The Irish in Britain, including those of Irish descent, make up a significant part of the UK population. Here, you will find news, entertainment, events, sports and features from the local Irish Post newspaper.

By David Thorpe

The Autumn internationals will have taught Ireland coach Eddie O’Sullivan much about the future of Irish rugby.

Andrew Trimble’s excellent introduction at the top level, culminating in a fine pair of tries in the defeat of Romania, has given Ireland another quality option in attack, but scrum-half Kieran Campbell failed to inspire confidence that he can challenge Peter Stringer.

Denis Leamy and Johnny O’Connor, meanwhile, cemented their places at the heart of the Irish pack.

The pack is the main area where changes will have to be made before the Six Nations, with several performers revealing themselves to be well past their best at this level.

The continued dependence on David Humphreys to provide an alternative to Ronan O’Gara at out-half displays a lack of depth in a key position and worryingly there appear to be few young contenders emerging.

The embarrassing defeat at the hands of the All Blacks showed that Ireland need to be more physically competitive against the top international sides.

Against Australia the obvious lack of belief and the absence of a creative thrust wasted Ireland’s superiority of possession and cost us victory against a southern hemisphere side that was there for the taking.

That will have to be addressed before the next World Cup and players such as the promising Peter Bracken and Shane Jennings will have to be given a run.