Leo Cullen insists Johnny Sexton will prove his worth as Ireland captain, and has backed his out-half to come back stronger after last Sunday’s Six Nations defeat to England.

THERE’S a quiet revolution taking place in the background to this season’s Six Nations that could have huge repercussions for Irish rugby.

Credit for that lies in part with the Irishmen who re-energised their team, which had been overrun before half-time, trailing 17-0 at the break.

Andy Farrell is unequivocal in his belief Ireland can still find a way to win this year’s Six Nations, but there remain several other questions about his squad he will have to address in the coming days.

The English papers were chock-full of U2 puns as they revelled in what The Telegraph termed "redemption day".

Eddie Jones was understandably pleased as he emerged from a trying week having engineered the platform for a powerhouse England performance to which Ireland could find no answer.

Last night, Andy Farrell said Ireland were still chasing the 2020 Guinness Six Nations title, despite their humbling defeat to England at Twickenham.

THE journey takes less than a minute but it’s the moment you know you’ve arrived at one of the best arenas in world rugby.

Peter Jackson gets over the gainline, behind the headline

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Johnny Sexton threw down the gauntlet to his Ireland team ahead of tomorrow’s trip to Twickenham, saying they will need to play even better there this time than in their Grand Slam-winning victory of 2018.

Ireland’s management has insisted the team will not miss a beat despite the late change to the pack for tomorrow’s Twickenham showdown.

Andy Farrell began this week by warning his Ireland squad of the danger of turning up at Twickenham merely hoping it goes well.

With 97 Test caps to his name, it is fair to say Cian Healy has seen his share of captaincy styles over the years and, in his mind, the current skipper is not doing too badly at all.

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

Whether it is facing the bright young things of English rugby or training against the likes of Johnny Sexton and Conor Murray, Ireland Under-20 fly-half Jack Crowley treats it with the same mantra: respect all, fear no-one.

So much for stormy weather. The clouds may have been gathering around Ireland as they prepared to face Grand Slam champions Wales in Dublin, and not just those being blown in by Storm Ciara. Yet when Johnny Sexton speaks, all becomes calm.

It was a bit early in Andy Farrell’s tenure to be talking about a must-win game, but it was hard to escape the pivotal nature of Saturday’s tasty Six Nations encounter against Wales.

It was a bit early in Andy Farrell’s tenure to be talking about a must-win game, but it was hard to escape the pivotal nature of Saturday’s tasty Six Nations encounter against Wales, writes Donal Lenihan.

This was a statement win for Ireland, Andy Farrell, and for his senior players, writes Tom Savage.

Ireland have won their Six Nations clash with Wales by 24-14 to record a second successive victory under new head coach Andy Farrell.

Whichever way you viewed Ireland’s Guinness Six Nations opening-round win over Scotland seven days ago, there is little arguing with the verdict that Andy Farrell’s players simply have to do better this afternoon against Wales.

It was only last week that Andrew Conway was asked whether, in light of the changes in the Ireland coaching ranks and the different lessons for players to learn, you could teach old dogs new tricks.

Tadhg Furlong did not think of himself much as a leader coming into the season.

When Dave Kilcoyne and Jack McGrath were named in Ireland’s matchday 23 to face Italy 12 months ago, Cian Healy lost no sleep.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Donal Lenihan looks at the recipe for opening day success in the 2020 Six Nations.

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.

Ireland turn the page from one era to the next this week as the 2020 Guinness Six Nations gets underway with not just a new coaching team but also a fresh player leadership group.

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

Andy Farrell is convinced there is plenty of road left for Conor Murray to travel in his Test rugby career after backing his under-fire scrum-half to steer Ireland in their Six Nations opener against Scotland in Dublin this Saturday.

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

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

The departure of head coach, Joe Schmidt, in November, also left a vacancy for someone to steer Ireland’s offensive gameplan and successor, Andy Farrell, reconnected with former fellow England assistant, Mike Catt.

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.

The coaching group have also named four development players who will train with the squad.