IRFU will facilitate Farrell if chosen as British and Irish Lions Head Coach 

David Nucifora had the satisfaction of announcing a contract extension for a man who has developed into one of the most sought-after head coaches in world rugby.

Ireland head coach Andy Farrell before the Rugby World Cup 2023, Pool B match at the Stade de France in Paris, France. Picture date: Saturday September 23, 2023.

Andy Farrell joined the Ireland team as an assistant with head coach potential, according to David Nucifora. The outgoing IRFU Performance Director yesterday predicted he is destined to go down as one of the all-time greats.

The occasion was Nucifora’s final annual briefing to the media before he brings to an end 10 years in the role as its first incumbent after next summer’s Paris Olympics, when Ireland will be represented by its Men’s and Women’s Sevens teams.

Yet, for good or ill, it is the national Men’s XV team that remains the chief focus of Nucifora’s attention and having played a part in Farrell’s recruitment as Joe Schmidt’s defence coach in 2016, the Australian had the satisfaction of announcing a contract extension for a man who has developed into one of the most sought-after head coaches in world rugby.

Farrell, 48, will stay at the helm through to the 2027 World Cup and while the internal review into the 2023 campaign is still ongoing, as the IRFU rakes over the coals of yet another quarter-final exit, it is clear there was an urgency to hand their head coach a second bite at ticking the last remaining box on Irish men’s XVs rugby’s to-do list.

Nucifora will announce a new attack coach for Farrell in the coming weeks following yesterday’s announcement Mike Catt will depart from the role after next summer’s tour to world champions South Africa but the leading man has been secured and the man who approved his recruitment eight years ago following England’s disastrous 2015 World Cup exit on home soil yesterday tipped the Ireland boss for even greater glory.

"Certainly, we approached Andy very quickly in 2015 because I saw him as a guy who definitely had the ability to be a head coach and we're all aware of Andy's career as a player; the guy's a winner, he finds an ability to get things done,” Nucifora said yesterday at the IRFU High Performance Centre in west Dublin.

"The first four years of his tenure, the way that he contributed as an assistant coach was outstanding and he's actually gone on to become a better head coach than I ever thought he would be in such a short period of time.

"When you look at what he's been able to do in four years, I think that in another four years he's going to have evolved himself personally as a head coach as well and the way he looks at things.

"If he keeps improving himself at the rate that he's done in the first four years, I think you're going to have a coach that is going to be one of the all-time great coaches.” 

Farrell’s contract extension comes two months after Ireland narrowly lost their World Cup quarter-final to New Zealand in Paris, although that Irish performance will not be the focus of the post-tournament review, Nucifora said.

“It's nearing completion. It's not going to be an earth-shattering document that will give the answer as to why we didn't beat New Zealand in the quarter-final, I don't think there's anything there that systematically will tell us why we didn't win that game.

“We're all massively disappointed that it ended the way it did. Right up to the point, deep into those 30-plus phases, I was still really confident we were going to get over the line and win that game, but it didn’t pan out that way… “..There's going to be small things that come out of the report that give us an indicator about what we can be working in going forward, but largely our reviews can often show us that we're actually on the right track.” 

The British & Irish Lions head coaching position in 2025 appears to be the next potential highlight on the Farrell CV, with the IRFU more than happy to facilitate the possibility within the framework of his new deal. Yet his next job is to pick up the pieces from Ireland’s shattering World Cup quarter-final exit and mount a competitive Six Nations title defence. Nucifora dismissed the suggestion there could be residual emotional damage from that defeat to the All Blacks at Stade de France.

"There's not emotional damage. You go into this business as a player or a coach and you know what you're signing up for.

"Was it difficult to accept? Absolutely it was. A lot of people have put everything into this and when you wake up the next morning after the quarter-final and you're packing your bag to go home, it's not a very pleasant feeling and you disband as a group. That's tough.

"A lot of players and staff have had to take time, that's one of the reasons why we're not finished reviewing what we're doing because people needed space to be able to get over that disappointment. But in saying that, sometimes the best medicine is just to get back involved and get on with it.

"By the time they reassemble for the Six Nations, everyone is well able to get on with things and go forward because the game and these jobs as coaches it's unrelenting, it just keeps moving forward and you haven't got time to wallow in your own self-pity. You've just got to get on with it or you do get left behind.

“We'll come back ready to go and ready to fire in the Six Nations and hopefully we can repeat what we did last year. That's our aim.”