O’Sullivan was named boss of the USA earlier this year, returning to America for the second time in ten years and with it ending almost 12 months out of the game.

The 50-year-old, who was assistant coach and technical director with USA from 1997 to 1999, guided the Irish to 50 victories from 2001 to 2008.

O’Sullivan’s Ireland was eliminated from the 2007 World Cup by an Argentinean side that went on to reach the semi-finals in France.

And with the cream of Argentinean rugby plying their trade in Europe – 25 of the 29 touring squad either played in France, England or Italy in 2008 – the former Irish No.1 insists the Pumas have got it spot on.

“The model that Argentina has used to get to where they are in the world rankings is what I want to achieve,” said O’Sullivan. “They tried to get as many players as possible playing in European leagues

“Realistically the distances involved in America means the chances of us having a professional league is a long way off.

“We instead need to concentrate on matching Argentina and getting our players playing in Europe. There is no doubt that there are the players out here that could play back in England.

“People like Mike MacDonald at Leeds Carnegie and Dan Lyle at Bath before that has proven that players in America have the ability and there is no doubt that the desire here is fantastic.”