The 'vulnerability' that has Alan Quinlan concerned about Ireland

Former back-rower Alan Quinlan has explained the one concern he has about the hotly fancied Ireland as they head into a 2023 World Cup year which begins with this Saturday’s Guinness Six Nations opener away to Wales. Andy Farrell’s team is currently No1 in the World Rugby rankings and aside from being touted to win a first Six Nations title since the 2018 Grand Slam, they have also been heavily backed to succeed at the World Cup, a tournament where they have never before gone beyond the quarter-finals.

Ex-Munster player Quinlan, who won 27 caps during his Test career through to 2008, has enjoyed watching how Ireland have developed in recent years under Farrell, reserving particular praise for the potency of their attack under assistant coach Mike Catt.

However, despite all the encouraging progress, one nagging doubt remains. “Ireland aren’t the biggest team in the world but there are a lot of intelligent footballers and good players, so cohesively their biggest strength is the sum of their parts, not the individual. Ireland are very well-balanced and have more strings to their bow.

“If there is any sort of worry or vulnerability about Ireland, it's that power and size situation. If they are not on the money they can be vulnerable and they can be got at. Every team they play against is going to try to smash Ireland physically. That is the intrigue - how Ireland cope with dealing with that physicality.”

Regarding the flourish in the Ireland attack, Quinlan told Six Nations Odds: “There were a lot of question marks about the attack and the predictability about Ireland… but their game has developed to the point that they are not going to change the way they are now trying to keep the ball alive and attack and be ambitious,” he said, adding that scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park is the player that makes it all tick.

“He brings real energy pace and tempo to Ireland's game and he is just a really good footballer, a really good reader of the game as well. He is a real sniper, a running half-back who wants to tap and go and keep pace and tempo. That is the way Ireland have got to play if they are going to be successful because when you come up against South Africa, England or France, you are not going to overpower them upfront. You have to hope to get parity and have enough ball to attack and get the multi-phase game going.”

While Ireland will understandably lean on their already established stars, Quinlan tipped a young forward to potentially be their breakthrough player in the years to follow. "Joe McCarthy, the second row from Leinster, is a superb physical player who Paul O’Connell has a lot of time for. He believes in Joe, that he can really develop as a player and be a top-class international."