Former Ireland international Stephen Ferris believes that Mike Catt has a lot to offer Irish rugby but sounded a note of caution about the number of English coaches plying their trade in Ireland.

Catt is set to join Ireland from Italy as attack coach after the autumn's Rugby World Cup.

The former England coach will be reunited with former England colleague Andy Farrell, who will take over from Joe Schmidt as Ireland head coach after the World Cup in Japan.

Catt's impending arrival will put all of England's World Cup 2015 coaches on Irish shores, with Stuart Lancaster excelling at Leinster and Graham Rowntree joining Munster.

Ferris speaking on 2fm's Game On was asked whether Catt would prove to be a success in Ireland and replied: "Yeah I think so. They probably scoured the market to see who’s out there and Mike Catt obviously has a good relationship with Andy Farrell who is going to become the main man with Ireland.

"I think it’s a good appointment.

He’s coming from an Italian side who probably haven’t lived up to his expectations and have struggled a big the last couple of years.

"Mike Catt is a seasoned professional with 70-odd caps for England and a couple of World Cup finals, so he comes with great pedigree and I think the lads will warm to him nicely."

However Ferris did admit to concern about the lack of Irish coaches within the international and provincial set-up.

"Maybe slightly for me, there’s too much of an English feel around this Irish team at the minute," he said.

"I think they’re coaches see teams that are on the up and Munster with the appointment of [Stephen] Larkham as well, he sees that there’s an opportunity there for them to come good.

"But for me it’s almost like, Jerry Flannery - gone, Felix Jones - gone.

"I think Mark McCall is the only one that’s really sticking his hand up to say that when Andy Farrell leaves or moves on or gets sacked, you never know, that he might put his hand up to be the next Irish coach.

"I think fair play to the lads, they’ve seen opportunities, the English guys and they’re going to give it their all and you can’t doubt what they’re going to bring. Look at Lancaster and what he’s brought, Johnny Sexton loves working under him.

"But fair play to the lads and hopefully they bring a lot to Irish rugby over the coming years."