LONG READ Who will be replacing Ireland's ageing golden generation if they don't make RWC 2027

Speaking with Paul O’Connell after the November Test window closed, his mood was somewhat reflective and prudent. Learnings. Ireland’s forwards coach was buffeted by that perfect storm of costly lapses from his men, opponents seizing the upper-hand, consternation from fans and strict media scrutiny. There was a moment, early in the win over Japan, when Rónan Kelleher tossed a lineout dart and Ireland did not put a jumper in the air. The home crowd let out a collective groan.

Ireland tidied up their lineout against Australia. Ryan Baird and Dan Sheehan scolded the media for exaggerating matters. Next up were South Africa, who stole three Irish lineouts and severely disrupted another handful, all whilst utterly dominating the scrum. Lots of learnings.

During my chat with O’Connell, the subject of Joe McCarthy’s return and how vital he is to Ireland’s plans, over the coming years, lifted his mood. It was not just one McCarthy he was looking forward to having back in the fold, in 2026. O’Connell positively hummed about the Lions lock’s younger brother.

“It was great seeing Paddy McCarthy really kicking on, during that window,” O’Connell told me. “He’s a quick learner. You only have to tell him something once and he takes it fully on-board.

“It’s nice for those guys to come into camp, where they have a different coach looking at him, in a different way… We’ve been doing it a long time. I remember Josh van der Flier coming into training camp when he was very young. It certainly helps their development.”

By all accounts, Paddy McCarthy blew the Ireland coaching staff away during the recent window. He was going up against the likes of Tadhg Furlong and Finlay Bealham in scrummaging drills and putting it up to them. McCarthy toured with Ireland, to Georgia and Portugal, in the summer but did not play a minute. Such was the impression he made, last month, that he debuted against New Zealand and featured in all four Autumn Nations Series matches. O’Connell to likening the loosehead’s early camp impact to 2022 World Rugby Player of the Year, van der Flier should excite Irish fans.

As Garry Doyle pointed out in his RugbyPass feature on Ireland’s ageing spine, seven of the most recent squad were aged 33, with Bealham 34 and Bundee Aki 35. Ireland have two years, before the World Cup in Australia, to add integrate younger talents, hold their feet to the fire and see if they can add quality depth to their squad. Here are the best prospects to push the older guard for starting roles.

Paddy McCarthy (for Andrew Porter)

Since the 2021, Andy Farrell has overly relied on Porter. After the 2023 World Cup, the 29-year-old started 19 straight Tests (when not on Lions duty) with Cian Healy as his main back-up. ‘Church’ retired at the end of last season, as did Dave Kilcoyne, so Ireland brought in Leinster’s Jack Boyle for first crack at Test minutes. Boyle did a decent job in the Six Nations and started against Georgia and Portugal, in the summer.

Paddy McCarthy then stole his coaches’ attention. Like Porter, he has experience at tighthead, with Ireland U20s, but was moved to loosehead. He came into 2025/26 with six Leinster caps and an Ireland ‘A’ appearance, all as replacement. He began this campaign on the bench, against the Stormers, then started against the Bulls, Sharks and Munster before going into Ireland camp and jumping Boyle in the queue. Such was the impression he made against New Zealand and Japan, against whom he scored a try, that Farrell handed him a start against Australia.

Boyle and Michael Milne, down at Munster, look to be the other loosehead candidates but McCarthy has shoved to the front of the pack.

Thomas Clarkson (for Tadhg Furlong)

Ireland had three tightheads in the Lions squad for Australia, last summer. So, what is the problem? Well…

So much was hoped for Tom O’Toole, who is still only 27, but potential and the odd bright spot will only buy you so much time. The issue for Ireland, these past five years, is that Furlong’s deputy is a year older than him. Furlong and Finlay Bealham will be 35 and 36, respectively, by the time the World Cup rolls around. I would be amazed if both make it to Australia for that one.

Thomas Clarkson is another from Leinster’s production line and both O’Connell and scrum coach John Fogarty like what they see. He has picked up 10 Test caps in the past 13 months (three as starter) and shown he can be a ball-carrying option with some nice moments in the win over Japan. He may never reach Furlong’s prolonged peak but looks a solid option for the guts of the next decade. A mention here, too, for Ulster’s Scott Wilson, who played for Ireland ‘A’ against Spain, recently.

Cormac Izuchukwu (for Tadhg Beirne)

There are a few candidates for the lock/blindside role that Beirne so brilliantly fills, but two of them have struggled with injuries and bad luck.

Ryan Baird is the same height and (give or take a pound) weight as Beirne, and can cover both positions. He is 26 now and finally starting to deliver on the promise shown as early as 2020 when he blazed in a hat-trick against a stacked Glasgow Warriors side, at The RDS. Game-long focus is his flaw – he was guilty of switching off for lineouts against New Zealand and Japan, in November. Just when it looked like he had tied down the No,6 jersey, he fractured his leg in the loss to South Africa.

Tom Ahern (Munster) and Cormac Izuchukwu (Ulster) are the other versatile options. Both are 25 but, due to injury issues, have only managed five Ireland appearances between them, so far. Izuchukwu has a Champions Cup hat-trick (against Exeter) and would have featured in the Autumn Nations had it not been for an early-season foot injury.

If you wanted to look at Beirne as solely a second row that needs replacing in the long-term, there are high hopes on these shores about Edwin Edogbo. Made his senior Munster debut aged 19 but missed 18 months of rugby after rupturing his Achilles tendon against Munster, in December 2023. He is back, banging bodies and much is expected of him.

Ruadhán Quinn (for Josh van der Flier)

The trickiest of areas for Andy Farrell to address. So much so that he drafted Caelan Doris in to play openside for the recent win over Australia. Van der Flier is 32 and still a senior figure in the squad, but openside cover is shallow.

Nick Timoney is a fine player for Ulster but Farrell does not seem entirely convinced. With plenty of blindside and No.8 options (Jack Conan, Cian Prendergast, Sean Jansen, Gavin Coombes, Brian Gleeson), we could see Doris feature at openside for a couple of 2026 Six Nations games.

Ruadhán Quinn caught the eye for Ireland U20s in the 2023 Six Nations – especially with his hat-trick against Scotland – and backed that up at that summer’s world championship. Made his Munster debut, before all that, at 18, in October 2022. Has blindside experience but Clayton McMillan is focusing him on the openside role. Played there for Ireland ‘A’ against Spain, last month.

John Hodnett is another that Farrell is not fully sold on. However, the head coach did admit that players that have previously been in camp, but not capped, could be worth another look.

Ben Murphy (for Jamison Gibson-Park)

Craig Casey is next man up for Ireland, thrives up-tempo and captained Ireland on their summer tour to Georgia and Portugal. Andy Farrell and his coaches clearly rate the 26-year-old and are keen to see him step up to the senior squad’s leadership group.

Behind Casey, there are two types of 9 that Ireland can go for. Nathan Doak is more like the tall, physical Conor Murray, who retired last summer, and a handy goal-kicker. If they want continuity, and players in that nippy Casey and Gibson-Park mould, they could look at Ben Murphy and Leinster’s Cormac Foley. Murphy has been a great signing by Connacht, edging out highly rated Matthew Devine and pushing Caolin Blade. 18 of his 21 Connacht appearances, since signing from Leinster, have been as a starter. He backed up Casey on that summer tour and started for Ireland ‘A’ against Spain.

Jude Postlethwaite & Hugh Gavin (for Bundee Aki and Robbie Henshaw)

Ireland’s current centre options are all on the wrong side of 30. When they brought in a new face it was Tom Farrell who, at 32, became the oldest Ireland back to make his Test debut since the game turned professional.

There is hope for Ireland in the sizeable forms of Jude Postlethwaite and Hugh Gavin (both are 6-foot-4 and weigh over 16 stone). Postlethwaite is flourishing at Ulster under his old Ireland U20s coach, Richie Murphy, and can cover 12 and 13. Gavin, a former Galway Minor footballer, is an exciting outside centre prospect, who cites Sonny Bill Williams as one of his big rugby idols.

James Hume was young gun on the scene, not long after Andy Farrell took over from Joe Schmidt, but suffered a groin injury in 2022, ACL tear in 2024, and has not played a Test since. Hume has six straight starts at outside centre for Ulster, this campaign, and is only 27 so there is a definite path back.

Jamie Osborne (for James Lowe)

The wisest option may be to quit shunting Jamie Osborne around the backline and bed him in for a long international career at inside centre. However, there are a couple of strong arguments to position him as genuine competition for Lowe.

Osborne, who can cover ever backline spot from flyhalf to fullback, has a tremendous left boot. Farrell relies on the boot of Lowe, but Osborne is capable of providing a similar service.  Added to that Osborne is very good in the air. In an age where contesting high balls has become more fraught, the Naas is a handy back three asset.

If Farrell liked what he saw from Tommy O’Brien on the right wing and Mack Hansen at fullback, he could also deploy Hugo Keenan on the left, when the Lions hero returns from his recent hip surgery, early next year. Connacht’s Shayne Bolton has a spark about him and may be a 2026 Six Nations squad inclusion.