Former Ireland winger Shane Horgan has admitted that confidence levels are “low” ahead of the upcoming Six Nations, following disappointing losses to South Africa and New Zealand in the Autumn.
Just two and a half years after the Emerald Isle were considered one of the favourites to win the 2023 World Cup, question marks have now been raised about whether they’re serious contenders for a Six Nations title.
Not the Irish team of a couple of years ago
Appearing on The Good, The Bad & The Rugby podcast, Horgan delved into the current issues facing his former side.
“Not everyone has the depth of squad like France or indeed England,” said Horgan.
“I suppose there’s an overarching feeling that this isn’t the Irish team that was there a couple of years ago. They’re ageing.”
Many players have, indeed, retired or simply fallen out of favour with head coach Andy Farrell, but the next crop coming through simply haven’t had the same impact as their predecessors.
The biggest exit from 2023 was arguably the great Johnny Sexton, bowing out from rugby at age 37. And despite their best efforts, the men in green simply haven’t been able to replace him yet.
“We’ve got this issue at ten, that we thought we were going to be in this great position a year ago.
“I would have said, ‘listen, we’ve got 18 months out from a World Cup, we’ve got this new rock star ten who’s going to come in, he’ll barge the other guys out of the way. He’s going to have two years, three Six Nations until the next World Cup. We’re going to be singing.’
“And that hasn’t panned out like that at all. We’ve seen all the flaws. We’ve got a position where we have maybe four tens and no clear owner of that shirt.”
Young Sam Prendergast, still only 22 years old, has been given the starting berth for the opening match on Thursday, with rival Jack Crowley set to emerge from the bench. Neither playmaker has yet to nail down his starting position, so this Six Nations could be all-important for the future of the ten shirt moving forward.
Why were the French stars not included in the wider squad?
Elsewhere, there were shock exclusions in a French side that have no issues with strength in depth. Former France star Ben Kayser gave the lowdown on Fabien Galthié’s selections.
“I was a bit shocked by the Damian Penaud, Gael Fickou, and Grégory Alldritt omission from the 42-man squad. I was thinking, ‘okay, maybe they’re not gonna start, but at least they’re gonna be part of the squad.’
“And then here’s the squad, and his explanation was to say, ‘Why is it useful for me to bring a guy, if I know that he shouldn’t be in a 23-man squad, to train and to be that training partner.’
“Rather than taking a youngster from somewhere else and giving them a bit of an immersion into what preparing for a Six Nations game could feel like, so that when they do come back in a year’s time, they’ve got a tiny bit more experience.
“So let them rest. They don’t need to do that. It’s not their role. They don’t need to gain some experience of how international week is built. They’ve done that 96 or 97 times.
“They know that inside out. Let them rest, let them come back.”
Why was Penaud dropped?
Although Penaud is France’s top-ever try scorer and performs at club level alongside France teammates, Louis Bielle-Biarrey and Matthieu Jalibert, Kayser understands why other wingers were selected.
“Look who are the on-form wingers in the Top 14 at the moment. Gaël Dréan from Toulon is scoring tries left, right, left and centre, fending off people, really bouncy and electric looking. I don’t know who I can compare him to, but just a really exciting player.
“And then we’ve got [Théo] Attissogbe, who’s a Teddy Thomas with defence, with the high ball capacity that plays for Pau, and he’s the best wearing winger in top 14, and he’s been killing with Louis Bielle-Biarrey, and he killed it in the summer tour in New Zealand, where it was a rotated French squad.”
So, despite being the most efficient 20+ try scorer in French history with 0.68 tries per game, Kayser believes the exclusion is exactly what Penaud needs.
“It’s a kick in the butt for him to say, you do not have a guaranteed spot if you don’t [perform at club level].”
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