Connacht
Ian Dury and the Blockheads sang “Reasons to be Cheerful” back in the late Seventies. Connacht rugby might adopt it as an anthem for the upcoming season as they seek to put behind them last season’s difficulties on and off the pitch.
A new head coach, Stuart Lancaster, another fresh face as attack coach in Australian Rod Seib (who has replaced Mark Sexton), the impending arrival of Highlanders utility back Sam Gilbert and the completion of the Dexcom stadium refurbishment, scheduled for January, would foster an upbeat outlook, but there’s still more about which to enthuse.
During the summer Bundee Aki, Mack Hansen and Finlay Bealham wore the red of the British & Irish Lions with distinction. Back in Europe, wing Shayne Bolton, centre Hugh Gavin, scrumhalf Ben Murphy, prop Jack Aungier and secondrow Darragh Murray made their Ireland debuts during the summer tour Tests in Tbilisi and Lisbon.
Cullie Tucker was an integral part of the Irish coaching team under Paul O’Connell for those internationals against Georgia and Portugal, and the Connacht scrum and contact coach will have benefited from the experience. Lancaster, who has swapped Paris for Galway, is well versed with the challenges faced by Connacht from his time at Leinster.
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That knowledge, and Lancaster’s familiarity with the playing roster, ensures that the acclimatisation process should be both smooth and quick. Seib joins from the Brumbies where he has served as an assistant coach since 2020, with responsibility for team attack.
A key to unlocking Connacht’s potential is arranging the halfback, fullback and centre permutations into a definitive order, choices that deliver the required consistent excellence. Murphy and Caolin Blade disputed the nine jersey for most of last season. Matthew Devine needs to make it a proper three-way contest, albeit acknowledging that job sharing isn’t an ideal solution especially for the marquee matches.
JJ Hanrahan’s return to Munster means that Jack Carty (32) and Josh Ioane (29) are the senior outhalves with Sean Naughton (third year) and Conor O’Shaughnessy (first year) the academy prospects. A dark horse for the 10 jersey is Cathal Forde (24), who played most of his underage rugby there, but the majority of his 51 appearances for Connacht in the centre.
Lancaster must answer others questions too, positionally, in where to get the best out of Mack Hansen, Chay Mullins, Shane Jennings, Finn Treacy and Gavin, while up front ensuing a more effective carrying game from the back five in the pack, and the scrum solidity to match a stellar lineout – all of which can transform Connacht from a side that finished 13th of 16 teams in the URC to one that could make the playoffs.
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Sean Jansen, Cian Prendergast and Josh Murphy are leaders in the way that they play, as is Bealham. It’s an important season for half a dozen Connacht forwards to kick on.
While there are a number of fine prospects in the academy, Lancaster will be looking for the rest of the squad to squeeze the frontliners to drive up the standards. They’ll need to be lucky with injuries, but there is substance to the promise that lies out west if they get things right.
Prospects: URC playoffs if injuries play ball and the same in the European Challenge Cup.
Player to watch: If Shayne Bolton can remain injury free, the wing has the power and pace to be a standout player for Connacht and, with a bit of polishing, Ireland.
Ulster
Canadian strength coach and author Charles R Poliquin is credited with the phrase “You can’t fire a cannon from a canoe”, but that’s exactly what Ulster head coach Richie Murphy has been tasked with doing in advance of the new season.
The Irish province doesn’t have a strong enough personnel base and Murphy will have to be at his creative best to plug the gaps in the roster if and when everyone is available, never mind trying to do so when compromised on the usual injury wear and tear that a season brings.
Mark Sexton joins as backs coach from Connacht, reuniting with Murphy and Willie Faloon (defence), alongside whom he coached with the Ireland 20s. Highly regarded forwards’ coach Jimmy Duffy was part of the age-grade set-up, but headed for Super Rugby and Western Force in 2022 before taking up his role at Ulster. Dan Soper completes the coaching team.
Ulster have several talented young players, but there are notable gaps to be bridged between accomplished, experienced frontline players and the tyros. Injuries have been a curse too: Iain Henderson, James McNabney, Jacob Stockdale, James Hume, Rob Baloucoune and Ethan McElroy, to highlight a few in recent times, have been particularly unfortunate.
The province has signed two loosehead props, the world-class Wallaby Angus Bell and the Irish-qualified Sam Crean from Saracens, having been a loan signing for part of last season. Springbok Juarno Augustus arrives from Northampton and will give the side a powerful ball carrying presence.
Secondrow is a huge issue. Skerries-born Alan O’Connor, a great servant to his adopted province has retired and Kieran Treadwell returned to Harlequins. Henderson needs an injury free season, with Cormac Izuchukwu his most likely partner ahead of young hopefuls such as Charlie Irvine and Joe Hopes. The excellent Harry Sheridan is that back five hybrid player in the pack.
John Cooney’s departure for Brive – Michael McDonald is also gone – leaves Ulster one injury away from being threadbare at scrumhalf. Jack Murphy was a rare ray of light in the general gloom of a season that saw the province finish 14th of 16 teams in the URC table.
The young outhalf would have started ahead of Aidan Morgan, even if the latter hadn’t departed in the summer for Japan. Murphy showed character and talent in adverse circumstances. He will have competition from Jake Flannery (26) and, potentially, teenager Dan Green, who looked an accomplished footballer despite playing out of position at fullback for the Irish 20s.
A fully stocked three-quarter line blessed with top-end pace and footballing ability in key positions would be a handful for any team, but it’s getting them the possession that’s the challenge. Scrum and lineout needs to improve, but Ulster’s lavish backrow resources represent a notable asset. Signing a frontline secondrow and a scrumhalf would improve their prospects in a thrice.
Prospects: Making the playoffs in the URC and Challenge Cup would be a superb effort; the medium term, with nuanced recruitment, could offer more if their young players continue to develop.
Player to watch: James McNabney would have been an obvious choice before his ACL tear in June, but Ulster may have to lean heavily on Cormac Izuchukwu, a brilliant athlete and Irish international with a high ceiling of progression for club and country.
Munster
How to quantify the Clayton McMillan bounce factor? It’s a rhetorical statement for now in the absence of matches. The Perth-born, Rotorua-raised McMillan takes over as head coach at the province and brings with him an impressive CV from his time as the Chiefs that includes taking the Waikato-based side to three Super Rugby finals in four years.
In coaching terms, he is known for his tactical innovation on the back of a well drilled and uncompromising set of forwards. Mike Prendergast (backs) and Denis Leamy (defence), both of whom were part of the Ireland coaching group during the summer, provide quality, continuity and traditional Munster values.
The province has lost two top players in Peter O’Mahony and Conor Murray, while Stephen Archer, Dave Kilcoyne and Rory Scannell have also stepped away. McMillan should like the look of his forward pack. The arrival of loosehead Michael Milne and hooker Lee Barron, two excellent ball-playing frontrow forwards, will help while Edwin Edogbo’s return from an ACL injury is a big boost, literally and figuratively.
Tom Ahern made his Ireland debut in the summer and now needs to kick on again potentially in the six jersey if Jean Kleyn, Edwin Edogbo and Tadhg Beirne occupy the secondrow places. The backrow is a puzzle that McMillan must solve – it promises to be a fair old scrap for a jersey, underpinned by a long list in terms of talent.
Craig Casey did a super job as Irish captain in the summer, on and off the pitch, and will be a pivotal figure. Paddy Patterson has the ability; he just needs to add consistency and an injury-free run.
Jack Crowley requires more time in sunlight rather than anyone’s shadow. He needs to be the ‘first’ Jack Crowley and not the ‘second’ anybody or an alternate to someone else, so to speak. Reintroducing his personal running game would round out the skill set nicely. JJ Hanrahan is back but keep an eye out for Irish 20s outhalf Tom Wood who’s got a bit of moxie about him.
Dan Kelly’s signing has the potential to be significant, and it’ll be interesting to see how he fits into a Munster midfield in which Alex Nankivell and Tom Farrell have excelled. Diarmuid Kilgallen has the talent to be an international, Calvin Nash is, and Andrew Smith stepped up in 15s last season with aplomb. Shane Daly, Thaakir Abrahams, Mike Haley and Ben O’Connor bring their own qualities.
McMillan will work his way through a few selection issues particularly up front and especially in the back five in the pack. The pecking order is a little more obvious in other areas. Munster have turned a new page in coaching terms and also in having to find their way without the considerable rugby IQ of O’Mahony and Murray.
But in some ways that’s where the excitement lies, that sense of the unknown and what might be possible. In common with the other Irish provinces, there are a few positions in which injuries suffered would be a major stumbling block, but watching Munster’s new shape will be fascinating.
Prospects: Will be at the business end of the URC and Champions Cup.
Player to watch: Diarmuid Kilgallen has the footballing skills to play across the three-quarter line from outside centre to fullback and while his initial positioning is on the wing, the 15 jersey might become a more familiar look down the road. Pace, footwork, balance and a kicking game – with a little work on defence he could go all the way to Test level.
Leinster
Outright success in the Champions Cup remained tantalisingly out of reach, but winning the URC title at least changed the narrative when it came to discussing the previous absence of silverware dating back to 2021. It was a fitting, if belated, reward.
Leo Cullen and his coaching cohort watched a squad get over the acute disappointment of losing to the Northampton Saints in Europe to recalibrate and beat The Bulls in the domestic league final. Jordie Barrett’s omission from the starting team for the Saints’ game and one or two other selection decisions exacerbated a frustration for supporters at the outcome.
Barrett, who lit up several Leinster games, has returned home and will be replaced after the November Tests by another All Black in Rieko Ioane. Cian Healy retired, Ross Byrne and Rob Russell left for Gloucester, Liam Turner for Nevers while tighthead prop Rory McGuire and Arenzana Aitzol-King swapped Dublin for Belfast.
The legacy of contributing 14 players in total to the Lions squad will be felt in the early part of the season and the reintroduction process, while backed by science, requires a bit of intuition too on an individual case basis.
Ryan Baird was the outstanding player in Tbilisi and Lisbon and in some respects that progression in impact and output is what Cullen will hope for across the board to drive the performance levels ever higher.
Where do Jamie Osborne, Tommy O’Brien, a fit again Jordan Larmour and Jimmy O’Brien fit into the marquee team? Has Harry Byrne come back from Bristol with a belief that he can dispute the 10 jersey with Sam Prendergast? Is Casper Gabriel ready to be unveiled?
Who wants the jerseys that belong to the injured trio Caelan Doris, Joe McCarthy and Hugo Keenan?
Which of the young scrumhalves – Cormac Foley, Fintan Gunne, Oliver Coffey and Tadhg Brophy – is going to try to usurp Luke McGrath for the backup role to Jamison Gibson-Park in the big games? It’s time to challenge the ascendancy and that applies to younger aspirants such as Charlie Tector, Hugh Cooney, Henry McErlean and Andrew Osborne. Backs coach Tyler Bleyendaal will be a year wiser, and his innovation should be even more noticeable this season.
Leinster’s depth of quality in the pack is unparalleled in Irish rugby, but there has to be friction or movement in the pecking order. Form has to be the primary currency in selection.
Upfront players such as Alex Soroka, Brian Deeny, Max Deegan, James Culhane, Scott Penny, Will Connors, Diarmuid Mangan, Jack Boyle, Thomas Clarkson, Gus McCarthy and Stephen Smyth will get first crack at a jersey. Behind them is a coterie of promising talent, US-born tighthead prop Niall Smyth is a classic example.
Time to find out who pushes hardest to close the gap to those in the 9-15 jerseys. This could be a watershed season for a host of Leinster players: step up and forward or risk being engulfed and swept away by what’s coming behind.
Prospects: Potential Champions Cup and URC winners.
Player to watch: Diarmuid Mangan is a brilliant athlete who exemplifies the iron fist in the velvet glove analogy, a physical presence on both sides of the ball but also a gifted ball player who reads the game well.
