Andy Farrell to run the rule over Ireland hopefuls as Munster host Leinster

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.

There is plenty of evidence to suggest this latest clash between Munster and Leinster has all the makings of living up to the full-blooded, high-octane contests of the past between these fierce and often bitter interprovincial rivals.

With the “House Full” signs going up at Thomond Park well in advance of Saturday, there will not be any shortage in big-match atmosphere with the extra seating installed at either end of the stadium bringing capacity up to 26,267.

There has been no need for any hard sell, even if it was sign-posted from a long way off that the IRFU player welfare programme would deny this Guinness PRO14 fixture of 20 frontline Ireland internationals not including injuries.

Yet Leinster attack coach Felipe Contepomi, no stranger to these affairs and with no interest in building this game into anything it isn’t, maintained this week that this continues to be one of the biggest derby games in world rugby.

And you can be sure that for all the big-name stars with their feet up in the stands or in their armchairs, there will be plenty of talent to keep the full attention of Ireland head coach Andy Farrell and his new coaching staff over 80-plus minutes and also more than a few players with points to prove to the incoming national team boss.

Farrell staged his first training camp in Dublin last Sunday and Monday, bringing together 45 players of varying or no Test experience for 24 hours at the IRFU’s High Performance Centre on the Sport Ireland Campus.

With 10 of those present having played in Friday night’s Ulster-Connacht clash in Belfast, another 11 will feature for their provinces tomorrow evening, including a comeback for fly-half Joey Carbery for a potential first Munster appearance of the season off the bench having returned from the World Cup with an ankle injury.

They will all have heard new boss Farrell make it abundantly clear that their attendance at the self-styled mid-season stocktake was not a guarantee of involvement in the upcoming Guinness Six Nations.

And they may well have been spurred on by the news that the door remained open to those not present to make a case for selection between now and the pre-championship, warm-weather training camp on Portugal’s Algarve in the last week of January.

Naturally, that will have alerted those omitted from the pre-Christmas get-together that good form ahead of the Six Nations opener with Scotland at the Aviva Stadium on February 1 will be rewarded.

The audition is underway. Six Nations hopefuls must start to deliver and that is good news for a sold-out crowd at Thomond Park tomorrow night.