Two years ago, Ireland and France engaged in a battle for bragging rights at under-20 level. Coached by Richie Murphy, Ireland beat the French on their way to a Grand Slam title. Les Bleus secured a hefty revenge, sticking 50 points on Ireland in the World Championship final later that year.
Given the last Irish side to reach a global under-20 decider – back in 2016 – produced the likes of James Ryan, Andrew Porter, Hugo Keenan, Jimmy O’Brien, Max Deegan, Shane Daly and Will Connors, we may well look back at this 2023 crop as another premium vintage. So might France, only they’ve had a significant headstart.
When Fabien Galthié comes to town next week, he will have as many as seven players in his senior squad who played against Ireland at under-20 level two years ago. Louis Bielle-Biarrey is already a bona fide superstar. Having played on the team that lost to Ireland in the Six Nations, he missed out on the world under-20 crown because he had bigger fish to fry, namely Galthié’s World Cup preparation camp. Émilien Gailleton falls into the same category.
On the opposite flank, Théo Attisogbé looks to be keeping Damian Penaud out of the team. Both wingers played senior rugby while still under-20 eligible. So did backrow Marko Gazzotti, who has featured in this Six Nations alongside forward colleagues Hugo Auradou and Oscar Jégou. Centre Nicolas Depoortere is also in the squad. Posolo Tuilagi is not, but he did debut against Ireland in last year’s game in Marseilles. He too was young enough to play under-20s when he first pulled on a senior jersey.
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Contrast this potentially generational crop to Ireland’s equivalent. Just two members of that Grand Slam group who finished global runners-up have earned senior caps so far: Sam Prendergast and Gus McCarthy.
Others are undoubtedly in the picture. Diarmuid Mangan and James McNabney both trained with the senior team during this Six Nations. Paddy McCarthy, Conor O’Tighearnaigh, Brian Gleeson, Fintan Gunne, Hugh Gavin and Evan O’Connell all recently played for Ireland A. Regardless, despite producing comparable talent to France, Ireland have not had the same success at quickly turning these players into senior internationals.
Between the 2019 and 2023 World Cups, France handed out 49 new caps. In the same period, Ireland blooded 33 new players. Since the end of the most recent World Cup, 19 men have worn a senior jersey for the first time, compared to Ireland’s seven.
Is French rugby culture more willing to trust young talent? Is Irish rugby too conservative for its own good? Despite that narrative taking hold in some quarters, the answer isn’t as straightforward as many would have us think.
If anything, there is an argument that Ireland are actually more trusting when it comes to backing youth. Bielle-Biarrey may have been just 20 when he debuted, but he had 30 games of professional rugby under his belt for Bordeaux. Tuilagi had the same number for Pau. Auradou featured 36 times for the same club.
When Prendergast first appeared for Ireland, he had 20 professional games under his belt. McCarthy, the captain of that successful Ireland under-20s, had just six pro games.
Stories like this are not unfamiliar. Jack Crowley played for Munster 21 times before his international debut. Porter’s figure is a more miserly eight. Ryan debuted for Ireland before he ever featured in a senior game for Leinster. Gordon D’Arcy turned down a call-up from Warren Gatland so he could sit his Leaving Cert.
Ireland are not picking men as young as France, but they regularly find themselves selecting more inexperienced players. The Top14, alongside the ProD2, is a huge asset for French rugby. Having 30 professional sides, compared to Ireland’s four provinces, accelerates player development.
While Bielle-Biarrey and Depoortere have been featuring in arguably club rugby’s best backline, coached by Noel McNamara at Bordeaux, Gavin has struggled for Connacht game time, with Bundee Aki and Cathal Forde in his way. Gleeson has been projected as a future Lion by some in Ireland’s set-up, but he can’t get a start for Munster becasue of the form of Gavin Coombes.
That the provincial system has too few professional minutes to offer is not news to anyone, least of all the IRFU. Ireland A games have returned from the wilderness. We’ve seen two Emerging Ireland tours in three years, as well as the reintroduction of the second-string interpro competition.
Let the boys play.
This is why the debate around creating a so-called “fifth province” continues to crop up. If there were a greater number of pro minutes available to players, who’s to say Messrs Farrell and Easterby wouldn’t pick more 20-year-olds?
One area where France may well be braver is when they are offering debuts. Last year’s Six Nations opener against Ireland, billed at the time as the game of the championship, saw new caps handed to Nolan Le Garrec, Alexandre Roumat and Tuilagi.
Unless absolutely necessary, do Ireland blood players in similarly big games? Prendergast first appeared off the bench against Argentina. McCarthy and Crowley both debuted against Fiji. Ryan and Porter started with a second-string tour while the first-choice players were away with the Lions.
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This may well betray a differing attitude to risk. Or it illustrates how Ireland have to box clever given, on a good day, they are throwing players out there with half as much professional experience as their French counterparts.
While we may have shown how the narrative of Ireland refusing to give the kids a chance is a lazy one, the end result is the same. France have a younger team, but are they more successful?
Compare the matchday 23s for both countries from their final World Cup games 18 months ago. The Irish group had 1,099 caps between them and an average age of 29.3. France only had 755 caps at an average age of 27.6. Ireland and France both lost at the quarter-final stage.
Since the 2019 World Cup, France have blooded 28 more new players than Ireland. They have won 79.5 per cent of their games in that timespan. Ireland have won 81.6 per cent. In the past six years, Ireland have lifted two Six Nations titles to France’s lone triumph.
Of the debuts handed out by Ireland between the last two World Cups, 42 per cent made the 2023 squad. France saw 22 per cent of their newbies survive to the global showpiece.
Saying France are better at developing youth depends how you define success. In terms of quickly progressing stars from under-20 level, they undoubtedly have an advantage, thanks mainly to the size of their professional system.
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At plenty of positions, French depth supersedes that of Ireland. If we define success as producing players who win at senior level, though, based on the evidence of the last six years, nothing suggests that France are consistently developing better senior teams.
Whether France are only be starting to see the benefits of their recent youth focus, a policy that will force rivals such as Ireland to adjust their professional structure to better maximise talent, is another question entirely.
