Irish Rugby Grapples With Slower Game And Aerial Battles On All Fronts

Irish rugby battles new kicking laws as provinces and Andy Farrell’s side adapt to aerial contests, set-pieces and questions over style and progress.

Dec 10, 2025 by Philip Bendon

Irish Rugby Grapples With Slower Game And Aerial Battles On All Fronts

Irish rugby spent the last decade chasing tempo and chaos. Right now, it feels trapped in the sky.

From Munster to Leinster, Ulster to Connacht, and all the way up to Andy Farrell’s national team, the sport here is wrestling with the same problem: a game increasingly dominated by contestable kicks and set-piece, shaped by World Rugby’s latest directives and exploited ruthlessly by the biggest packs and best aerial athletes on the planet.

Munster senior coach Mike Prendergast did not bother to dress it up this week. Speaking before his side’s Champions Cup pool clash with Gloucester at Páirc Uí Chaoimh, the man in charge of the province’s attack made it clear he believes the November 2024 crackdown on kick escorting has dragged the sport backward.

“The reality is, you look at ball in play now, and ball in play in most games has dropped off,” he said. “I think when you strip it back, and for anyone that's watching games at the moment, whether it's international, URC, there haven't been standout games.”

Without escorts tracking back to protect receivers, chasers now get clean runs at high balls. The theory was more contests in the air. The reality, in Prendergast’s eyes, has been more knock ons, more scrums and more tedious aerial ping pong.

“It's obvious to see it's becoming a box kick game,” he said. “You receive it, you play two or three phases, and you generally kick back. If that doesn't happen, you either catch it, or there's a knock on, and we're talking scrums, and then we're going from set-piece to set-piece.”

Prendergast is not arguing for a return to chaos for its own sake. He is pointing out that the game’s risk-reward has been flipped in favor of the defensive team with the better jumper and the bigger scrum.

“It's coming down to aerial wingers, the best guys in the air, the biggest scrums,” he said. “You put that ball in the air, and you catch it, and as a defensive team, it's generally hard enough to play against that.”

At test level, world champion South Africa and Steve Borthwick’s England have adapted quickest, building their entire pressure game off kicks that hang forever and a backfield that treats every bomb as a scoring opportunity. Ireland felt that reality in full when the Springboks pummeled the Irish at scrum time and in the air in a chaotic, card strewn Aviva Stadium test that stretched past the two-hour mark.

“It was a really weird game, very, very strange,” said South Africa defense coach Jerry Flannery. “I don't think either team will be entirely happy with how they executed their gameplan but Ireland can be proud of the resilience they showed when they were down significant numbers.”

Flannery did not pretend the Boks had not found an edge.

“The obvious one was the upper hand we got at the scrum and so that gave us an in,” he said, adding later that the Springboks are “leaders in world rugby when it comes to physicality.” Yet, even from inside the South African camp, the former Munster hooker pushed back at the growing narrative that Ireland is sliding.

“We have been a little bit spoiled in Ireland for a while,” he said. “People are now starting to panic a little bit. Ireland have a fantastic coaching group and are a really tight group; lots of good, young players coming through... I wouldn't panic. Massive quality there.”

That tension between genuine issues and overreaction is everywhere in the Irish game right now.

Leinster is the clearest example.

Leo Cullen’s side shipped back-to-back defeats in South Africa in the URC, then lost at home to Munster. Even last weekend’s 45-28 win over Harlequins did not completely quiet the noise. Their forwards coach Robin McBryde admitted this is a very different start to the season.

“In a funny way, it's, I wouldn't say it's refreshing, but it's a different challenge so it's a different mindset,” he said. “The fact that we've got our backs against the wall from the start of the season, it is a little bit different.”

Jack Conan echoed that sense of being tested early.

“It's definitely been a harder start to the year,” the Ireland backrow said. “We probably haven't hit our straps consistently. The onus is on us as players is to make sure we're better and we're putting those pieces together and searching for that 80-minute performance because we haven't gotten it yet. But yeah, I wouldn't say it's time for panic.”

If the new kicking landscape is exposing flaws, Leinster is at least armed with one of the form aerial players in the country. Tommy O’Brien has gone from a fringe summer tourist in Georgia and Portugal to an ever-present in a four-test November, while doubling as a key figure in Leinster’s back three.

“High balls are becoming such a big part of the game, they can be so hard to contest now with there not being any guiding allowed or not being allowed anyone to block anyone,” he said. The directive has created “straightforward one-on-ones in the air,” which suits the likes of England fullback Freddie Steward and the Leicester Tigers perfectly.

O’Brien knows exactly what awaits on Friday night at Welford Road.

“I've actually had the pleasure of playing over there twice in European games, off the bench, both times, and we've gotten really good results, but I've always been like, 'wow, this is incredible, the atmosphere,'” he said. “It's a small pitch, and I've loved playing there... it's been like a hostile old-school environment, and the changing rooms are tiny as well. They don't give you anything, but that almost makes the victory sweeter when you do get them.”

Where Leinster is stressed, Ulster look energized.

Richie Murphy’s side returned from the autumn break with a 47-13 URC win over Benetton and a 61-7 demolition of Racing 92 in the Challenge Cup. Crucially, some of their next generation are driving it.

Hooker Tom Stewart, who once tore the URC apart with 16 tries in a single season, is finally healthy again after two brutal years of injuries. He captained Ireland A in November against Spain and was back among the tries against Racing.

“Any time you pull on a green jersey is really special,” he said. “I kind of knew coming back, it was just another step for me to progress my game and another step for me to get better.”

Murphy, eyeing Cardiff away before a run of inter pros against Leinster, Connacht and Munster, knows this next block will show whether Ulster is serious.

“We're coming off the back of a couple of good wins,” he said. “We just have to make sure we keep our foot on the pedal and not lose sight of the things that have made us good over the last few weeks.”

In the west, Connacht is feeling the cost of its own high-tempo ambitions.

Stuart Lancaster’s side blew a 21-5 halftime lead in a Challenge Cup loss to Ospreys, then watched four players drop out injured for the Black Lions' visit to Galway. Mack Hansen has undergone invasive foot surgery and is facing “months, for sure” on the sidelines, according to scrum and contact coach Cullie Tucker.

On the field, Tucker was blunt about why Connacht let Ospreys back in.

“We were unbelievably clinical in the 22 early," he said. "But then, we just weren't converting when we were in there."

For him, it came down to “execution” and “a little bit more accuracy” in the red zone.

All of this plays into the bigger question: what kind of team will Ireland be when the squad walks into Eden Park in July 2026, chasing a first win at the All Blacks’ fortress in the new Nations Championship?

New Zealand already has circled that fixture as part of a run at home that also includes France and Italy.

Ireland, meanwhile, will have cycled another generation of provincial form players through Andy Farrell’s squad by then. They will have a women’s side that has kicked off a Six Nations campaign at a renovated Dexcom Stadium in Galway, brought test rugby back to Belfast’s Affidea Stadium and staged a standalone women’s international at Aviva Stadium.

The laws have tilted the game back toward heavyweights, high balls and set-piece dominance.

South Africa has shown how far you can push that model. Prendergast is right to say the spectacle has suffered and right to demand that World Rugby “sit around the table” again.

But the answer for Irish rugby is not to complain and wait. It is to do exactly what its best coaches already are trying to do: find “little kinks” in the system, as Prendergast put it, squeeze more out of the aerial contest, sharpen execution in the 22 and use this awkward period to expose weaknesses before the next cycle kicks in.

If Ireland arrives at Eden Park with that work done, nobody will be talking about directive documents or escorts. They will be watching to see if a team that has learned to live in the air can finally land a punch in Auckland.

Investec Champions Cup Round 1 Scores

Friday Scores:

DHL Stormers 23, Bayonne 17 | FINAL
Sale Sharks 21, Glasgow Warriors 26 | FINAL

Saturday Scores

Saracens 47, Clermont 10 | FINAL
Bordeaux 46, Vodacom Bulls 33 | FINAL
La Rochelle 39, Leicester Tigers 20 | FINAL
Leinster Rugby 45, Harlequins 28 | FINAL
Bristol Bears 17, Scarlets 16 | FINAL
Bath Rugby 40, Munster Rugby 14 | FINAL

Sunday Scores:

Northampton Saints 35, Pau 27 | FINAL
Toulouse 56, Hollywoodbets Sharks 19 | FINAL
Gloucester Rugby 34, Castres 14 | FINAL
Edinburgh Rugby 33, Toulon | Final

Investec Champions Cup Round 2

Friday, Dec. 12

3 p.m. ET: Leicester Tigers vs. Leinster Rugby, Mattioli Woods Welford Road

Saturday, Dec. 13

8 a.m. ET: DHL Stormers vs. La Rochelle, Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium
10:15 a.m. ET: Hollywoodbets Sharks vs. Saracens, Hollywoodbets Kings Park
10:15 a.m. ET: Clermont Auvergne vs. Sale Sharks, Stade Marcel-Michelin
12:30 p.m. ET: Bordeaux-Bègles vs. Scarlets, Stade Chaban-Delmas
12:30 p.m. ET: Munster Rugby vs. Gloucester Rugby, SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh
3 p.m. ET: Glasgow Warriors vs. Toulouse, Scotstoun Stadium

Sunday, Dec. 14

8 a.m. ET: Harlequins vs. Bayonne, Twickenham Stoop
8 a.m. ET: Castres Olympique vs. Edinburgh Rugby, Stade Pierre-Fabre
10:15 a.m. ET: Toulon vs. Bath Rugby, Stade Félix Mayol
10:15 a.m. ET: Northampton Saints vs. Vodacom Bulls, cinch Stadium @ Franklin’s Gardens
12:30 p.m. ET: Bristol Bears vs. Pau, Ashton Gate

Investec Champions Cup Round 3

Friday, Jan. 9

3 p.m. ET: Castres Olympique vs. Bath Rugby, Stade Pierre-Fabre
3 p.m. ET: Edinburgh Rugby vs. Gloucester Rugby, TBD

Saturday, Jan. 10

8 a.m. ET: Vodacom Bulls vs. Bristol Bears, Loftus Versfeld
10:15 a.m. ET: Clermont Auvergne vs. Glasgow Warriors, Stade Marcel-Michelin
12:30 p.m. ET: Leinster Rugby vs. La Rochelle, TBD
12:30 p.m. ET: Sale Sharks vs. Hollywoodbets Sharks, Salford Community Stadium
3 p.m. ET: Scarlets vs. Pau, Parc y Scarlets
3 p.m. ET: Leicester Tigers vs. Bayonne, Mattioli Woods Welford Road

Sunday, Jan. 11

8 a.m. ET: Harlequins vs. DHL Stormers, Twickenham Stoop
8 a.m. ET: Toulon vs. Munster Rugby, Stade Félix Mayol
10:15 a.m. ET: Bordeaux-Bègles vs. Northampton Saints, Stade Chaban-Delmas
12:30 p.m. ET: Saracens vs. Toulouse, StoneX Stadium

Investec Champions Cup Round 4

Friday, Jan. 16

3 p.m. ET: Pau vs. Vodacom Bulls, Stade du Hameau
3 p.m. ET: Bath Rugby vs. Edinburgh Rugby, The Rec

Saturday, Jan. 17

8 a.m. ET: Hollywoodbets Sharks vs. Clermont Auvergne, Hollywoodbets Kings Park
10:15 a.m. ET: Bayonne vs. Leinster Rugby, Stade Jean Dauger
10:15 a.m. ET: DHL Stormers vs. Leicester Tigers, DHL Stadium
12:30 p.m. ET: Toulouse vs. Sale Sharks, Stade Ernest Wallon
12:30 p.m. ET: Munster Rugby vs. Castres Olympique, Thomond Park
3 p.m. ET: Gloucester Rugby vs. Toulon, Kingsholm

Sunday, Jan. 18

8 a.m. ET: Bristol Bears vs. Bordeaux-Bègles, Ashton Gate
10:15 a.m. ET: Northampton Saints vs. Scarlets, cinch Stadium @ Franklin’s Gardens
10:15 a.m. ET: La Rochelle vs. Harlequins, Stade Marcel Deflandre
12:30 p.m. ET: Glasgow Warriors vs. Saracens, Scotstoun Stadium

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