Former Ireland wing Andrew Trimble is worried that years in the doldrums will follow if it is indeed the end of the team\u2019s \u2018golden generation\u2019.<\/p>\n
Andy Farrell\u2019s men enjoyed tremendous success between 2022 and 2025, claiming two Six Nations titles, including a Grand Slam, and sealing a historic series success over the All Blacks in New Zealand.<\/p>\n
They arguably went into the 2023 Rugby World Cup as the best side in the sport, but succumbed narrowly to New Zealand in the quarter-finals.<\/p>\n
A victory in that last-eight clash would have opened up a clear path to the final, and that could be their best chance of reaching the latter stages of a global tournament for some time.<\/p>\n
That is if Trimble\u2019s concerns are well-founded with Ireland<\/a> slowly declining since the World Cup in France.<\/p>\n Keeping faith with the tried and trusted<\/p>\n Farrell<\/a> has decided not to overhaul his ageing squad, placing trust in the older players, but there are signs that they are beginning to wane.<\/p>\n The Irishmen were hammered 36-14 against France in the Six Nations<\/a> last week, with both the performance and result leaving fans and pundits worried.<\/p>\n Trimble did not want to proclaim that it is the end of their stint at the top table, simply answering \u201cmaybe\u201d when queried if their \u2018golden era\u2019 is over, but the signs are not promising.<\/p>\n The 41-year-old does see positives, however, and those are the simple things the Farrell\u2019s outfit can do to improve for the rest of the Six Nations<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t want to be too dramatic about it because there are a couple of things in that Irish performance that can be fixed,\u201d he said on the Rivals.<\/p>\n \u201cDefensively, we can front up \u2013 that 12 can front up way better. I think they can fix some things around their line speed, they can fix some things around their defensive breakdown.<\/p>\n \u201cThey can create breakdown pressure, get their width, get their line speed. There were a couple of long, floaty passes from France and we can sort that out, so there are a few quick fixes \u2013 things can change quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n Ex-Ireland star sees \u2018funny\u2019 side of Jacques Nienaber blame game after he created the \u2018best defence in the world\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n The next 12 months will be telling as to where Ireland stand and if they can recover, whether that is their older players regaining form or the youngsters coming through and impressing.<\/p>\n If neither of those happen then Trimble believes that it could be a while before the Irish enjoy the type of success they had prior to the 2023 World Cup.<\/p>\n Pendulum may not \u2018swing back\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cFrance five of six years ago, the 10 years before that France were pretty dormant, they were a rabble. They didn\u2019t really have much going on and they were scrapping together performances, changing teams, changing coaches all over the place,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n \u201cSouth Africa had a barren period, England with Eddie Jones had a difficult period, but the playing population in those countries is so huge, the pendulum\u2019s always going to swing back.<\/p>\n \u201cIn Ireland, there are four provinces, if one or two of those provinces don\u2019t go so well \u2013 we\u2019ve got two Irish provinces playing in the second-tier [Challenge Cup] and Leinster are not quite [at their best].<\/p>\n