Jackman: Ireland still need to find more squad depth

RTÉ rugby analyst Bernard Jackman believes that Saturday's Six Nations loss to France demonstrated that Ireland still need to deepen their squad ahead of the 2023 World Cup.

Les Blues were 30-24 winners at Stade de France, and speaking on RTÉ's Against the Head, Jackman said that the defeat provided a valuable lesson for Andy Farrell’s side.

"France were a different level physically but also [in their] skillset," said Jackman.

"They have six or seven players who can turn a game on its head.

"I think the learning for us is can we get more depth before the World Cup? Our bench isn't geared up to come on and actually give impact, it’s more of a bench to come on and protect a lead because it’s stacking in experience, which is great.

"The way France used their bench, by the 55th minute they’d changed their full front five. They take off Paul Willemse and bring on Romain Taofifenua, they take off their full front row, who are very, very good.

"Tadhg Furlong and Andrew Porter were still on the field in the 72nd, 73rd minute before we made changes. That’s the challenge for us.

"France went to Australia last summer and left all their front-liners behind. They found [Cameron] Woki, they found [Melvyn] Jaminet; Jaminet was playing second division last year and now they have trust in these players, the age profile is good.

"My worry for us is, it’s going to be very difficult to find power to match that front five. It’s very difficult to find players to match [Damian] Penaud.

"Can we find more depth with x-factor? [Robert] Baloucoune, is he going to be able to make a difference? That’s what we need to find out very quickly."

"Our bench isn't geared up to come on and actually give impact"@bernardjackman explains how the loss to France shows