LAST UPDATE | 29 Aug 2022
IRELAND WILL BRING 30-plus international prospects on a two-week tour to South Africa late next month with a view to Andy Farrell and his staff working closely with players who may play a role in next year’s World Cup.
It’s understood the travelling party will include several uncapped players, some of whom have stood out at international level for the Ireland U20s in recent seasons but have struggled for first-team minutes at the provinces.
The tour, first reported in the Sunday Independent, will overlap with the beginning of the new URC season, meaning the players involved will be unavailable for their provinces for two league gameweeks.
On today’s Rugby Weekly Extra podcast for The42 members, former Ireland performance coach Eoin Toolan and Murray Kinsella joined Gavan Casey to discuss the concept, while also lifting the bonnet on all of the Rugby Championship action from the weekend as well as the Ireland women’s team’s summer series in Japan.
“It’s kind of a bolt from the blue,” Kinsella said of the ‘Emerging Ireland’ tour of South Africa. “You can see two viewpoints on it:
You can see Ireland’s viewpoint, that it makes total sense to get players back into camp for a condensed period of training, getting them really up to speed on all of the demands, tactics, gameplans and plays that Ireland want to use; having players really work closely with coaches on their own individual skills and their development plans as players.
“What Ireland have done in the past hasn’t worked for World Cups so why not do something different? You’ve got to credit Any Farrell for thinking outside the box — even with those midweek games in New Zealand which I thought were brilliant.
“And then you can see it from the other point of view where players will miss URC games and the provinces’ plans, I presume, will be slightly turned over and that’ll be challenge for them.”
Toolan added: “It is pretty intriguing isn’t it? I think that’s what winning a test series down in New Zealand gets you: I think Any Farrell can call pretty much whatever he wants and he’s going to get it from the IRFU!
“You can see it from both sides: obviously, going into a World Cup year, how Farrell can get more touch points with a wider group of players and continue on the momentum they got from those midweek games against the Maori which I thought was really important. From a provincial point of view, I think what it might translate to is more of the frontline players playing in those URC games — so it’s a little bit of a double-edged sword [from Ireland's perspective], potentially.”
🗣️ "It is pretty intriguing isn't it?"
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💬 @Toolan82 gives his thoughts on the emerging Ireland tour of South Africa.
🗣️ "I guess Farrell can get more touch points with a wider group of players."
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Discussing the provinces’ possible thoughts on the idea, Kinsella said that “there is going to be friction points there” and that “the provinces are going to be pissed off — of course they would be!
“It’s bang in the middle of their season,” he added. “The URC are probably going to be pissed off as well.
But the IRFU, as an organisation, is in charge of the provinces. They are part of the IRFU and the IRFU’s goal is for there to be a successful national team. And if they think that this is the best way to have a successful World Cup, or to give Ireland a better chance of getting beyond a quarter-final, well then they should do it.
“They absolutely should. People are going to be pissed off with them but, I suppose, this is just the downside of being part of a union-run system.
“In terms of the players, what are they going to get more from? It will be two weeks of really intense training, with those games; obviously the opposition over there wouldn’t be that strong… But the Irish coaches clearly feel the value of having people in camp all the time, they have a real focus on it, and they might think with these URC games: ‘What are the players going to get out of that that will make them better players for a World Cup campaign?’ Yeah, it’ll make them better players for their provinces, it’ll give the provinces a better chance of qualifying for the Champions Cup the season afterwards — which is part of it. But if Andy Farrell and the IRFU feel that this tour gives them a better hope at the World Cup, then they should probably just go for it.
“In hindsight, if Ireland do well at a World Cup, we can look back on these little measures they took — the midweek games in New Zealand and this tour — as being really important.”
🗣️ "It's an absolute mess."@Murray_Kinsella on the continuing mess in New Zealand rugby. ⚫️⚫️
— The42.ie (@The42_ie) August 29, 2022
🗣️ "Had they not backed him, I think they would've sacked him."
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Kinsella, Toolan and Casey also delved into the Ireland women’s team’s defeat to Japan in Saturday’s second test, the fallout from New Zealand’s first ever home defeat to Argentina, and Australia’s impressive victory against South Africa.
To listen to the podcast in full, and to receive all of The42′s members-exclusive rugby podcasts this season, visit members.the42.ie.
