As clock ticks to Paris, Mangan aims to turn heads

Diarmuid Mangan is among those who has 10 weeks to make an impression on Andy Farrell.

Diarmuid Mangan during Leinster Rugby squad training at UCD in Dublin. Photo by Sam Barnes/Sportsfile

Ten weeks lie between Ireland’s last November hit against the Springboks and the equally daunting trip to Paris to open the 2026 Six Nations, and Andy Farrell started the timer before the Aviva Stadium had fully emptied last Saturday.

Not for the first time, the Ireland head coach voiced a challenge to a younger generation of Irish players in the four provinces to make themselves unignorable when it comes to national squad selection some time in late January.

Diarmuid Mangan should have been one of those to take note.

Still only 22, the Leinster lock-cum-back row spent a week with the senior squad during the 2025 Six Nations and followed it up with a run off the bench for Ireland ‘A’ away to Spain a couple of weeks ago.

“I got 25 minutes off the bench, so I really enjoyed the whole week and the experience. When I came on we were defending a lot. They were really chasing the game and throwing everything at us and the atmosphere in the stadium was pretty good.

“It was a good experience, to be able to test yourself at that international level and play with lads from the other provinces who are probably older and have a bit more experience. I learned a few things off them and from the coaches in that environment. 

“Ultimately, as a young player, that’s the kind of stuff you want to be involved in.,” he said ahead of Leinster URC clash against Dragons. “That’s going to get you better as a player. You want to keep kicking on, not stalling. It’s about learning from those weeks.” 

Mangan doesn’t have to lay a new path, all he has to do is follow one.

The Newbridge College graduate was a part of the Ireland U20 sides that won Grand Slams in 2022 and 2023, and he was there again when the team made the final of the World Junior Championship the latter year.

A good grounding in itself, it was all the better for the company he was keeping. Of those sides, Sam Prendergast, Jack Boyle, Paddy McCarthy and Gus McCarthy have already been capped. Plenty more again have made solid inroads into the provincial scene.

Andrew Osborne, Hugh Gavin, John Devine, Fintan Gunne, Conor O’Tighearnaigh, Ruadhan Quinn, Brian Gleeson, Evan O’Connell, James McNabney and Jack Oliver have all moved up that ladder. As has Mangan, of course.

That experience with the seniors earlier this year equipped him with a notebook full of terminology and other insider information when it came to locking in what it was he needed to do with Cullie Tucker’s Ireland ‘A’s recently.

The presence of so many familiar faces was another boost in getting to grips with a workload that starts on the Monday morning and never really lets up. With only three on-field training sessions, there isn’t any time for tardiness.

“So you're trying to make sure you don't waste those training sessions because you're kind of in the shop window there in terms of coaches. Obviously the game is so important, but the sessions definitely do matter a lot.” 

The provinces have ten games in as many weeks from here up to the start of the Six Nations. Plenty of scope for players like Mangan and more to turn enough heads and give Farrell the sort of headache he has been asking for.