Potts was speaking to reporters at the Aviva Stadium on Thursday as the IRFU launched its latest strategic plan.
During the 50-minute briefing, former Ireland and Ulster fly-half David Humphreys spoke to the media for the first time since his appointment as the IRFU’s high performance director in November.
Humphreys, who was director of performance operations with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) before joining the IRFU, laid out his vision for Irish rugby over the next five years.
Part of that vision, Humphreys says, is to ensure the Irish rugby underage and provincial system is producing enough quality players across the men’s and women’s games.
In recent years, the Ireland men’s team has benefitted from World Rugby’s three-year residency rule, with New Zealand-born players Jamison Gibson-Park, Bundee Aki and James Lowe all starring for Andy Farrell’s side.
But Humphreys is keen to see the Irish system produce “X-factor” players.
“You only need to look at the Irish team that goes out there to see that the X-factor comes from Gibson-Park, Bundee Aki, James Lowe,” said Humphreys, who replaces David Nucifora in the IRFU’s leadership structure.
“The three-year residency is now gone; it is five years. I don’t think that you are going to see the same, not just in Ireland but across the world, who rely on it more than we do.
“Because of that challenge we have to have our own system here producing not just more but better players across the system. We have to be creative where we go and find players whether that is from other sports, which we will continue to do and try and do it better.”
