Ireland’s Outlook for 2025: Challenges and Opportunities Post-Autumn Series

Ireland concluded 2024 with a record of eight wins and three defeats. As the Autumn Nations Series, and the entirety of 2024’s Test rugby schedule, concludes, Ireland approaches 2025 with a blend of optimism and apprehension. The positive outlook stems from a successful 2024, which included a Six Nations title, a victory over the Springboks in South Africa, and a three-win, one-loss record in the autumn campaign—an impressive achievement considering Ireland’s performance was not at its peak throughout November. However, even if their autumn performances had been exceptional, the upcoming year was always anticipated with some concern due to Andy Farrell’s impending absence. With Farrell committed to British and Irish Lions duty for the duration of the Six Nations and next summer, defence coach Simon Easterby will assume interim leadership. This represents a significant opportunity for Easterby, who has been part of the Ireland coaching ticket since 2014, but he will undoubtedly face several issues requiring his attention. Ireland’s recent Saturday victory was unnecessarily complicated by their own actions. Handling errors, particularly during a disjointed first-half display, proved problematic as they consistently failed to convert attacking pressure within the Australia 22 into points. Farrell commented, “We spilled enough ball and made enough errors in the first half to lose two matches.” This pattern has been evident throughout the month. Against New Zealand, Ireland recorded 21 handling errors, while the All Blacks were nearly flawless in this aspect. With a combined 35 errors in the Argentina and Fiji games, this area demands intense focus when Ireland reconvenes for the Six Nations preparations. Set-piece issues also re-emerged on Saturday, with Ireland losing four line-outs, thereby forfeiting a crucial attacking platform. Line-out problems were a significant concern during last year’s World Cup. A year later, forwards coach Paul O’Connell still faces a substantial workload, with lock Joe McCarthy acknowledging that there is “definitely improvement to be had.” McCarthy, who started all 11 of Ireland’s games this year, stated, “Today was a bit crazy, there were 24 line-outs, so I think we were on the run trying to make up some new line-outs and we had gone through all of them about twice.” He added, “We’ve got good success, we had good mauls throughout the year, focused very much on good drills and things like that, but we probably slipped away from that in a few games, leaking a few line-outs, a few sloppy bits.” Despite this, he concluded, “But I think it’s been relatively strong enough.” The competition for Ireland’s first-choice fly-half continues. Munster’s Jack Crowley held the position for much of 2024, but with Sam Prendergast starting the last two games, the battle for the number 10 jersey will again be a primary focus as the Six Nations approaches. Farrell’s decision to start 21-year-old Prendergast against Australia was his most notable selection call this autumn. The Leinster youngster demonstrated impressive kicking skills and defended bravely at times, yet he also made errors, leading Joe Schmidt to observe that his Wallabies made him appear uncharacteristically “flustered” at moments. Crowley’s effective performance off the bench, which earned praise from Farrell after the match, indicates that the pecking order is far from settled. Consequently, the Ireland coaches will closely monitor their club form over the next two months in anticipation of their Six Nations hat-trick attempt. Prendergast was one of four Ireland players to make their debut in November, alongside Tom Clarkson, Gus McCarthy, and Cormac Izuchukwu. Farrell identified their emergence as a key positive from the series. He remarked, “The story of the autumn for us is we’ve four new debutants, we’ve four new members of staff who have settled in really well and we know where we’re going,” adding, “The future is bright for me because we have the right people on the bus so we’re excited about that.” Prendergast is contending for the 10 jersey, Tom Clarkson shows promise as a tighthead prop, Izuchukwu offers versatility as a second row or loose forward, and hooker McCarthy has already scored two tries. This bodes well for a squad that may soon see the departure of three of its most seasoned players. Long-serving loosehead Cian Healy, who became Ireland’s most-capped player by earning his 134th cap off the bench, surpassing Brian O’Driscoll, is 37 and will be out of contract at the end of the season. Conor Murray and Peter O’Mahony, who played limited roles in the autumn series, are also out of contract at the season’s end. While all three may participate in the Six Nations, the introduction of four debutants in November, with potentially more to follow, signifies an accelerating generational shift within the squad. Farrell stressed that Ireland must learn from their defeat to the All Blacks, with the England game marking the beginning of the next series of fixtures. The opening autumn Test against New Zealand was the most coveted victory for Ireland. Ultimately, it proved to be their most disappointing performance of 2024, as a seasoned All Blacks team made Farrell’s side appear distinctly ordinary. The sting of this loss is evident, and with England—who thwarted this year’s bid for back-to-back Grand Slams—being their first home opponent in the Six Nations, Farrell’s message is clear: a strong start is imperative to avoid further disappointment. He stated, “We pride ourselves on being good first up and I know that the southern hemisphere teams are going to come in battled hardened and Test-match fit but when you’re coming into a top game like that New Zealand game, we let ourselves down in that regard.” Farrell continued, “The first game that Ireland’s got in the Six Nations is England here so they’ve got to be better coming in. It’s something that we’ve been really good at in the past but you need to keep checking on all these things.” Ireland established a strong precedent for 2024 with an exciting win over France in Marseille. Achieving a similar result at home against England could be even more crucial as they prepare to navigate the majority of the upcoming year without their primary leader. However, Farrell expressed no concerns regarding Easterby and the coaching team. He commented, “It’s certainly nothing to do with me why we just win trophies,” adding, “We’ve always done it together and the coaching staff that we’ve got are second to done so that’s not changing. I’d expect us to kick on.”