Bernard Jackman believes that there could be an intriguing subplot to the Ireland squad announcement for the upcoming Six Nations Championship.<\/p>\n
Andy Farrell will name his wider training group for the annual international tournament later this month as they look to bounce back from last year\u2019s mediocre performance, where they finished in third.<\/p>\n
There have been accusations of Leinster<\/a> bias towards Farrell<\/a> in his selections, as well as the Irish Rugby Football Union, but 2026 could mark a change in his thinking.<\/p>\n Leo Cullen\u2019s men have not exactly convinced this season, while many of their star players are now the wrong side of 30.<\/p>\n Ulster\u2019s improvement<\/p>\n Ulster, meanwhile, appear to be on the rise and have a number of players knocking on the door of international selection.<\/p>\n They may not be in line for a starting spot just yet but, if they can perform in camp, Farrell may well be forced to field them in the Six Nations<\/a>.<\/p>\n Should those individuals then become firmly established in the XV, a central contract may be in the offing to potentially end the Leinster dominance.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a bigger picture to this,\u201d former Ireland<\/a> hooker Jackman said on the RTE Rugby podcast. \u201cThere are some fans saying: \u2018I don\u2019t care about getting players into the Irish squad, all I care about is my province\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cBut if some of those Ulster players can get into the squad and then they can displace the current internationals, there are central contracts in the equation in a year or two years time.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat does that do for Ulster or Munster or Connacht if they get more internationals? It changes the dynamic of the spend that they have, which they can put back into their own squads.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you look at the age profile, let\u2019s take [Jude] Postlethwaite as an example. He looks like he has huge potential. I\u2019m not writing off [Stuart] McCloskey, Garry Ringrose, Robbie Henshaw or Bundee Aki, but at some stage those that are on central contracts are going to lose it because they\u2019re going to retire.\u201d<\/p>\n Bernard Jackman: Ireland question marks remain as Andy Farrell to be \u2018more ruthless than ever\u2019 for the Six Nations<\/a><\/p>\n Undervalued Irish provinces<\/p>\n The next year or two leading into the the 2027 Rugby World Cup, as well as what happens after it, could be vital for the game in Ireland.<\/p>\n Particularly for Munster, Connacht and Ulster, who have perhaps felt undervalued by the IRFU over recent times, and Jackman insists that they have the chance to even up the playing field.<\/p>\n \u201cIf an Ulster player, or a Munster or Connacht player, is in a position to be good enough to step up and take that central contract, which has historically been in Leinster, that\u2019s a massive boost,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n \u201cOn the field, you have a seasoned international but secondly you\u2019re only paying a percentage or their salary and that helps then to bring through the next generation.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been very lopsided, all the central contracts have been in Leinster, but that\u2019s something the Ulster bean counters will be looking at and getting excited about.\u201d<\/p>\n Want more from Planet Rugby? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a> for world-class coverage you can trust.<\/p>\n