“That would be too late,” he said. “Too late for me to wait for that. It would be too much of a risk. I would be somewhat out of touch with players by 2026, and there will be a lot of good players coming on the scene by 2026, good players who are playing now who would be looking for the captaincy. That would create a risk I’d never get the job. As much as I’d like to be the captain in Ireland, I think the risk outweighed the reward of waiting.”