IRISH RUGBY HAS plenty of talent in the pipeline but for the last year, most young players who have the potential to be professionals have essentially been going without any rugby at all due to Covid-19 restrictions.

Normally, the schools cups would be up and running at this time of the year, while players would be jostling for places in the Ireland U18 and U19 teams, but all is barren on that front for now.

Last summer saw the provinces’ age-grade squads get back together briefly and the Energia Community Series for clubs was underway for a few weeks in September and October, but that’s been about it over the past 12 months.

The IRFU has run a 7s series and 10 inter-provincial A games, as well as having an Ireland U20s camp at Christmas, but the utter lack of game time for promising youngsters is among the big concerns for the union at present.

Peter Smyth, the IRFU’s Head of Elite Player Development, appreciates that the effects are likely to be seen in years to come.

“Is it going to take some of this next generation who could end up being Irish internationals longer?” says Smyth.

“Yes, in my opinion, it will because they won’t have had access to those top-level games at 17, 18, 19, that leave a big impression on you because they give you an idea of the standard out there that you’re going to have to reach to compete against your compatriots in the Home Nations and when you go to a Junior World Cup.”

Smyth oversees the development pathway in Irish rugby, which was refined in 2016 and includes the ‘National Talent Squad’ [NTS], made up of the most promising young players in the country from the ages of 15 to 20 who aren’t yet in the academies, and the ‘Provincial Talent Squad’ [PTS], a wider pool of players with potential around the country. 

Currently, there are 65 NTS players across the four provinces, with 255 PTS players. In normal times, these youngsters make up the age-grade inter-provincial and national teams and are working to earn a place in one of the four academies in Munster, Leinster, Connacht, and Ulster.

Right now, nearly all of those 320 players are training remotely, with only academy-contracted players – there are 67 of them in total – and senior professionals allowed to train together in Level 5.

Smyth says there has been lots of “outside the box thinking” to keep young players engaged over the last year as the IRFU has attempted to limit the damage with online coaching and guidance. 

The IRFU's Peter Smyth during his time with St Mary's College RFC. James Crombie / INPHO James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO

But everyone is desperate to get these crucial tiers of rugby going again as soon as government decisions allow. Given the financial issues caused by Covid-19, homegrown players will be more important than ever in the years ahead.

As well as denying the best young prospects further development, the lack of games over the last year has obviously made it very difficult to identify which players should move up the pathway into the academies.

Naas man Jamie Osborne has just been upgraded from the NTS into the Leinster academy after his recent senior debut for the province, while the same has happened for Ulster man Ben Moxham. Other hopefuls haven’t had chances to impress on the pitch.

“We have held back a lot of decisions and said, ‘Let’s do another entry process if we can get inter-pros away in August and September,’ says Smyth.

“If we can’t get inter-pros away, then let’s do another entry process if we can get the All-Ireland League up and running in September and we’ll do it at Christmas.”

“Unfortunately for a lot of guys, they are in a holding pattern. What we are saying to a lot of players is that we’re not making any full or final decisions on any players’ progression in any elements of the pathway until they get an opportunity to play the game.

“We’re trying to keep as many people live and viable options for as long as we can over the next six to 12 months to be fair to everyone.”

Smyth also admits it’s a huge concern that players who aren’t in the NTS or even the PTS haven’t had a chance to prove themselves out on the pitch, perhaps convincing the provinces and the union of their potential.

“Everyone knows examples of late developers who have come through, who’ve had growth spurts late on or who have transitioned out of a school environment into another environment or just suddenly it’s clicked for them at various levels,” says Smyth. 

“Are we potentially going to miss a player because of this? We’d be naive to think there wouldn’t be the odd example but it’s about limiting that damage across the whole of our system as best we can to ensure that when we do get back fully that we’re back to a situation that the pathway is smooth and it is providing players for all the provinces and the provincial academies.”

Noel McNamara is head of the Leinster academy. Bryan Keane / INPHO Bryan Keane / INPHO / INPHO

While each province has its own academy, the majority of staff working in the development pathway in Irish rugby are employed directly by the IRFU. There are 57 positions at the moment, some of which are in the process of being filled, including the Munster academy manager role recently vacated by Peter Malone.

There has been some talk recently of the IRFU being keen on streamlining everything into one central academy but Smyth strongly refutes that suggestion.

“We are more than happy with the academy system we have in place. We are more than happy with the communication lines between provincial to centralised, our to clubs and schools.

“So the talk of being a centralised academy, I can categorically say that conversation has never happened in the IRFU.”

IQ [Irish-Qualified] Rugby is another branch of the IRFU’s player pathway and Smyth says he has bi-weekly conversations with Joe Lydon in the UK about any talented IQ players based abroad who could be integrated into the system in Ireland.

Ciaran Booth joining Connacht’s academy is a recent example, while Smyth points to Ulster’s Hayden Hyde and Leinster’s Aaron O’Sullivan as other successes. Smyth also confirms that Leicester Tigers centre Dan Kelly is still part of the Ireland U20s set-up.

While waiting for the green light to get rugby back underway, Smyth and Wayne Mitchell, the IRFU’s National Talent Coordinator, have been working on a project around talent identification, which is obviously a massive part of the jigsaw.

Smyth recently met with the English Cricket Board to discuss the topic and agreed wholeheartedly with their mantra of ‘Multiple Eyes, Multiple Times.’

“That’s what we are trying to adopt. Any player that is getting IDed for any squad, we are trying to gather as much as we can on that player from professional staff, volunteers, coaches, parents, opposition coaches, or whoever it is. 

“It is the belief of everyone in Irish rugby that there is more talent out there than there is on display at any given point in time. We see it as a huge growth area in our game.”