'Farrell absence a chance to test new coach in 2025'

Andy Farrell's sabbatical to focus on leading the British and Irish Lions in 2025 will give Ireland the chance to test a coach in the "highest pressure environment in the Six Nations", says new Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) high performance director David Humphreys.

Farrell will step away from his duties as Ireland head coach after the autumn internationals ahead of the Lions' tour of Australia next year.

The IRFU are tasked with finding a suitable replacement to oversee Ireland's bid for a third successive Six Nations title, but Humphreys is not fazed by the process.

He said: "You talk about coaching succession, this will give us a chance to bring someone else in at a very important time for the national team and test them in probably the highest pressure environment in the Six Nations.

"Andy's away for six months but he'll still be very much involved in that process of who's going to come in.

"After [this summer's Test series against South Africa], we're planning to sit down and look at how we're going to run the next season."

Ireland defence coach Simon Easterby, who will lead this year's Emerging Ireland tour in South Africa, is a candidate to step in for Farrell, as is forwards coach Paul O'Connell.

Humphreys also did not rule out the possibility of bringing in another coach from one of the four provinces.

"That will be part of the discussion of course," said Humphreys, who played 72 times for Ireland during a 10-year Test career.

"Once we knew who's coming to come in and fill Andy's shoes on an interim basis, we'll then look at the overall makeup of the coaching team if that requires some other expertise, we'll work at whether that comes from within or outside.

"That's a decision for a few months' time."

Humphreys arrives at the IRFU at an interesting time. In addition to Farrell's temporary departure next year, the men's and women's sevens teams are preparing for the Paris Olympics while the Ireland women's 15s team have a World Cup in England to look forward next year.

The men's team's bid to finally end nearly 40 years of World Cup heartache ended in agony in Paris last year with defeat by the All Blacks, but Humphreys says he will "leave no stone unturned" while overseeing Ireland's World Cup preparations during his tenure.

"It's a question which has been posed since all of us as rugby players," Humphreys said when asked what gives him confidence that Ireland will finally break through under his watch.

"I remember watching David Kirk playing at the World Cup in 1987. Since then, any of us who have come through, that's been the aspiration.

"We all want to be part of an organisation of a team that wins the World Cup. We will be leaving no stone unturned in trying to do that."

Humphreys added that Ireland could not have had "better preparation" for last year's World Cup in France, in which they won all four Pool B games - including a 13-8 victory over eventual winners South Africa - before falling to New Zealand in the quarter-final.

"In the end, we lost to New Zealand by one score.

"We came in (to the tournament) 17 games unbeaten and we had very few injuries in the competition. So, to me, that's not a negative. That's sport. Of course we want to win it but the nature of sport is sometimes you just don't win."