Gordon D'Arcy backs Rory Best to lead Ireland in 2019 World Cup
Gordon D'Arcy, pictured, believes Joe Schmidt will want Rory Best to captain Ireland at the 2019 World Cup
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Former international Gordon D'Arcy believes Ireland will be best served during the 2019 World Cup in Japan under Rory Best's captaincy.
Having made his debut against New Zealand in 2005, Best has gone on to play 100 Tests for Ireland, joining an elite club that includes Brian O’Driscoll and Paul O’Connell. However, by the time the tournament in Japan kicks-off, Best will be 37 and his contract originally ends in 2018.
D'Arcy, who has played 82 Tests for Ireland between 1999 and 2015 said even though Best is the right option to lead the team for the mega event in 2019, head coach Joe Schmidt will look for contingency plans during the 2016 Six Nations tournament.
"I would be very surprised if Joe hasn't thought about who he would like to be captaining in the future," D'Arcy told Press Association Sport.
"The way Rory has conducted himself as captain, how he's led the team and how he's playing personally, I'm sure he would be delighted if Rory gets to the World Cup.
"But I'm sure he will have two or three contingencies in mind.
"There probably isn't a standout yet, but I would be confident we'll start seeing some potential candidates coming through in the Six Nations."
Ireland have Jamie Heapslip as the vice-captain for the Six Nations tournament while Conor Murray and Jonny Sexton also have a vast influence on the squad.
Earlier, England coach Eddie Jones stated that the red rose team have shortage in leadership candidates and he is undecided on who will lead the red rose team for the 2019 World Cup.
Ireland have CJ Stander and Peter O'Mahony, who have led Munster and D'Arcy, who had a 17-year career with Leinster believes Six Nations tournament will help Scmidt identify the potential candidates.
"For captaincy, your age is irrelevant: if you're the right guy, you're the right guy," said D'Arcy, speaking as part of his role in Accenture's analysis team.
"But I think Ireland will probably be in a position to draw up a shortlist by the end of the Six Nations.
"Leadership can't be taught, it has to be learned.
"You can't tell someone how to make decisions and how to act around his team-mates, and make good decisions that inspire other people.
"That's something that has to be learned culturally.
"There's a really strong culture in the Ireland team at the moment, there's a lot of homogeneity across the provinces and that's building into the national team really nicely."
