EVEN BEFORE IRELAND had played their final game of the 2025/26 season against New Zealand at Eden Park last weekend, pre-season for the 2026/27 campaign was already underway back home.
Connacht were the first of the Irish provinces to get their pre-season rolling a couple of weeks ago, while Munster have got going this week, with Leinster and Ulster up and running soon.
And so, a World Cup season has started.
The majority of the 33-man Ireland squad Andy Farrell will bring to Australia next year are on their holidays now, having been part of the Nations Championship trip in recent weeks.
After a long year of rugby that stretched from the 2025 Lions tour until last weekend in Auckland, Farrell’s leading internationals were given around six weeks to recuperate and get themselves ready to rip into a World Cup year.
Their pre-season is due to start on 31 August, more than seven weeks after that initial group in Connacht got the ball rolling.
The likes of Mack Hansen and Finlay Bealham were among those to get an early start in Connacht, so it seems likely that a decent chunk of Farrell’s eventual World Cup squad are already busy getting fit for a big campaign.
The reality that the four provinces are facing into now is that the leading international players, those central to Farrell’s plans, will be closely managed over the next year. Everything in Irish rugby will be even more geared towards Ireland’s ambitions.
Yet the provinces have ambitions of their own, and Farrell knows that Ulster, Connacht, Leinster and Munster going well this season can only have a positive knock-on effect for Ireland.
The pre-season fixtures begin as early 28 August, when Leinster return to the RDS for a friendly against Zebre, while Munster visit Ronan O’Gara’s La Rochelle at Stade Marcel Deflandre.
The beginning of the URC campaign on 25 September won’t be long rolling around, then a tweak in the season calendar means first Champions Cup fixtures for Connacht, Leinster and Munster are on 17 October, with Ulster in Challenge Cup action the same day.
Farrell’s focus is now on the second window of the Nations Championship in November, when Ireland host Argentina, Fiji and South Africa before heading to London for finals weekend at the end of the month.
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The 2027 Six Nations sees Ireland at home against England and France, usually the signal for an ambitious crack at the title.
It’s unlikely that the top-end international players will feature heavily in the opening weeks of the provincial season, of course. They will need a good pre-season of their own ahead of a big year of rugby.
Yet the provinces will all be bidding for fast starts as they face into intriguing seasons across the board.
Richie Murphy’s Ulster are aiming to bounce back from a season that promised so much but ended with the disappointment of missing out on Champions Cup qualification and losing the Challenge Cup final.
Irish-qualified out-half Jamie Benson, South African lock Eli Snyman, Irish-qualified blindside/lock Ben Donnell and live-wire scrum-half Matthew Devine aren’t high-profile additions, but they could be smart signings and should suit how Ulster play.
Adding a couple of tightheads in Keynan Knox and Eduardo Bello suggests Tom O’Toole’s conversion from tighthead to loosehead for Ireland could now be mimicked in Ulster.
Munster are also bidding to bounce back from the lows of last season, albeit they have Champions Cup rugby to look forward to. Having considered walking away, Clayton McMillan decided to stay the course and clearly believes this team can be much better.
The province gets back to business with the ‘Independent Governance and Organisational Review’ of Munster Rugby also now underway. Clearly, there needs to be progress made off the field, related to whatever that review unearths.
Clayton McMillan's Munster face La Rochelle in just under five weeks. Bryan Keane / INPHO
Bryan Keane / INPHO / INPHO
On the pitch, McMillan needs his Munster team to be consistently better.
Springboks hooker Marnus van der Merwe is a fine addition, while Munster hope to see Australian out-half/fullback Will Harrison bringing creativity and smart left-footed kicking to the mix.
The situation at tighthead became clearer over the summer, with the addition of Jack Aungier from Connacht supplemented by the Irish-qualified Kieran Brookes coming in from Perpignan and the experienced Michael Alaalatoa getting an extension.
While Munster hope to see 23-year-old tighthead Ronan Foxe continuing to develop this season, it was clearly felt that the nous Alaalatoa and Brookes provide will be important in the shorter term.
Munster still aim to land a world-class tighthead prop in the 2027/28 season, with funding said to be in place for such a move.
Leinster are heading into the final season of the Leo Cullen era, as the province and the IRFU drive on with the search for his successor. It will be fascinating to see who is appointed.
Cullen will be determined to go out on a high by landing the province’s fifth Champions Cup title, as well as continuing the reassertion of their dominance in the URC with a third consecutive title. As ever, Leinster are aiming as high as possible.
Joey Carbery is back in Irish rugby, with his recovery from the ACL injury he suffered in February continuing, while Peter Dooley has returned to Leinster from Connacht. Unless there are late additions, it will be a very familiar-looking playing squad, albeit with James Lowe, Ciarán Frawley, Luke McGrath, Will Connors, Rieko Ioane, Rabah Slimani, Jerry Cahir, and John McKee having left.
All four provinces have been tasked with reducing the size of their senior squads in recent times, so Leinster will need to call on their academy production line perhaps more than ever this season.
A couple of those Leinster men are now Connacht players, with Cahir and Connors already into pre-season out west, and Frawley soon to join them. Experienced South African loosehead prop Francois van Wyk is another new addition.
Connacht got back into the swing of things earlier this month. James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
It’s a particularly big move for Frawley, who opted against extending his Leinster deal in the hope of starting games at out-half for Connacht. He wants to make a big play for Ireland’s number 10 shirt ahead of the World Cup.
And, once again, that’s likely to be just one of the storylines that runs through the year leading to the start of the 2027 tournament on 4 October, when Ireland face Portugal in Sydney.
A week later, they’re in Perth to take on Scotland in what’s likely to be the decisive Pool D game, before heading to Melbourne to face Uruguay.
Top Pool D and Ireland will take on one of the third-placed teams in the new Round of 16, before a possible quarter-final against Argentina.
Finish second in their pool, and Ireland are facing the prospect of meeting France in the Round of 16. Thereafter, it could be South Africa or New Zealand in the quarter-final.
You’ve got to beat the best to win a World Cup, but Farrell would surely prefer the first knock-out route.
Either way, Ireland will be up against it. As things stand, they’re viewed as behind South Africa, France and New Zealand as the possible victors Down Under.
All of that may seem like a long way off, but seasons tend to fly by in the blink of an eye. Irish rugby has lots to get right in the next 14 months.
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A huge World Cup season is already underway for Irish rugby
EVEN BEFORE IRELAND had played their final game of the 2025/26 season against New Zealand at Eden Park last weekend, pre-season for the 2026/27 campaign was already underway back home.
Connacht were the first of the Irish provinces to get their pre-season rolling a couple of weeks ago, while Munster have got going this week, with Leinster and Ulster up and running soon.
And so, a World Cup season has started.
The majority of the 33-man Ireland squad Andy Farrell will bring to Australia next year are on their holidays now, having been part of the Nations Championship trip in recent weeks.
After a long year of rugby that stretched from the 2025 Lions tour until last weekend in Auckland, Farrell’s leading internationals were given around six weeks to recuperate and get themselves ready to rip into a World Cup year.
Their pre-season is due to start on 31 August, more than seven weeks after that initial group in Connacht got the ball rolling.
The likes of Mack Hansen and Finlay Bealham were among those to get an early start in Connacht, so it seems likely that a decent chunk of Farrell’s eventual World Cup squad are already busy getting fit for a big campaign.
The reality that the four provinces are facing into now is that the leading international players, those central to Farrell’s plans, will be closely managed over the next year. Everything in Irish rugby will be even more geared towards Ireland’s ambitions.
Yet the provinces have ambitions of their own, and Farrell knows that Ulster, Connacht, Leinster and Munster going well this season can only have a positive knock-on effect for Ireland.
The pre-season fixtures begin as early 28 August, when Leinster return to the RDS for a friendly against Zebre, while Munster visit Ronan O’Gara’s La Rochelle at Stade Marcel Deflandre.
The beginning of the URC campaign on 25 September won’t be long rolling around, then a tweak in the season calendar means first Champions Cup fixtures for Connacht, Leinster and Munster are on 17 October, with Ulster in Challenge Cup action the same day.
Farrell’s focus is now on the second window of the Nations Championship in November, when Ireland host Argentina, Fiji and South Africa before heading to London for finals weekend at the end of the month.
The 2027 Six Nations sees Ireland at home against England and France, usually the signal for an ambitious crack at the title.
It’s unlikely that the top-end international players will feature heavily in the opening weeks of the provincial season, of course. They will need a good pre-season of their own ahead of a big year of rugby.
Yet the provinces will all be bidding for fast starts as they face into intriguing seasons across the board.
Richie Murphy’s Ulster are aiming to bounce back from a season that promised so much but ended with the disappointment of missing out on Champions Cup qualification and losing the Challenge Cup final.
Irish-qualified out-half Jamie Benson, South African lock Eli Snyman, Irish-qualified blindside/lock Ben Donnell and live-wire scrum-half Matthew Devine aren’t high-profile additions, but they could be smart signings and should suit how Ulster play.
Adding a couple of tightheads in Keynan Knox and Eduardo Bello suggests Tom O’Toole’s conversion from tighthead to loosehead for Ireland could now be mimicked in Ulster.
Munster are also bidding to bounce back from the lows of last season, albeit they have Champions Cup rugby to look forward to. Having considered walking away, Clayton McMillan decided to stay the course and clearly believes this team can be much better.
The province gets back to business with the ‘Independent Governance and Organisational Review’ of Munster Rugby also now underway. Clearly, there needs to be progress made off the field, related to whatever that review unearths.
On the pitch, McMillan needs his Munster team to be consistently better.
Springboks hooker Marnus van der Merwe is a fine addition, while Munster hope to see Australian out-half/fullback Will Harrison bringing creativity and smart left-footed kicking to the mix.
The situation at tighthead became clearer over the summer, with the addition of Jack Aungier from Connacht supplemented by the Irish-qualified Kieran Brookes coming in from Perpignan and the experienced Michael Alaalatoa getting an extension.
While Munster hope to see 23-year-old tighthead Ronan Foxe continuing to develop this season, it was clearly felt that the nous Alaalatoa and Brookes provide will be important in the shorter term.
Munster still aim to land a world-class tighthead prop in the 2027/28 season, with funding said to be in place for such a move.
Leinster are heading into the final season of the Leo Cullen era, as the province and the IRFU drive on with the search for his successor. It will be fascinating to see who is appointed.
Cullen will be determined to go out on a high by landing the province’s fifth Champions Cup title, as well as continuing the reassertion of their dominance in the URC with a third consecutive title. As ever, Leinster are aiming as high as possible.
Joey Carbery is back in Irish rugby, with his recovery from the ACL injury he suffered in February continuing, while Peter Dooley has returned to Leinster from Connacht. Unless there are late additions, it will be a very familiar-looking playing squad, albeit with James Lowe, Ciarán Frawley, Luke McGrath, Will Connors, Rieko Ioane, Rabah Slimani, Jerry Cahir, and John McKee having left.
All four provinces have been tasked with reducing the size of their senior squads in recent times, so Leinster will need to call on their academy production line perhaps more than ever this season.
A couple of those Leinster men are now Connacht players, with Cahir and Connors already into pre-season out west, and Frawley soon to join them. Experienced South African loosehead prop Francois van Wyk is another new addition.
It’s a particularly big move for Frawley, who opted against extending his Leinster deal in the hope of starting games at out-half for Connacht. He wants to make a big play for Ireland’s number 10 shirt ahead of the World Cup.
And, once again, that’s likely to be just one of the storylines that runs through the year leading to the start of the 2027 tournament on 4 October, when Ireland face Portugal in Sydney.
A week later, they’re in Perth to take on Scotland in what’s likely to be the decisive Pool D game, before heading to Melbourne to face Uruguay.
Top Pool D and Ireland will take on one of the third-placed teams in the new Round of 16, before a possible quarter-final against Argentina.
Finish second in their pool, and Ireland are facing the prospect of meeting France in the Round of 16. Thereafter, it could be South Africa or New Zealand in the quarter-final.
You’ve got to beat the best to win a World Cup, but Farrell would surely prefer the first knock-out route.
Either way, Ireland will be up against it. As things stand, they’re viewed as behind South Africa, France and New Zealand as the possible victors Down Under.
All of that may seem like a long way off, but seasons tend to fly by in the blink of an eye. Irish rugby has lots to get right in the next 14 months.
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