Donal Lenihan: Larmour ready to be Ireland's starting full-back in Six Nations

On a week when the focus on Ireland’s faltering World Cup campaign was re-ignited after the IRFU’s performance director David Nucifora sat down with a select contingent of Irish media to discuss the key elements of the union’s internal review of the tournament, the Irish players added another layer to their rehabilitation with another excellent return from European action.

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. I’ll come back to that on another day but, right now, Europe and the reboot its offering Irish rugby after the disappointments of Japan take precedence. I’ve had enough of the World Cup for a while yet.