It’s just under two years since Andy Farrell picked a team for a Six Nations match, and when he does reveal his matchday squad for Ireland’s Guinness Six Nations opener against France in Paris Tuesday morning, it will be a much different side to his last in March 2024.
Having handed the reins over to Simon Easterby for last year’s championship while he concentrated on the British and Irish Lions, the Ireland head coach returned in November where his side looked sluggish and out of sorts.
Suggestions of a Lions hangover in that Autumn Nations Series were understandable, but with a good block of provincial rugby under their belts since then, there can be no such excuses this time around.
Farrell’s…