AFTER weeks of painstaking work in the gym and — if the lessons of four years ago have been absorbed — plenty of ball work and contact drills on the manicured playing surfaces of Carton House, the Irish squad will get a first indication of where their preparations lay when they face Scotland in Murrayfield this Saturday.

A split looks to be quickly brewing in southern hemisphere rugby after South Africa conceded it was exploring the possibility of breaking away from SANZAR.