DAVID HUMPHREYS is confident Ireland will be okay without Andy Farrell in the Championship – but he insisted he still wants him leading the team long-term.
Ireland kick off their Six Nations campaign on Saturday against England as they look to make it three Championships in a row without inspirational head coach Farrell.
He is on secondment with the Lions this summer as assistant coach Simon Easterby steps up temporarily.
And while it looks like an audition for Easterby, Humphreys insisted it is not part of succession-planning as he hopes Farrell remains beyond his current contract for the 2027 World Cup.
Humphreys said: “You’d like Andy to stay for as long as he can in terms of how highly he is regarded and how highly he is rated.
“Andy Farrell will be missed for any coaching team. In my opinion he’s the best rugby coach in the world and that’s why he’s become such an important part of what we do.
“Succession in sport, you can have a plan but very rarely does it follow because so many different things can crop up.
“But I’m very confident that the system that’s here and the coaches we have inside and outside the system that when the time comes, we’ll be well-resourced.”
And he insisted that Easterby and his coaching staff can ensure that Ireland do not Farrell over the next seven weeks.
He added:“Yes, Andy isn’t here but nothing else has changed.
“Simon has been a big part of the success over the last few years, he has head coach experience and I have no doubt he’ll thrive under the pressure that will come with head coach over the next few weeks.
“Having been on the Emerging Ireland tour and seen how Simon and Paulie (O’Connell), John Fogarty, and Andrew Goodman work together, I have absolutely no doubt it will be an easy transition in the next few months.”
Humphreys is also confident that Ireland will be much better in the next seven weeks that they were in last November’s Series.
While Ireland won three of four games as they beat Argentina, Fiji and Australia after a loss to New Zealand, performances well well below expectations in Farrell’s final games.
But Humphreys is confident that is an aberration due to an unusual build-up as players’ seasons started late due to the extended 2023-24 campaign.
He added: “When the review was taken of the November series, when you look before that, coming into that competition, the provinces weren’t playing particularly well, some of our key players were probably struggling a bit with their form.
“Compare that with the last month where I think you’ve seen a lot of our top players playing really well in Europe.
“That’s why we’re going into the Six Nations in a really good spot. The players are playing with a lot more confidence that comes from having played well.”
