Ireland’s loss to France in their Six Nations opener was hugely concerning, but it was not the only setback of the weekend from an Irish rugby perspective.

Andy Farrell will have plenty to ponder as a result of the defeat in Paris. Even accounting for the absentees on the day, it was clear that Ireland were well short of the standard being set by their hosts.

There would be further misery for Ireland on Friday, with the ‘Ireland XV’ team being hammered by their English counterparts at Thomond Park. A difficult few days was complete when the U20 side suffered a heavy defeat against France in their opening Six Nations game.

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Eddie O’Sullivan Names Most Disappointing Aspect Of Bad Week For Ireland

Ireland have had a very settled squad in recent years, with few emerging talents managing to consistently break through into the test side.

The lack of depth in Irish rugby certainly came to the fore over the last week. Not only did the first team struggle due to some injuries in Paris, but the performance of the ‘XV’ team showed that there were few players ready to step up to fill the void in Andy Farrell’s squad.

Speaking on RTÉ radio, Eddie O’Sullivan suggested that display in Thomond Park was perhaps the biggest worry for Ireland moving forward.

They got a bad beating.

He (Farrell) was at that game. These are the guys who should be kicking down the door to get into the first team and from what I saw and from general opinion, nobody raised a flag.

I don’t think there is anybody breaking down the door to get into this team at the minute. He’s limited in what he can do.

The two things that can change for him is can he get people back from injury?

It looks like Tadhg Furlong might be fit and well again, that will be a huge boost to have him back at tighthead. I think he has to consider the impact the bench had in Paris when they came on.

They certainly energised the team and brought a freshness to it. But I don’t see anybody coming out of that Limerick game.

And then leaders on the field who can drive things.

It will be interesting to see if any of those players from the game in Limerick can make a breakthrough with Ireland over the next 12 months or so, although few of them would have aided their cause with their performance in this fixture.

It is clear that Farrell’s squad is in need of a refresh. In saying that, it is unclear where that talent is going to come from over the next couple of seasons.

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