Tadhg Furlong’s flexibility fits the bill for forward-thinking Joe Schmidt

Joe Schmidt has capped a remarkable rise to prominence for rookie prop Tadhg Furlong by asking him to prepare to play on both sides of the front row.

Furlong, 22, only won his first Ireland cap last weekend, when he came off the replacements’ bench against Wales and went straight into a scrummaging contest with veteran Welsh loose-head Paul James.

It was a 24-minute run and Furlong acquitted himself well on his test debut but even the tight-head might have been surprised that it was enough to secure a place in Schmidt’s 31-man squad.