David Nucifora accepted that the limitations in the United Rugby Championship (URC) fixture schedule in its current iteration is curtailing the opportunities for some of the young provincial players to get even semi-regular game time and because of that stifling their development and progress.
The challenge is to find a competitive outlet to accommodate the increasing numbers in Ireland’s burgeoning talent production line. There had been talk of basing an Emerging Irish team, or whatever name it might go under, on a short-term basis in South Africa to play in the Currie Cup. Similar avenues might be explored elsewhere in the southern hemisphere.
Nucifora wouldn’t bite on that speculation but admitted when asked about the potential to expand on the Emerging Ireland tour to South Africa in the summer: “Our next task for the future is to work out how we house all the good players that have been created in the model. We have to think differently.
“Unless we want to sit back and lose our players elsewhere because other countries can come and pick off our best young players, we have to give them an opportunity to play.
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“So, whether that is Emerging Ireland, or Ireland A, or whether it is something else it has to be looked at because, beyond that [Ireland] Under-20 group and within that professional contracted group and with the way that the URC is at the moment, what it allows and doesn’t allow us to do, we have to be creative.”
He heralded the impact that the South African teams have made in the URC, pointing out that he was always in favour of them joining. “It’s early days but we are already seeing what they are bringing to the competitive landscape. I think that’s fantastic. We have quality there, it is the quantity of games for the spread of our players [that’s the issue].
“If you are creating a lot of good players, which our model is, then we have to find ways to allow them to play; play in a meaningful way that they as players feel that they have a chance to advance, where that be at provincial level or to get to international rugby. They have got to find a way to play.
“URC squads carry on average 45 players in the provinces and that is tough for our coaches to work that out and keep everyone happy when the competition model is as it is now. We are not playing rugby in those international windows, so we have to find a way.”
He praised the consistent excellence of the Ireland Under-20 age-grade teams in recent years, success that can be measured in three Six Nations Championships and two Grand Slams in the last four years.
Richie Murphy will continue as head coach for the coming season, but they will have to find a replacement for highly regarded forwards coach Jimmy Duffy, who has joined Super Rugby side Western Force in Australia.
He mentioned the outstanding performance of James Topping’s Ireland Men’s Sevens squad in winning a bronze medal at the World Cup in Cape Town and how the focus would now switch to qualifying for the 2024 Olympics in Paris; one pathway for the men’s and women’s teams is to finish in the top four of the respective 2022-2023 Sevens World Series, which starts up against shortly.
Discussions are positive and continuing for a senior and Under-18 Sevens Six Nations Championship which could be up and running within a year.
Following on from a new contract agreed by Ireland head coach Andy Farrell earlier this year, which will see him retain his position until at least 2025, Nucifora explained that he hoped to be in a position soon to announce, contracts extensions for the rest of the coaching team that includes Simon Easterby, Mike Catt, Paul O’Connell and John Fogarty.
On his own future the Australia said: “My contract is until the end of the World Cup, and we’re talking about extending that for a little bit further. That would probably involve looking at some type of transition in that period.
“I think at some point, by the middle of 2024 I’ll have been here 10 years, and I think that’s a pretty good stretch. I think what we start to do is look in the future and I’m not saying that I’ll definitely depart then, but we’ll start thinking about who takes this role after me. You’ve got to keep evolving.”
