Anderson - who begins his new role in August - joins the IRFU after a three-year stint with the Scottish Rugby Union, where he held a similar position alongside his duties as the national teams defensive coach.

As a former assistant coach for Melbourne Storm and the Australian World Cup-winning rugby league side of 2000, he arrives in Dublin with considerable experience from both codes of the game.

An IRFU statement read: The high-performance manager will be responsible for the development and implementation of a high-performance rugby pathway to cater for the progression of players through to the professional game.

This will encompass working with the national age grade representative sides and each of the provincial academy structures to ensure that a future pool of players will be provided for selection within the Irish provincial sides.