It has been a miserable opening weekend for Irish rugby but Ireland’s John Fogarty believes suggestions of a decline in the national side are disingenuous.
Andy Farrell’s side slumped to a 36-14 defeat to the French in Paris last Thursday, with the Irish coaching team back in Limerick the following night as England A put the second string XV to the sword, running in eight tries at Thomond Park for a 52-14 victory.
Throw in a 50-21 loss for the Ireland Under-20s against France in Perpignan a further 24 hours on and it is easy to draw the conclusion Irish rugby is on a downward spiral. That is not the view inside the Six Nations camp as Ireland prepare to face in-form Italy at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium this Saturday.
Like France, the Italians sent a powerful message of their own last weekend when they defeated Scotland 18-15 in torrential rain at Stadio Olimpico, with one English newspaper columnist suggesting the Celtic cousins had both become victims of failing to replace their overseas-born, residency-qualified “project players” such as Ireland’s Bundee Aki, Jamison Gibson-Park, and James Lowe with a new generation of homegrown rising talent.
Scrum coach Fogarty disagreed with the thesis, citing the ascendancy of 22-year-old Leinster loosehead prop Paddy McCarthy, currently injured, and current squad members Cormac Izuchukwu, a three-cap Ulster lock/flanker and his uncapped provincial team-mate and back-rower Bryn Ward as reasons to be excited for Ireland’s future prospects.
He might also have mentioned uncapped Munster forwards, back-row Brian Gleeson, a try scorer for Ireland XV against England A last Friday, and lock Edwin Edogbo, currently in his first national camp for the 2026 championship but regardless, Fogarty is adamant the end of Irish rugby is not nigh, while he admitted the events at Stade de France last week were not reflective of the national team’s capabilities.
“To say we’re on the decline, I think is a bit disingenuous. I think that didn’t look like an Irish team (in Paris). It didn’t feel like it, and that simply isn’t it. And it’s clear that that’s not acceptable.
“I’m excited to see how we react and how long we can sustain that reaction.”
There is also a confidence within Farrell’s coaching group that there is another wave of talent coming through the ranks behind the likes of Paddy McCarthy, Ward and Izuchukwu although he wanted those players to get more time at the coalface of professional rugby to gear them towards Test rugby-readiness than they are currently getting.
“There’s four provinces. There’s always going to be a limit to what you can… It was interesting that the French side, 98 or 99 Top 14 caps that played in that Under 20s match … And there were two URC caps in the Irish group.
“I watched how good the (Irish U20s) scrum was in the first half. I thought our set-piece in general was very good in the main in that game. So there’s players in France getting exposed to top-level rugby more than there is in Ireland, for sure. There’s more teams for them to play in.
“With the conveyor belt thing, like we had Billy Bohan in the last couple of weeks. He’s a (20)-year-old loosehead that’s playing professional rugby. Alex Usanov has played on the same 20s team as him. We brought him on an EI (Emerging Ireland) tour. He stalled a little bit in Leinster, but he needs to be playing rugby. He needs to be seeing the pitch a lot more than he is.
“Paddy McCarthy is 22. He’s an international rugby player now. So I hear this, that the conveyor belt is not happening. But there’s two 21-year-olds, a 22-year-old. Gus McCarthy (Leinster hooker) is 23. Tom Stewart (Ulster hooker).
“I looked at that front row from the 20s game. I think (Ireland captain and tighthead Sami) Bishti is going to be a really good player. And I hear it a lot, but from where I’m looking, I’m looking at our front row groups from Finlay (Bealham), who I think is the eldest, at tighthead side, down to a Bishti. And I know Niall Smyth is in there, and Big Red (Fiachna Barrett) down at Connacht, and there’s a boatload of them. So I’m not stressing or worried.
“I would love more contact time with the professional game. I’d love players to get exposed more often. But it’s difficult when you’ve got four teams. Every team is trying to win. I’d love them to get exposed more often. They need to get exposed more often.
“I was talking to Keith Earls outside. Keith Earls came up, and he was talking to me about Luke Fitzgerald. He got capped at 18, and he started to figure things out and Keith was saying he was annoyed that he didn’t get capped until he was 23 and then he had to figure things out. And he said he wished he got capped at 18 so that the penny could drop a bit sooner.
“And I was sitting there listening to him going, ‘absolutely, absolutely’. And I’m watching the props across the country from underage, from 20s, all the way up. And I’m going, he’s ready. And I want him to play, and I hope he gets exposed because the penny will drop sooner for him. He will learn quicker. If he’s got the right mentality, he’s going to learn quicker, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
“So we want to see our players get exposed. There’s a few guys that need more time. Stephen Smyth is a cracking young hooker. He needs to be playing more.
“I’m not sure if I’ve answered (the) question, but that’s how I feel about it.”
