Hogan impressed by 'incredibly competitive' Ireland panel

Hogan succeeded Declan Danaher as Ireland's defence coach

Ireland defence coach Hugh Hogan says his first six weeks in his new role have been "very positive".

Hogan joined Scott Bemand's revamped coaching team in August after spells with Leinster, Scarlets and Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath.

And he has been hugely impressed with the quality in the 35-strong panel in training ahead of one-off Test against Australia at the Kingspan Stadium on Saturday.

"It's been awesome, I'm really enjoying it," said Hogan. "It's been incredibly competitive, and that's where we want to get to.

"For any team to be successful we need to build depth. To get into a training squad is competitive. We had four weeks of quality Interpro games, so to actually pick the panel was difficult."

Sevens players have 'boosted' the squad

Murphy Crowe is one of five Irish sevens Olympians in the 35-player squad

Hogan takes over from Declan Danaher after his departure to Gloucester, and he is hoping to build on the defensive work done by his predecessor.

"We want to be aggressive and have a mindset of getting the ball back, so it's really important that we're building on the foundations of the Six Nations and I'm trying to add layers to what is in place."

After the Australia game the Ireland squad will be trimmed down to 30 players for their WXV1 campaign, which features games against New Zealand, Canada and the United States.

Ireland are missing experienced players such as captain Sam Monaghan as well as Beibhinn Parsons, Aoibheann Reilly, Natasja Behan, Katie Corrigan and Sadhbh McGrath through injury.

They are boosted, however, by the return of Olympians Stacey Flood, Eve Higgins, Emily Lane and Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe, all of whom featured in Ireland's sevens campaign at the recent Paris Games.

Hogan was keen to praise the impact of the sevens players since their integration into the group.

"We had the sevens players merge into the group post Olympics and that has been a wonderful boost because you have highly experienced athletes in one code of the game getting up to speed in the other," he explained.

"I'd give them immense credit, they have had a very positive attitude, buying into the environment, they are ready to learn and hungry to ask questions.

"It's a new challenge but they're more than able for it."