Fogarty: Ireland can benefit from Munster kicking Leinster where it hurts

Assistant Ireland coach John Fogarty believes a wake-up call for the bulk of the Irish squad may prove a positive.

Tue, 21 Oct, 2025 - 09:02

Simon Lewis

Wither Leinster, wither Ireland? No-one in Andy Farrell’s national camp, which departs Dublin for Chicago on Tuesday, believes that to be the case, despite the “kick in the arse” delivered to them by Munster at Croke Park on Saturday.

As good as Munster, spearheaded by returning captain Tadhg Beirne and fly-half Jack Crowley, were in delivering a 31-14 bonus-point URC victory at GAA headquarters on the weekend, a stacked Leinster side’s no-show in this derby victory was a concern, given they are bulk suppliers to Farrell’s Test squad.

Beirne and Crowley were two of just a four-man Munster contingent named by the head coach for this November’s Gallagher Cup against New Zealand in 11 days and the three home Quilter Nations Series Tests which follow against Japan, Australia and South Africa. Scrum-half Craig Casey and lock/flanker Tom Ahern were kept out of the URC round four fixture but made up the quartet and they were joined by uncapped centre Tom Farrell, added to the group as injury cover for Bundee Aki (hip) and Robbie Henshaw (groin).

Yet this is an overwhelmingly Leinster-heavy squad that assembled at the IRFU High Performance Centre in Abbottstown, with Jimmy O’Brien’s Monday call-up to replace the injured Connacht wing Mack Hansen bringing their representation on Andy Farrell’s panel to 22.

Of those 22, 10 Leinster men in the Ireland squad are coming off a lengthy 2022-25 campaign which culminated in Lions selection this summer under Andy Farrell and were entitled to a delayed pre-season with their first appearances of 25-26 coming either in round three or round four. The result, as evidenced at Croke Park, saw a plethora of undercooked performances.

Yet assistant coach John Fogarty on Monday said there were no concerns about their readiness to take on an All Blacks side on November 1 that has played nine Tests together since July.

"We haven't talked about or I don't feel concerned about Tadhg Furlong, about Dan Sheehan, about Ronan Kelleher, about Andrew Porter,” the scrum coach said in reference to his frontline front-rowers. “They're really clear on what it is we're trying to achieve.

"They have a little bit of time to digest where they're at. A kick in the arse sometimes is a good thing and Munster gave Leinster a massive kick in the arse.

"Sometimes that can be a really good thing, to just check yourself, but I firmly believe that knowing what's in front of us and knowing the opportunities in front of us, knowing the importance of it and to represent Ireland, to represent this country in a green jersey, it means everything to them.

"If they can't get themselves in the right place then we've all done a poor job. So look, it's not a concern for us.

"I think knowing what 100 per cent looks like for us as coaches, being unbelievably clear what the task at hand is and being unbelievably clear what our game plan is, if we're not seeing progression or if we're not seeing the right pitch, the right levels, it's very easy to see in training sessions, that's something that will be addressed immediately.

"Andy (Farrell) has a great nose for where a group is, where they are in the middle of the week, what the feel is like, all that stuff. I'm sure last week when Munster were preparing, they could feel, they knew they were fizzing, they knew they were buzzing.

"Regardless of what was being told to them or what was said outside, going to Croke Park to play Leinster is a huge task. All these players coming back, how are they going to overcome all this? Huge challenge, huge opportunity.

"It's no different for us, we understand what's coming to us. We understand the importance of it. We'll measure that during the week to see where we're at. They'll be doing it themselves, we'll get ourselves in the right frame of mind to be able to hit the ground running. It's something that we're looking forward to.

"It's a huge challenge in international rugby, but it's some buzz. It doesn't get any better. The bigger the opportunity, the better for us and it's right in front of us now.”

Fogarty said he was reminded of Ireland’s first game back after their 2023 World Cup quarter-final heartbreak to New Zealand, a Six Nations opener against France in Marseille the following February which Farrell’s men won 38-17.

"Everyone understands it's a huge game, so it's perfect. It's a perfect game for us.

"The fact that it was France away first up in that Six Nations, it did probably feel a little bit different because they understood the challenge. It'll be no different.”