Keith Earls: Patience the name of the game for the man who has seen it all before

'There’s a lot of new lads but having said that there’s a lot of talented lads as well and international rugby can’t wait for you'

Ireland’s Keith Earls is tackled by England’s Elliot Daly and Ben Youngs in the Autumn Nations Cup match at Twickenham. Earls is confident Ireland are ‘going in the right direction’. Picture: Matt Impey/Sportsfile

Keith Earls has been here before. Keith Earls has been everywhere before. Crises? Old news. Long unbeaten runs? Surfed those. Transition periods? The guy is playing for his third national head coach and he’s on his fourth World Cup cycle.

So, yeah, done all that.