Andy Farrell’s way the perfect fit for Ireland in these strange times

Farrell appears to seek the opposite of Joe Schmidt in his approach to team selection

NEW APPROACH: While Joe Schmidt believed in providing clarity in terms of team selection, Andy Farrell, above, appears to seek the opposite, believing the uncertainty of whether or not a player has made the grade keeps all 35 of his players on their toes throughout as many sessions as possible before the cat simply has to come out of the bag. Picture: INPHO/Dan Sheridan

Camp by camp and match by match, Andy Farrell is stamping his identity on this Ireland team and a year on from Joe Schmidt’s departure, the new man in charge is forging a much-changed environment and culture within the national set-up.

From a new day off, Thursdays, in a match week to the timing of team announcements, including to the squad itself, it is all different to what went before but it is not change for change’s sake.