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

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.

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 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.

Isabel Conway travels the Route 66 of Europe —Portugal’s 739km Estrada Nacional — and discovers the country’s ancient towns and treasures

There may be more current Ireland internationals watching Saturday night’s game from the Thomond Park stands than actually in the thick of the action but do not be deceived.

Kevin Markham visits Porto and finds that golf is only one of the sweet things on offer

It is difficult to imagine a coach as demanding as Joe Schmidt putting his feet up on Saturday night and thinking he has this World Cup campaign nicely sized up.

Sorting out Cork people for ages...

Having established that today’s summer showdown at Twickenham is about as far removed from a “warm-up” as a summer showdown can be, both the English and Irish camps have also made clear that this is a Test match that dare not be treated in isolation of the bigger picture.

Joe Schmidt has called on Ross Byrne to make the most of his opportunity and stake a claim to a place in Ireland’s World Cup squad after handing the fly-half his first Test start against England at Twickenham on Saturday.

CJ Stander has already registered one significant achievement this summer after becoming a father for the first time, but he is prepared to sacrifice quality time with his baby daughter in a bid to reach his other main goal: a place in

Tadhg Furlong was a rookie prop at the last World Cup, not only a blossoming tighthead but also covering the loosehead side of the front row.

The heavy fitness work is over ahead of a first run of the summer, but even though the World Cup is still a month away, Conor Murray knows there is no such thing as preseason when it comes to playing England at Twickenham.

It does not take a mathematician to realise seven into five won’t go but the task facing Ireland team management as they juggle their half-back permutations for the upcoming World Cup may be up there with the work of the best Nobel Prize winners.

Ireland could be ready to hand inexperienced fly-halves Jack Carty and Ross Byrne their chances to capitalise on Joey Carbery’s injury with valuable game time in the toughest circumstances against England at Twickenham this Saturday.

Ireland are confident their seven-day warm-weather training camp in Portugal will stand them in good stead for the heat and humidity they can expect during their World Cup campaign in Japan next month.

Eddie Jones may well be showing his World Cup hand a month early when he unveils his 31-man England squad for Japan today but the final cut can wait for Joe Schmidt and his Ireland selection permutations.

Joe Schmidt has signalled a much-changed starting line-up for Ireland’s trip to face England at Twickenham in two weeks, but is hoping that injured fly-half Joey Carbery will be back in the mix by then.

Ireland came through a worryingly slow start that saw them trail 5-0 after 12 minutes to get back on level terms through the try of the game six minutes later as Joey Carbery was the beneficiary of slick backline play to finish smartly.

The pressure may be on for Ireland’s World Cup hopefuls to press their claims for a seat on the plane to Japan next month but Andy Farrell has insisted the national team management will not ease the agony for their players until the very last minute.

Last week, chief executive Michael O'Leary outlined plans to cut the number of staff and planes at the airline.

The glamourous Hungarian-born actress Zsa Zsa Gabor made the front page of the then

Ultan Dillane and Rory Scannell became the first players to be jettisoned from Ireland’s World Cup planning as Joe Schmidt’s training squad was trimmed ahead of Saturday’s opening summer Test against Italy.

I suffered from terrible judgment in my 30s and ended up marrying a guy from Mallow. I’m literally paying for it to this day.

Never mind the trip to Japan, Ireland’s rugby stars will have racked up plenty of miles before the World Cup even starts and that is just the way Robbie Henshaw likes it.

Newly-promoted Sheffield United are closing on a €6.6m move for Ireland international striker Callum Robinson.

If there can be such a thing as an upside for Mick McCarthy in seeing four players succumb to friendly fire on the training pitch — Shane Long having now followed Alan Browne, Mark Travers and Luca Connell out of the squad since preparations for the Euro 2020 qualifiers against Denmark and Gibraltar began on the Algarve — it’s that none would have been likely to start in Copenhagen on Friday night.

Luca Connell has told Mick McCarthy that he is committed to playing for Ireland and the manager has further revealed that but for a thigh injury ruling him out, the Liverpool-born Bolton Wanderers midfielder would have been in with a real chance of at least a cameo in the upcoming Euro 2020 qualifier against Gibraltar.

The highly-rated young Bolton Wanderers midfielder had been a surprise call-up and, initially, was expected only to be involved in the training camp in Portugal.

Greg Cunningham has known more than a few hard knocks in his career but learning to roll with the punches didn’t make a doubly unrewarding season with Cardiff City — one which saw the club relegated from the Premier League and appearances in short supply for the Galway full back — any less easy to take.

So there was Mark Travers talking to us at Ireland base camp on the Algarve on Tuesday, buzzing with enthusiasm at his second international call-up and all teed-up not only to show off his golfing prowess to the rest of the squad but, more importantly, confirm on the training pitch that he would be ready to step into the breach, should anything befall Darren Randolph, for Ireland’s upcoming Euro 2020 qualifiers.

Ultimately, it will be the responsibility of Mick McCarthy and his staff to work out the required balance between caution and adventure when Ireland travel to Denmark in a fortnight’s time.

John Egan says it was only meant as “a bit of craic” and that it took him a mere 20 minutes to compose the words – and then only in his head, not on paper – so probably no-one was more surprised than Sheffield United’s Irish defender to see his celebratory ode to the club’s promotion to the Premier League go viral.

Spoiler alert for Mark Travers and, more particularly, the other Irish players who will spend part of their day off from training tomorrow by taking to one of the Algarve’s innumerable golf courses.

At Ireland’s training camp in Portugal, Luca Connell is telling us how his unexpected call-up has disrupted his summer holiday plans. Not that he’s complaining, mind.

“It’s crazy, it’s surreal to be honest. Especially meeting Seamus Coleman, you know. Being from Liverpool but supporting Everton and supporting him through everything, it’s brilliant for me.”

That Irish ’keeper Mark Travers played in midfield and upfront as a youngster before opting to go between the posts is now standing to him in his burgeoning top-flight career.

As the majority of the Irish squad for next month’s Euro 2020 qualifiers begin work at their training camp in Portugal today, Mick McCarthy says he has no fears that the 17-day-long run-up to the game against Denmark on June 7 will see any of his players fall victim to cabin fever.

Although it appeared initially as if Luca Connell was already in the final squad for the upcoming Euro 2020 qualifiers against Denmark and Dublin, Mick McCarthy has clarified that the player’s retention for those games will probably depend on how the Bolton Wanderers rising star performs in Ireland’s training camp in Portugal.

Ireland might be top of Group D but Mick McCarthy is keeping his feet firmly on the ground.