Andy Farrell will take over from Joe Schmidt as Ireland Head Coach after the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan.
Farrell, who was defence coach for The British & Irish Lions on both the 2013 and 2017 Tours, joined Ireland after the 2016 Six Nations. Ireland have since won the Grand Slam, a first Test series on Australian soil since 1979 and beaten New Zealand twice. They are currently in second place in the World Rugby rankings.
Farrell is widely seen as one of the best defence coaches in the game and was central to the Lions series win in Australia in 2013 and the drawn series against New Zealand in 2017.
Remarkably, Farrell-coached defences have prevented the All Blacks from scoring a single try twice in recent matches with the 2017 Lions and Ireland both achieving the feat.
IRFU High Performance Director David Nucifora said: “We are incredibly fortunate to have a coach of the calibre of Andy Farrell in Irish Rugby. He has proven through his work ethic and success with Ireland and the Lions over the last number of years that he is the person to take Irish Rugby forward after RWC 2019.”
