The World Cup final on the 31st of October passed with remarkably little buzz across Ireland in the fallout from the Quarter-Final defeat to a more than deserving Argentinian side. Expectations had never been higher from an Irish perspective, the pre-World Cup brief period Ireland enjoyed ranked second in the world only serving to heighten. Expectation had spiralled out of control well before this and why wouldn't it? Ireland had earned consecutive 6 Nations Championships under the mighty Schmidt. Sure we nearly beat the All Blacks in 2013. The draw was highly in our favour, we had to make at least the semi-finals. That was the wide held belief anyway.
Ireland's somewhat muted exit from the World Cup was attributed to key players being injured or suspended by the pundits, fans, management and even players. There was a real sense that we were unlucky and that with those key personal we would have marched on to a clash with Cheik's revolutionised Australian side. The loss of talismen O'Connell and Sexton as well as the brutish O'Mahony, abrasive O'Brien and crucial structural safety of Payne proving too much for Ireland.
Before this there was a real sense that Ireland had real depth. 2007's failings were firmly behind us, no longer did this Irish team rely on an XV, we had 31 players, maybe even more, with real World beating quality. The World Cup reminded us harshly of just how false this belief was. Madigan was exposed, despite his impressive display against France, as being significantly inferior to Sexton. Earls demonstrated that the age old question of where to play him will seemingly never be answered. He isn't an Outside-Centre despite the brief two month period leading up to and through the World Cup where the majority of us believed Schmidt couldn't get selection wrong. He was constantly nailed seconds after receiving passes and rarely looked capable of getting near the gainline. Watch Payne throughout his time in an Irish shirt. He carries well, makes yards, doesn't shy away from contact, rarely gets turned over and above all gives Ireland go-forward ball in the wide channels. Earls wasn't capable of replicating this. Henry and Murphy too showed the remarkably difference between themselves and O'Brien and O'Mahony. The performance of the back-row against Argentina is comparable to a whimper when you look at the aggression, commitment and abrasion Ireland's first choice 6 and 7 bring to the table. Perhaps the injury which was felt the least was the one suspected of bringing the most damage. O'Connell's absence was softened in the knowledge that Henderson was emerging as one of Ireland's most vital players and that Toner was by now an established starter in the Irish team. The loss of O'Connell was not felt by a lack of depth in personal, but in a lack of depth of leadership. With Ireland's backs to the wall Heaslip did not embody any sense of fight or will, Sunday's loss to Wasps highlighting this further. While Ireland lsot arguably their five most vital players, would this happen to other countries? Take Carter, Retallick, McCaw, Nonu and Savea out of New Zealand's team for example. In step Barrett, Thrush, Cane, Sonny Bil Williams and Naholo. That is depth, Ireland don't have that.
The problem is not in selection. It is in depth. The root cause of this issue is the lack of players that the provinces are producing. Ulster, save for Herring, have not produced any International quality front-rows in years. Munster too, aside from Kilcoyne and Cronin, have provided very little at a national level in this area. Connacht have demonstrated that they are beginning to push players froward for national selection. Nathan White and perhaps Denis Buckley are in the mix for squad places now. This is dwarfed by the sudden reliance Ireland have had to have on Leinster for Front-Row players. There is McGrath, Healy, Strauss, Cronin, Bent, Moore and Furlong. All of which are regulars in the Irish squad at this stage.
If you look at out-half the provinces have been incredibly ineffective and arguably grossly neglecgent at producing Irish talent. Sexton's move to Racing 92 prompted a key moment for Leinster, Ireland and Ian Madigan. Leinster immediately made moves to gain IRFU approval to sign a replacement out-half. This is where the first mistake was made. The second was clearly O'Connor's continued selection of Gopperth over Madigan in key games at ten. Madigan either reduced to the bench or wearing 12 or 15. Clearly Madigan was someone who Ireland were looking at to compete with Sexton at international level for the jersey. The IRFU allowing Leinster to sign a player to replace Sexton that in turn marginalised and stunted the development of Madigan was beyond ridiculous. The failure to give Madigan two seasons as Leinster's number one out-half has to be a massive regret and is representative of a failing on the part of all. At Ulster the opposite is true as Paddy Jackson has been given every opportunity to flourish and reach the massive potential many saw in him at a young age. Since the Heineken Cup Quarter-Final in 2012 he has been Ulsters out-half as Humphreys was usurped in the aftermath of announcing he was leaving to club for London Irish. While Jackson has not reached the levels expected of him he has been given every chance to do so, a lesson Leinster could learn from. In this position Munster deserve rich criticism in how they have approached the inevitable post-O'Gara slump. Keatley, O'Gara's understudy, was promoted to first choice following his retirement and patience was given to him in bounds. Penney in particular understood that creating a rivalry between him and the exciting talent of JJ Hanrahan was vital to enhancing the performances of both men. Penney switched it up and gave both their chances before Foley changed the grand strategy once and for all. Keatley's place was set in stone with Hanrahan getting his chances off the bench or like Madigan at 12 and 15. Hanrahan felt he was not being given enough opportunity and move abroad in search of more. Hanrahan is one of the most exciting talents to come out of the Munster academy in a long time. He has the potential to be world class and it is a catastaphoe that he was allowed to leave Munster. There is a real sense that Keatley has reach his best. Hanrahan's performances were not far off Keatley, but he should have been given the starting shirt as an investment for the future.
The issue of Centre is perhaps one of the most well documented and is being compounded by the IRFU allowing the provinces to sign foreign talent in this area. There is Ben Te'o at Leinster, Bundee Aki at Connacht(although he is a Project Player) and Francis Saili at Munster. Munster have little option at 13 either picking Saili or Earls for the most part. Leinster have more options in McFadden and Fitzgerald among others, but again Te'o gets the nod in the majority of vital games. The Centre issues are due to poor policy by the IRFU and not the provinces. Aside from D'Arcy and O'Driscoll the Centre has been an issue for Irish rugby for years. Munster have arguably never been able to produce fully in the Centre and have been leaning on a host of foreign talent...Halstead, Mafi, Tipoki, Tuitupou, Bleyendaal and Saili show this well. Signing foreign talent won't help the province in the long-term or indeed Ireland at all.
The issue of Scrum-Half has been plugged by the sudden and quick rise of Conor Murray in 2011, but beyond Murray Ireland are in a very weak position. Boss is hanging on at the threads with retirement imminent, Reddan too, while still making a positive contribution in attack, continues to defend very weakly and box-kick much less effectively than Murray. Reddan is 35 this week, he should not be selected for Ireland again as the future has to be looked at. Kieron Marmion at Connacht and Luke McGrath at Leinster bring pace to the game and are both highly talented individuals. They should be given every chance with Ireland as soon as possible. Tomas O'Leary could provide a temporary buffer for Ireland on the replacements bench.
The Second-Row, Back-Row and Wing/Full-Back seem to the only areas where the majority of the provinces are producing indigenous talent capable of playing at international level at this moment in time. The rest of the team is largely made up of key players. Ireland do not have the depth to have genuine competition for places in these position and have allowed the provinces, despite their seemingly strict measures on the use of NIEs(Non-Irish Qualified players), to continually erode the process of bringing forward Irish talent. Where there is a perceived gap it is plugged with foreign talent, where there is an abundance of Irish talent a blockage occurs. There is little movement of Irish players from province to province and why isn't there? Madigan moving to Munster makes logical sense at this point in time, as it did for Conway. He will more than likely become first choice and make Munster and Ireland stronger in the process. Jack McGrath to Ulster is another that gained momentum last year. Ulster require a quality loose-head and McGrath need constant game-time. While himself and Healy enjoy effectively a job-share scenario it is evident that Ireland would benefit more if McGrath or indeed Healy were to switch provinces. Sean Cronin or Richardt Strauss is another example before you even consider Leinster's options in the Back-Row. The talent needs to spread out, players need to take their careers into their own hands. Andrew Conway is one of the few to bravely switch allegiances. More players doing so would be to their individual benefit and Ireland's benefit. Hanrahan is one of the few to put himself first in the modern era, more players need to follow suit if their provinces continue to not give talent its chance.
