Farrell’s absence, World Cup and Lions to come in exciting 2025

And just like that, another year is in the books.

For Irish rugby, 2024 produced no shortage of highlights. The men’s team won a sixth Six Nations title, but the excitement was replaced by regret after missing out on the Grand Slam.

The summer stirred even more mixed emotions, losing to world champions South Africa before a stunning, Ciaran Frawley-inspired win in Durban.

The Autumn Nations Series’ three victories from four made for a respectable return, but the All Blacks’ defeat in the opener only served to aggravate Irish injuries to the 2023 World Cup.

Under head coach Scott Bemand, significant progress was made on the women’s side, with notable victories over world champions New Zealand and World Cup qualification being just the beginning.

Ireland were getting ready for their first game since Johnny Sexton’s arrival this year.

Without the man who spearheaded their return to the top of the competition, they are planning yet another Six Nations title defense this year.

For the first time since the 2016 Six Nations, head coach Andy Farrell will not be in Ireland’s coaches’ box because he has been seconded to the British and Irish Lions before taking the lead of the next summer’s tour to Australia.

In his stead, Simon Easterby will oversee Ireland’s Six Nations campaign and summer matches against Georgia, Romania and Portugal.

While Easterby has the opportunity to help Ireland achieve their first ever Six Nations hat-trick, he has undoubtedly served his apprenticeship. He has to address some issues.

Firstly, Easterby must back a fly-half. The situation has become more complicated with the addition of Sam Prendergast, who started the last two autumn games, despite Jack Crowley keeping the 10 jersey for the majority of 2024.

Beyond that, there is a chance that Ireland will reclaim its status as the juggernaut that Farrell and his team occupied. Results, as a whole, remained positive in 2024, but their autumn performances failed to inspire.

Farrell will be keeping an eye on the sizable portion of the Ireland squad, for whom taking an Australian tour is a feasible goal, as they now wear the Lions hat.

The most popular Lions debuts are those of Ireland’s most consistent performers from the Farrell era. Caelan Doris has been mentioned as a potential skipper after leading Ireland through its autumn campaign in November, while Andrew Porter, who missed the 2021 tour due to injury, has a strong case for the loose-head prop role, and scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park, who has been a contender for the nine jersey, is also mentioned as a potential skipper.

Tadhg Beirne, Dan Sheehan, Josh van der Flier and Hugo Keenan are others whose omissions would come as a real shock.

The Six Nations will be crucial in determining whether Crowley or Prendergast are ready for a Lions tour, and those are those who will hope to cause Farrell some trouble.

Warren Gatland’s 2021 call-up of James Ryan will be in order, while Ryan Baird, Joe McCarthy, and Ciaran Frawley will aim to make an appearance at the Six Nations.

While the men’s team must wait nearly three years before a shot at World Cup redemption, the women’s side will be back in the big time in this year’s tournament.

Ireland will be desperate for a strong showing in England after failing to qualify for the 2021 edition, which included a heartfelt WXV1 victory over New Zealand.

Although Ireland and Japan and Spain are in Ireland’s World Cup group, Bemand’s side have reason to believe that despite having defeated Australia and the USA in their most recent series of games, they are also confident.

Bemand has the option to work with Erin King, one of the rising stars of women’s rugby, in addition to a solid core of experienced players. The Australia-born flanker, who played for Ireland Sevens at the Olympics, won the match with two tries off the bench before earning player of the match against the USA.

It led to the 21-year-old being named World Rugby’s breakthrough player of the year, with Aoife Wafer, Linda Djougang, Dorothy Wall and Neve Jones also enjoying strong years for Bemand’s side.