There was scarcely a whiff of atmosphere when New Zealand beat Ireland in Dublin last year. After his sabbatical with the British and Irish Lions, Andy Farrell is back in his day job in earnest this week. Back then, Ireland lost their opening two games away to Wales and at home to France before responding with wins over Italy, Scotland and England. The challenges of this year alone are going to stand us in great stead to learn from those experiences. After all, this came within three days of Farrell initially naming a 34-man squad featuring 21 Leinster players to one from Munster, on top of 14 Leinster players taking part in the Lions tour down under compared with just Tadhg Beirne from Munster.

Source: The Irish Times October 28, 2025 22:32 UTC