Chris Farrell is grabbing the golden moment with both hands

It was only last Monday, as Robbie Henshaw and Bundee Aki ran together as the midfield combination to face Argentina, that Chris Farrell was calculating how long it might take to earn his second Ireland cap.

Head coach Joe Schmidt has been adamant throughout this autumn camp that the current Test window was a rare opportunity to add depth and assess his wider squad’s potential for the 2019 World Cup in Japan. Once the final whistle has blown at the Aviva Stadium tonight, there remain just 16 matches before the pre-tournament warm-up games, 10 of which will be high-stakes Six Nations affairs. Though Munster centre Farrell had made his debut last Saturday against Fiji, he had resigned himself to the prospect of limited opportunities in the future.

Luckily for the 24-year-old, who joined Munster from Grenoble this summer in order to further his international ambitions, those thoughts lasted little more than 24 hours. A hamstring strain suffered by Henshaw on Tuesday threw the door ajar once more and by Thursday he was in the team to play the Pumas. The wait for a second cap was over but that day of contemplation had been sobering.