Ireland Rugby: Can Andy Farrell’s side get back on track in 2026?

Perhaps the most dispiriting aspect of those home defeats by France and South Africa was how Ireland felt simply overpowered by both, in contact and, against the latter especially, at the scrum.

The nature of those losses has only heightened concerns over the squad’s age-profile.

Fifteen of the players called up by Farrell for November are the other side of 30-years-old, while a further four will be by the time of the 2027 World Cup.

Munster forwards Edwin Edogbo and Brian Gleeson, as well as Ulster centre Jude Postlethwaite, are all uncapped and would offer both new blood and physicality come the 2026 Six Nations.

Leinster props Paddy McCarthy and Tom Clarkson, and the fit-again Ulster lock Cormac Izuchukwu, already have international experience but greater exposure for the trio would also fit the profile for a campaign that feels a tipping point in the build-up to Australia 2027.

Ireland are not prone to throwing the baby out with the bathwater, though.

Will Farrell freshen up a largely settled matchday squad with such promising but untested players or continue to rely upon those possessing such credit in the bank with a coach who will mark a decade on the Irish ticket in 2026?

How some of those experienced campaigners shift what has felt like a Lions hangover is an intriguing subplot.

There is more to it, however, than simply personnel.

Given the physical profile of their squad even through what has been a golden era across the past decade and a half, Ireland have become used to having to box clever to enjoy their historic successes.

But, while lengthy phase-play was once their calling card, changing interpretations of the defensive breakdown have rendered that part of their game as less effective than before.

Whoever Farrell selects, and whatever the average age of the squad moving forward, there is a sense that one of the keenest coaching minds in the game will be relied upon to tweak the gameplan too.