If Joe Schmidt could get a mulligan for one moment of what turned out to be a fairly average 2019 for Ireland, you’d guess it would be the first 20 minutes of the Six Nations campaign.

Ireland target a Triple Crown on Sunday at Twickenham against England, as they bid to maintain their perfect record in the tournament.

The head coach retained 23 players for a two-day camp in Cork last week, while 13 others returned were released back to their provinces to get game-time.

‘Narrative’ is not a word that pops up too often in media interviews, but Andrew Conway had it locked and loaded when he sat down for a sponsor’s event in Dublin. First was the, yes, narrative.

Chris Farrell and Jack O’Donoghue return to Munster.

Ireland must win key battles in the contact zone, writes Donal Lenihan.

Ronan O'Gara has tried to put himself in the Ireland boss’s shoes this week and he knows all too well that there’s no such thing as a one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to team selection.

Appearances off the bench have been few and far between across Peter O’Mahony’s eight seasons playing for Ireland.

Andy Farrell insisted continuity in Ireland team selection would not come at the expense of creativity as he kept changes to a minimum for Saturday’s Guinness Six Nations second-round visit of Wales to Dublin’s Aviva Stadium.

Ireland head coach Andy Farrell has made two enforced changes to the Ireland team to face Wales in Saturday's Six Nations clash.

Far from perfect though Ireland were last Saturday, Jonathan Sexton was on to something when pointing out that they are in a far better position after than 12 months previously when their Triple Crown and Grand Slam hopes were already in ruins.

Meanwhile, uncapped Leinster back-row Will Connors has been drafted into Andy Farrell's squad.

If Andy Farrell proves to be nothing more than a lucky general, then Ireland supporters are in for one hell of a ride in the coming years.

This is not France. There is no bottomless pit of players from which a head coach can pluck a new generation, as Fabien Galthié did for this Six Nations.

Earlier in the week, new head coach Andy Farrell made the point that he wanted his Irish team to stand for something.

Ireland were jaggy, a little confused structurally on both sides of the ball and under pressure in the scrum/maul, but they showed up to work in the hard moments in both halves and came out with a win, writes Tom Savage.

Ireland have a number of injury issues as they start preparations today to face Wales in Dublin this Saturday following an attritional 19-12 opening-round Guinness Six Nations win over Scotland.

Don’t mention the war? It would be nice not to have to but Ireland’s Six Nations opener takes place in the engorging shadow of last autumn’s ill-starred Asian campaign. Yes, we won’t be forgetting the debacle in Vietnam – sorry, I mean Japan – any time soon. The horror, the horror remains fresh in the memory.

As shakedown games go, this one ended up being a little more shaky than Ireland might have expected. The final score said 19-12 to Ireland but that didn’t really tell the story of the game so much as gesture vaguely in the direction of the side that took their chances with more efficiency, writes Tom Savage.

It may have been Hogg with the schoolboy error but Ireland's report card is clear: must do better, writes Brendan O'Brien.

Johnny Sexton starred on his first outing as permanent Ireland captain as Andy Farrell’s tenure as head coach began with an unconvincing 19-12 victory over Scotland.

"It was some effort, some effort. The rest we can build on."

Stuart Hogg’s cock-up at a crucial moment was in stark contrast to Ireland’s new skipper Johnny Sexton, writes Simon Lewis.

Scotland threw everything at the hosts in the closing stages but some heroic defence saw Ireland hold on.

There are two debutants today and they both happen to be No 8s – but whereas Caelan Doris has come through that well-established development pathway of Blackrock College, the Leinster Academy and the Leinster senior side, Scotland’s new face is a bolter from the blue.

Simon Easterby knows what it is to be dropped in at the deep end.

For all the elements that make up this brave new world for Andy Farrell and the Ireland team as they head into the 2020 Guinness Six Nations, it is one of the fundamental lessons from the disappointments of 2019 that will register the strongest on matchday one.

On the face of things, the similarities are unavoidable.

It's not just the new faces who must impress as Ireland kick off their Six Nations campaign tomorrow against Scotland.

The Super Rugby season kicks off tomorrow Down Under. But I’d like to talk about Tim Bateman.

He may share the same name and position as an international star of the recent past, but Ireland U20s flanker Sean O’Brien plans to make his own reputation.

The Leinster out-half was named Ireland captain by Andy Farrell for the upcoming Six Nations, replacing Rory Best, who retired after last year’s World Cup.

A new-look team was unveiled yesterday as the national team head coach showed his hand for this Saturday’s 2020 Guinness Six Nations opener at home to Scotland

Saturday’s Six Nation’s opener between Ireland and Scotland brings together two coaches at different stages of their journey. Both will be feeling the pressure, but for different reasons, writes Donal Lenihan

Simon Lewis identifies the three biggest talking points after new Ireland boss Any Farrell named his team to face Scotland on Saturday.

Jamie Heaslip says Caelan Doris is the best No.8 in the country right now – and predicts the Leinster kid will be around “for a long time”.

"Pete's been absolutely sensational since I gave him the news yesterday."

That Conor Murray gets the nod at scrum-half for Ireland's Six Nations opener against Scotland on Saturday - despite the clamour for the in-form John Cooney - was predictable, writes Donal Lenihan.

So here we are again, on the cusp of another championship, the first of the decade.

The question he was posing to the 36 players he had brought with him to The Campus at Quinta do Lago was whether they would follow suit and not only embrace the new and challenging environment but thrive in it.

Ireland’s first €1m-a-year rugby player could arrive over the next 18 months, according to one of the country’s leading player agents.

Before this game, Leinster repeatedly talked up the difficulty involved in getting one over their Italian opponents.

Leinster clinched top-seed status and a home Heineken Champions Cup quarter-final as they made it a record-breaking 16 wins in a row in all competitions this season with an 18-0 victory at Benetton.

Nash has been named to start on the wing as Keith Earls misses out due to a minor knee injury in one of two changes to Johann van Graan's side.