Coach says charges can't afford to lose first game

Rotation.

A word that spun freely around the Irish camp back in November for Joe Schmidt’s first block of games in charge, but the Kiwi insists it didn’t colour his thinking for tomorrow’s clash with Scotland.

This, he said, was about hitting the ground at pace even if his track record late last year and the arrival to Dublin of Wales six days after this opener would suggest some changes are all but inevitable next week.