Potts looking 'for best candidate that's out there' for Head Coach role

With IRFU head of women’s performance and pathways Gillian McDarby admitting yesterday that Ireland was still between three and five years away from contending for a Six Nations title, Kevin Potts is clearly looking to hire a new head coach with nerves of steel and a stomach to match.

IRFU Chief Executive Officer Kevin Potts, right, with,Anne Marie Hughes, Gillian McDarby and Fiona Steed during the IRFU Women In Rugby press briefing. Pic: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile

Poisoned chalice or career-defining challenge, whichever way you view the Ireland Women’s head coach vacancy, the IRFU are adamant they are prepared to spend whatever it takes to find the best candidate for the role.

The search to replace Greg McWilliams, who left the post after 17 months at the helm last week following his side’s TikTok Six Nations whitewash the previous month, has begun in the midst of damaging reports of sexism with the IRFU, and criticism from former players of its historical neglect of the women’s game that has reduced the 2013 Grand Slam winners and 2014 World Cup semi-finalists to winless wooder spooners just nine years later.