The Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) has appointed four Provincial Talent coaches to support the identification and development of talented underage players in Ireland.

The appointments are part of an ongoing strategic investment in the Player Pathway which is being driven by the IRFU’s High Performance Unit under Performance Director David Nucifora.
 
The four Provincial Talent coaches are Trevor Hogan (Leinster), Colm Tucker (Connacht), Mark Butler (Munster) and Michael Black (Ulster). 
 
Hogan represented Leinster for five season and played 59 times for the province, and also represented Munster and Ireland. As a coach Hogan helped Nenagh Ormond achieve promotion to All-Ireland League Division 2A and has coached a number of Dublin underage club and schools sides.

David Nucifora, IRFU Performance Director, commented on the appointments and the role that the Provincial Talent coaches will play: 

“Their role is an investment on the IRFU’s behalf into the game to make sure that we are working across all areas of the game to identify the best talent.   
 
“There is one talent coach appointed per province and they will be working with the domestic rugby staff looking at kids from the age of 15 and 16 and to ensure that we have the best structures in place to be able to identify talent and bring that best talent into the development pathways. These coaches will then be mandated to help manage that talent through the pathway.
 
“We are trying to make sure we are as efficient as we can possibly be in the area of talent identification. A lot of the onus will be in the areas outside of the traditionally captured areas of talent. 
 
“The Schools system is an obvious area of where we know where the talent is and we will continue to work with them but the role of the Provincial Talent Coaches will be to work closely with Clubs and other schools where rugby is not the main sport to make sure that we are actually identifying more potential talent that we can bring into the pathway to broaden the talent pool.
 
“It’s a really exciting addition to our staff on the ground and something that I believe is going to add value over time for Irish rugby.”