – also known as ‘central’ contracts – the eastern province is obviously contributing the vast majority of that money. It’s believed to total close to €700,000, which will now be invested into Munster, Connacht and Ulster’s player development pathways.
It has been dubbed the ‘Leinster tax’ by their supporters, but the IRFU’s hope is that the other three provinces will begin to produce many more homegrown players for their senior sides and the Ireland team.
So where exactly is the 40% money going?
“The biggest decision that we, the IRFU, have made from a high performance point of view over the course of the last 12 months is that we believe we have to go and invest at the very bottom of the system to ensure that the game is vibrant,” said Humphreys.
“So what we’ve done is, with some of the central funding that has come back in from the change in the central contract funding model, we are now allocating that to the three provinces, into schools in Munster and Ulster, and into the club and the wider academy pathway in Connacht.
“They will all be equally funded with a view to making sure that the game, and then the schools in each of those provinces and the clubs in Connacht, are as competitive or increasingly competitive to try to ensure the gap between Leinster and those other provinces is closing.
“The only way we can do that is by quality of player. We believe the investment in the schools through the director of rugby schools programme is a starting point for that, but again, it is only a starting point.
“This is something that we will have to go and continue to invest in over the next four or five years to get the return that we believe we need.
“There’s an argument about high performance – where does it start and where does it stop? There’d be a view that high performance is really only at the top of Irish rugby.
“My view is to have a thriving high performance system which is reflected in how our national teams perform, we’ve got to make sure that at the grassroots and the community game and the schools game, the high performance team have a responsibility to work with our domestic game, with all our staff to ensure that we’re all pushing towards this idea that we want to give our players the best opportunity to play for Ireland.”
Work is already well underway.
“The detail of that will be announced towards the end of the summer when we’ve got all the paperwork and documentation,” said Humphreys. “We’ll explain it in detail and in full towards the end of the summer.”
He and the IRFU are also busy in women’s rugby, where there has been a huge increase in financial investment by the union. Discussions are ongoing with Premiership Women’s Rugby in England about Irish club teams joining, and the IRFU wants to eventually have four professional women’s provinces.
Humphreys says his biggest challenge is getting alignment between all parts of the game in Ireland as he focuses on that chief aim of helping Farrell’s Ireland to win as much as they can.
And he hopes that Ireland will be able to finally break their World Cup duck in Australia next year.
“Look, the quarter-final hoodoo, it’s almost been a burden on Irish rugby, hasn’t it?” says Humphreys, who was delighted to get Farrell tied down to a new contract through until the end of the 2031 World Cup.
“Before I came into the show, I would have said the World Cup is nice to have, but it’s about performing year in, year out. It’s about performing in Six Nations. It’s about performing in the Nations Championship.
“If we get those parts of the season right, the World Cup performances will take care of itself.
“But we know this is leading into ‘27 after ‘23 and the performances leading into that, the quality of the performances at the World Cup, we know we’ve got to continue to evolve.
“The secret for us particularly, to be competitive, is to make sure we have that depth. The only way we can get confirmation of that depth is by giving them exposure at URC and EPCR but then bringing them in here and seeing how they’re competing with their peers. And then it’s been a very positive three weeks here so far.
“I think Andy’s very pleased with how those young players have come in, and he talks about them being themselves and the personalities they bring.
“On the whole, I think we’re very pleased with where we are. Very positive.”
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IRFU's Humphreys on Munster, Randle and the 'Leinster tax'
DAVID HUMPHREYS IS a man with plenty on his plate, yet it’s simple enough, too.
The IRFU’s number one priority has been the same for a long, long time – ensuring that the men’s national team continues to be successful.
Andy Farrell’s side are the lifeblood of the entire sport in Ireland, bringing in around 80% of the revenue that feeds the game.
So everything that performance director Humphreys does is with this in mind.
His belief is that having stronger provincial teams across the country will drive more success for the Ireland team. His big stated goal upon succeeding David Nucifora in 2024 was to bring Munster, Ulster and Connacht up towards Leinster’s level.
Sitting in Ireland’s team hotel in Sydney after joining Farrell’s squad for a week, Humphreys reflects on how that part of the job is going.
“Are we closing the gap in Leinster? Leinster are still the dominant force, and that is likely to be the case for a long time,” said former Ulster and Ireland out-half Humphreys.
“When you look at what they’ve got, whether that’s in terms of the players coming through their pathway, the depth that they have, the number of schools that they have, they are still in a very strong position.
“I don’t believe they’re any weaker than over the course of the last couple of years.
“Have the other provinces improved? Well, I think you’ve seen this year, one of the big pieces that we set out, and one of the big positives in the last 12 months has been that in terms of the coaching, the structure under a general manager, then together with some very good coaching appointments, you’ve seen a huge upturn in performance from Ulster at the start of the year with Mark Sexton going in there.
“They tailed off a little bit towards the end of the year, which they were disappointed with.
“From an IRFU point of view, what does success look like? You’ll talk about winning things, yes, that’s part of it, but also for us, it’s having four teams playing in the play-offs, it’s four teams in Europe. From an IRFU point of view, that’s important.
“With Connacht, Stuart [Lancaster] has gone in, as we hoped, and made a huge impact. It took him some time, probably a little bit longer than he liked, but going in somewhere and trying to make fundamental changes is difficult.
“But again, you’ve seen the way Connacht finished the season, and are playing superb rugby, reflected by the fact of the two teams that I’ve mentioned, the number of players who are now represented here.
“So, to answer your question, are we closing the gap? I’m not sure that’s the right word.
“Closing the gap might have been an easy way to say we just need to make them more competitive. We need to make them better players, so that they’re better for Andy Farrell and for Ireland.
“Has that happened? I definitely think that is the case.”
It is perhaps simply an error of omission that Humphreys doesn’t mention Munster in this answer.
It has been a challenging first season for the southern province under Clayton McMillan, as they exited the Champions Cup at the pool stages, lost their only Challenge Cup game, and had to fight hard to make the URC quarter-finals.
Off the pitch, it was a tumultuous time with redundancies in Munster Rugby, the cancelled signing of Roger Randle, and McMillan openly questioning his own future.
The IRFU distanced itself from the signing of Randle at the time, so Humphreys was asked if he and the IRFU are claiming not to have known about the deal until it was signed and sealed.
“No, that’s not what I’m saying, no,” said Humphreys.
“So, the IRFU are involved in the recruitment of all Irish contracted staff, so it’s not me sitting in those interviews, but our relevant heads of departments sit in the interview process for IRFU staff.
“For others, for assistant roles throughout the system, for assistant coaching roles, the IRFU will provide some support as required, if requested.
“There have been a number of coaching appointments that have been made over the course of the last year, which the IRFU wouldn’t have been involved in at all. In terms of the Munster one, we provided some support.
“And the challenge in talking in detail about it is, as you know, there is an external review that has just started. I think that review is going to look into the process, the recruitment process, the governance piece, the oversight.
“And I think pending the outcome of that, we would be in a better position to look at how it was done and how we might do it better.”
Humphreys was asked if Munster and the IRFU had to pay compensation to Randle when the deal was cancelled.
“That’s a confidential piece that I’m not going to comment on,” said Humphreys, who said he is happy with how Munster’s coaching staff has now worked out, with Jared Payne and Jimmy Duffy coming in.
Humphreys’ stance on Munster was that with the external review into the province now underway, there was not too much he can comment on.
Humphreys said he doesn’t know when the review will be complete, nor if he will be asked to contribute.
“As far as I know, it was only kicked off last week,” said Humphreys. “I think Ian Flanagan [Munster's CEO] announced that it had been kicked off last week, so I’m not sure yet who or when. We’re obviously in Australia, so it’s slightly more difficult.”
Whatever comes next, it’s clear that Munster want to improve drastically under McMillan, who Humphreys has total belief in.
Asked if he and the IRFU have confidence in Munster to be better with their decision-making in the future, Humphreys said the union wants to ensure every province has autonomy.
“I think the reality is that we look back, and as the review is set up to look at what happened and why it happened, I think coming out of that will be very clear that there’s definitely things we could have done better and things we could have done differently,” he said.
“Based on the recommendations that come out of that, first and foremost it will be for Munster, but the IRFU will definitely be involved. Going forward, as I said, there may be some recommendations that are made that will be implemented in terms of how we see some of the higher profile recruitment.
“Because we do not want to be involved in every provincial decision. We want a huge amount of autonomy and give them the flexibility to make decisions that are right for Munster.
“Because sitting up in Dublin, you don’t have a sense of what’s required in every single decision. So from that point of view, I think that’s why we’re all waiting for the outcome.”
The other big thing happening in Irish rugby right now is the need for the provinces to contribute 40% of their players’ national contract salaries, up from the previous 30%.
With Leinster having 11 of the 14 national contracts – also known as ‘central’ contracts – the eastern province is obviously contributing the vast majority of that money. It’s believed to total close to €700,000, which will now be invested into Munster, Connacht and Ulster’s player development pathways.
It has been dubbed the ‘Leinster tax’ by their supporters, but the IRFU’s hope is that the other three provinces will begin to produce many more homegrown players for their senior sides and the Ireland team.
So where exactly is the 40% money going?
“The biggest decision that we, the IRFU, have made from a high performance point of view over the course of the last 12 months is that we believe we have to go and invest at the very bottom of the system to ensure that the game is vibrant,” said Humphreys.
“So what we’ve done is, with some of the central funding that has come back in from the change in the central contract funding model, we are now allocating that to the three provinces, into schools in Munster and Ulster, and into the club and the wider academy pathway in Connacht.
“They will all be equally funded with a view to making sure that the game, and then the schools in each of those provinces and the clubs in Connacht, are as competitive or increasingly competitive to try to ensure the gap between Leinster and those other provinces is closing.
“The only way we can do that is by quality of player. We believe the investment in the schools through the director of rugby schools programme is a starting point for that, but again, it is only a starting point.
“This is something that we will have to go and continue to invest in over the next four or five years to get the return that we believe we need.
“There’s an argument about high performance – where does it start and where does it stop? There’d be a view that high performance is really only at the top of Irish rugby.
“My view is to have a thriving high performance system which is reflected in how our national teams perform, we’ve got to make sure that at the grassroots and the community game and the schools game, the high performance team have a responsibility to work with our domestic game, with all our staff to ensure that we’re all pushing towards this idea that we want to give our players the best opportunity to play for Ireland.”
Work is already well underway.
“The detail of that will be announced towards the end of the summer when we’ve got all the paperwork and documentation,” said Humphreys. “We’ll explain it in detail and in full towards the end of the summer.”
He and the IRFU are also busy in women’s rugby, where there has been a huge increase in financial investment by the union. Discussions are ongoing with Premiership Women’s Rugby in England about Irish club teams joining, and the IRFU wants to eventually have four professional women’s provinces.
Humphreys says his biggest challenge is getting alignment between all parts of the game in Ireland as he focuses on that chief aim of helping Farrell’s Ireland to win as much as they can.
And he hopes that Ireland will be able to finally break their World Cup duck in Australia next year.
“Look, the quarter-final hoodoo, it’s almost been a burden on Irish rugby, hasn’t it?” says Humphreys, who was delighted to get Farrell tied down to a new contract through until the end of the 2031 World Cup.
“Before I came into the show, I would have said the World Cup is nice to have, but it’s about performing year in, year out. It’s about performing in Six Nations. It’s about performing in the Nations Championship.
“If we get those parts of the season right, the World Cup performances will take care of itself.
“But we know this is leading into ‘27 after ‘23 and the performances leading into that, the quality of the performances at the World Cup, we know we’ve got to continue to evolve.
“The secret for us particularly, to be competitive, is to make sure we have that depth. The only way we can get confirmation of that depth is by giving them exposure at URC and EPCR but then bringing them in here and seeing how they’re competing with their peers. And then it’s been a very positive three weeks here so far.
“I think Andy’s very pleased with how those young players have come in, and he talks about them being themselves and the personalities they bring.
“On the whole, I think we’re very pleased with where we are. Very positive.”
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David Humphreys Four Proud Provinces Munster performance director provinces