Another new season dawns for Irish rugby

The Irish rugby season is starting to get underway with some pre-season friendlies and efforts to get new players integrated into the provincial squads. The start of the season is complicated by the international squad players not coming back until around round 3 of the URC after the exertions of their South African tour, and the emerging Ireland players going to South Africa also not being available to their clubs for a few weeks in October.

The international squad will also be playing a fourth November international this year outside the international window and coinciding with round 7 of the URC. All in all then, its going to be a challenging start to the season with every club trying to build momentum and rack up some points that will be vital to making the play-off stages of the URC and hopefully with home advantage as well.

Ulster and Connacht are in a rebuilding phase after mixed seasons last year while Munster and Leinster, URC Semi-finalists last season have a bit more of a settled look about them. Leinster badly need to end their trophy drought, and Connacht badly need to get back into the European Cup.

The URC is getting more and more competitive each year with the SA clubs establishing themselves and Glasgow, the Champions, going from strength to strength. With so many Springboks in their side, its hard to see the Sharks perform as badly again, and Benneton have been quietly building their strength in depth. The Welsh sides seem to have unearthed a few new talented players and will hardly be as bad again for another season.

All in all, no team will be able to take anything for granted and it will be a long season for any club not hitting the ground running. Richie Murphy has had his honeymoon at Ulster and its time for Connacht head coach Pete Wilkins and Leinster boss Leo Cullen to deliver. It’s all very well talking the talk, but fans want trophies in the club trophy cabinet.

There’s been quite a big clear out at every province and very few non Irish qualified talent brought in. Munster have lost a lot of experienced talent – Snyman, Carbery, Zebo, Frisch – and Ulster need to find a quality playmaker at 10. It’s all about building the strength in depth of Irish rugby and giving emerging talent in the academy and wider squads a chance when the international squad players are unavailable due to international commitments or the IRFU player welfare protocols.

There’s a lot of players in each squad who have yet to prove they are of test or near test standard and no club is going to win anything unless they have at least two players in every position close to that standard. We have had huge success at u.20 level for the past few seasons but quite a lot of those players have yet to impose themselves on Provincial first XVs or the wider international squad.

We badly need a new generation of test class talent to come through at prop, in particular, but otherwise the international squad look well primed to build on their 6 nations win and excellent draw in the test series against the world champions in South Africa. Simon Easterby is set to replace Farrell as head coach for the 6 Nations as the latter takes on the Lions job. If Felix Jones is released by England after his shock resignation, he could be a very useful addition to the Ireland coaching ticket, especially when Farrell is away.

All squad changes and membership taken from multiple sites in Wikipedia

Ulster have lost international players in Billy Burns, Steven Kishoff (already gone during last season), Luke Marshall and Will Addison and replaced them with Werner Kok from the Sharks, Aidan Morgan from the Hurricanes and four players from their academy. Head Coach Richie Murphy will want them to hit the ground running.

Overall, the squad looks light at prop and there will be a lot of competition for game time at scrum half and back row. Squads normally have 4 tight heads and loose heads because of the attritional nature of the positions. A couple of injuries at either loose or tight head, and Ulster are in deep trouble. It looks like this season will be largely about developing their younger talent and it will be a minor miracle if they win anything. A lot will depend on how Aidan Morgan beds in and gets a talented back line moving.

Leinster have brought in experienced French international Prop Rabah Slimani to fill the gap left by Michael Ala’alatoa and cover for Furlong when he is unavailable. Hopefully he will strengthen a scrum which was not without its problems against the top teams last season. Snyman has to cover for both the departing Jason Jenkins and Ross Molony, so hopefully he will be fit and available for most of the season. Jordie Barrett seems like a vanity signing given that Leinster already have Henshaw, Ringrose , Frawley and Osborne available at centre, but should be useful when those four are away due to international commitments. Jack Boyle is the great white hope to replace the aging Cian Healy in the squad next season, and James Culhane was an outstanding u.20 player who is already making waves in a very competitive backrow. Although a specialist 8, along with Doris, Conan, and Deegan (where else would you get such riches?) he is an able replacement for the retiring Ruddock.

Overall, the squad is bursting with test class talent in almost every position, but it has to be remembered that up to 20 players of this squad will be away during the international windows in November, February and March, not to mention the October emerging Ireland tour. Cullen usually ends up using up to 55 players in a season and is heavily criticised for his squad rotation. In reality he has little choice with his international players unavailable for half the season and subject to player welfare management protocols.

Frawley and Prendergast were selected for the South African tour ahead of the Byrne brothers and it will be interesting to see how this effects the pecking order at Leinster. Four into two positions won’t go, and while Leinster will need backup during the international windows, it is hard not to feel that at least one of the Byrne brothers will be under further pressure to join another province. Dan Sheehan won’t be fit until the new year, but Leinster have ample depth in the hooker position. With a lot of talented players coming through in the academy, any senior player who doesn’t achieve something very close to test standard will be under pressure to get a contract for next season.

Cullen will be in trouble if Leinster don’t win something this season, despite their consistently good performances and narrow cup defeats in previous years.

Munster have lost a lot of talent and it remains to be seen whether their replacements will be up to the same standard. Carbery, Snyman, Zebo and Frisch will be hard to replace. They have quite a lot of talent coming through their academy, but these may take time to establish themselves as senior test standard players.

Overall Munster are strong at tight head but very reliant on an aging Dave Kilcoyne and Jeremy Loughman at loose head. They are strong at lock, despite the loss of Snyman, with Ahern and Edogbo among the most exciting new talent in the country. Brian Gleeson will add to an already strong back row, and a fit again Patterson will provide good cover when Casey and Murray are away. They are strong in the back three, but I suspect Frisch will be missed at outside centre. Munster should again be there or thereabouts at the business end of the season.

Connacht have had a big clear-out with quite a few senior players, some former first team regulars, departing or released. Their academy is starting to produce some real talent, but their recruitment looks like bargain basement stuff. Josh Ioane has been brought in as cover for the ACL injured JJ Hanrahan, who will be a big loss. A lot depends on how he adapts to URC rugby. Josh Murphy, returning from a sabbatical to complete his medical studies, could make a big difference.

Connacht have always been a bit lightweight in the pack against the stronger teams, and it is hard to see how this has been addressed by the changes in the squad. They are not in the Champions cup this season, but you would fear from them against the really big French and English packs. That said, they play an exciting brand of rugby and have a lot of talented backs. Their big problem has always been their inconsistency, blowing hot and cold from one game to the next. They are good enough to qualify for the knockout stages and the Champion Cup but they will have to become a much more consistent side to achieve this. An awful lot hangs on whether Josh Ioane is a success because they have the backs to do serious damage if they are led well at 10.

Conclusion:

An Ireland team shorn of Keenan, Conan, Gibson Park, Hansen, Aki, Sheehan, Henderson, Casey, and with Captain O’Mahony relegated to the bench took on an unchanged and the most experienced South African team in history and beat them in their own back yard last July. The Springboks have since beaten Australia away twice with their A and B teams, and the All Blacks at home with the help of a very controversially awarded try. Ever since the Rassie Erasmus famous video outburst, officials have seemed to be bending over backwards to give them every advantage.

There is no reason why Ireland cannot do well in the November test series against New Zealand, Argentina, Fiji and Australia and defend their 6 Nations title. The provinces are in various stages of transition and will need a lot of their younger players to step up if they are to have a good season. Carbery is really the only test class player who has left the system and hopefully Frawley and Prendergast will develop as able back-ups to Crowley. A few new strong looseheads wouldn’t go amiss but overall, Irish rugby is in rude health. We are well clear of the rest of the field just behind South Africa in the World rugby rankings and there is no reason we can’t build on that success.

Frank Schnittger is the author of Sovereignty 2040, a future history of how Irish re-unification might work out. He has worked in business in Dublin and London and, on a voluntary basis, for charities in community development, education, restorative justice and addiction services.