Ireland Team Talk XII: Farrell's First Fifteen

I admire the Boks for winning back to back RWCs, I couldn't give a fiddlers what they're saying to the press. The press like it because of clicks but who takes it seriously.

Is Farrell quaking in his boots, though again, reading here and how conservative some are about bringing all our usuals in our touring squad I do think that we want to beat the World Champions just to say we beat them.

I'd sooner we win a RWC QF but I suppose it's not necessarily one or the other but we've beaten SA , NZ, Australia and all the 6Ns teams but we can't get the RWC monkey off our back.

Actually, can someone tell me what I'm (an Irishman) supposed to be outraged at, what have SA done now.

I mean we have a poster here telling anyone who disagrees with him that they hate Farrell and Ireland and that's seen as acceptable but SA are monsters.

Other than it being nice to beat SA (or any other team for that matter) in a pool or friendly game, it's irrelevant, Ireland need to win their QF in the RWC.

From The Examiner

David Humphreys talks about an over reliance on Private Schools and the possibility of identifying talent in other sports that could be used as a pathway for developing players for our teams.

It will be interesting to see more details on what he's hoping to achieve.

His successor, the former Ulster and Ireland fly-half who joined the IRFU three months ago from his role as director of performance operations at the England And Wales Cricket Board, wants to move away from what he sees as an over-reliance on Irish private schools supplying the bulk of rugby talent to the professional game.

In order to give Ireland coaches the best possible opportunity to field the strongest teams possible, Humphreys is seeking to improve a pathway system that identifies athletes in other codes now that the concept of project players from overseas becoming Irish Qualified (IQ) has effectively run dry through changes in World Rugby’s residency criteria.

Humps is correct.

Overdependance on private schools is not the problem, it's the lack of other sources that limits the growth of playing numbers generally. The professional game here, with 4 clubs, may be able to survive with players from traditional routes but the game generally will never expand beyond it's narrow base until it attracts players who currently choose other codes.