Widening the net: Irish rugby striving to diversify talent pool

The day after Ireland were beaten in Paris, Blackrock and St Michael's faced off in Donnybrook, two schools who between them provided seven of the starting XV against France.

As much as there is no debate about the incredible quality of player that the Irish school system produces, equally, it’s not up for debate that it’s tradionally been from a narrow base.

Ahead of that Guinness Six Nations match there were a number of articles highlighting the diversity of background from which Fabien Galthie selected his squad.

Brushes with the law, running with gangs in the street, rugby as a way of avoiding a life of addiction and escaping poverty of a former French colony were some of the themes of Les Bleus.

It brought to mind a passage from Keith Earls' recent book.

Uniquely positioned as an active and crucial member of the Munster and Ireland squads, his words carry weight.

Earls' background, coming from the working-class streets of Moyross in Limerick, with a father who also represented Munster, and journey through the ranks, first with province, then Ireland and the Lions affords him a unique view of the modern game.

"The new generation of professionals nearly live like monks now. From the age of fourteen or fifteen they’re aiming at a pro contract.

"They might have their parents pushing themselves in that direction too. I’d be concerned that they are not getting the chance to enjoy their teenage years.

"And you’d wonder does it take away from their personality?" he asks in Fight or Flight, the award-winning autobiography he wrote with Tommy Conlon, where he details his own mental health struggles.

"Does the pressure to conform quench their individuality a little bit? Because you need to be yourself at the end of the day. It took me a