Pathways, clubs, and reviving the women's game - 5 major tasks facing David Humphreys in his new IRFU role

It's been just over a year since David Nucifora hinted that the plans were being laid for his departure from the role of IRFU performance director.

The Australian will leave his role next summer after a decade in the position as the head of the professional game in this country, with former Ireland out-half David Humphreys tasked with overseeing the national sides' long-term strategies, as well as the four provinces.

The 52-year-old will return to rugby in 2024 after a brief spell in cricket with the ECB, and will work alongside Nucifora initially to smooth the transition from one regime to the next.

And the former Ulster and Gloucester director of rugby (below) will have a packed in-tray when he takes up his office in March.

PLAYER PATHWAYS

While Johnny Sexton and Keith Earls have retired, and others like Cian Healy, Peter O’Mahony, Conor Murray and Bundee Aki head towards the twilight of their careers, Ireland’s recent successes at Under-20 level indicate that there is a golden generation of players ready to backbone Irish rugby for the next decade.

But currently Irish rugby is struggling to work through the backlog of talent in certain positions.

The United Rugby Championship has been a successful venture for the provinces, but the trade-off is that a shorter league campaign, and the end of the British and Irish Cup, has resulted in smaller squads and fewer first team opportunities for younger players to get senior rugby experience.

This isn’t a new issue; Nucifora addressed the topic in his State of the Union briefing in October 2022, and it was part of the reasoning for the Emerging Ireland tour of South Africa just over a year ago.

There have been calls for the IRFU to establish a fifth pro team to spread the wealth out,