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.

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

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.

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

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

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.

Andy Farrell has handed Leinster No.8 Caelan Doris a Test debut against Scotland this Saturday at the expense of Peter O’Mahony.

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.

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.

There has been no shortage of praise for Leinster’s latest batch of youth, but to watch Max Deegan give another Man-of-the-Match performance yesterday in Ballsbridge could make you think that they perhaps haven’t been lauded enough.

Max Deegan was deemed to be the best player in the world at the U20 grade after his efforts at the World Junior Championships in 2016.

With the clock ticking and Munster trailing 13-6, the home side won a crucial penalty inside the Leinster 22 after a sustained period of pressure and kicked for the corner.

Caelan Doris is the right man in the right spot at the right time.

Joe Schmidt appears to be the sacrificial lamb, thrown under the bus not only by Nucifora but later in the day by his captain Rory Best. Long live the king.

Leinster strung together four second-half tries as they handed Edinburgh a 40-14 defeat at the RDS Main Arena that ended the Scots’ winning start to the Guinness PRO14 season.

Leinster are calling this block of Guinness PRO14 games ‘Own the Jersey’ – and Caelan Doris intends to do so with the No 8 shirt.

Leinster secured their ninth win from 10 Guinness PRO14 Conference B games this season by hammering the Dragons 59-10.

Ireland captain Caelan Doris said they have turned their attention to getting a first win at the World Rugby U20 Championship on Thursday against Georgia.

South Africa 30 Ireland 17: Ireland coach Noel McNamara said he has no doubt his U20s will regroup and have a crack at Georgia next Thursday despite falling to a second defeat in the World Rugby U20 Championship in France.

Ireland begin their Pool C campaign against hosts France in Perpignan next Wednesday.

Grand Slam champion, Champions Cup winner and a PRO14 final to come.

A year which began with a frustrating hamstring injury which sidelined him for four months has taken a massive upward swing for newly appointed Irish U20 captain Caelan Doris.

One day you’re the breakout star of the U20 Six Nations. The next you’re fighting to keep your favourite No. 8 jersey for the World Cup.

The morale-boosting result for Peter Malone's injury-ravaged squad will see them compete for ninth place in Sunday's final round.

Student loans which can be repaid after entering the workforce are “entirely feasible” and would lead to a “substantial increase” in higher education funding.

Gerald Fleming may be gone from our TV screens, but he’s as busy as ever generating forecasts from Met Éireann HQ. Jonathan deBurca Butler visits on World Meteorological Day.

She was 42.

Laws may have to be introduced to force graduates, who emigrate, to pay a minimum amount off any deferred fees, the authors of a report into possible new funding models for third-level education have said.

At 83 and with an incredible career behind her, Petula Clark isn’t standing still. She’s even recorded a new album, writes Lorraine Wylie

Some of the quirkiest stories from around the globe

Eoin McNamee Faber, €19.40

Louis Tomlinson partied with a dwarf stripper at a stag do in Spain.

Eoin McNamee

Cork Opera House