Calm Ireland can cope with any plot twists

BUSINESS-TIME: Head coach Andy Farrell. Pic: ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan

It says much for Andy Farrell’s transformation of this Ireland team’s mental fortitude that it stands on the brink of a major milestone in its development at Aviva Stadium on Saturday afternoon following a Guinness Six Nations campaign that has managed to be both majestic in its execution and one of the most challenging in memory.

So many obstacles have been laid in Ireland’s path and then spectacularly overcome in this 2023 championship that it is difficult to imagine an Irish team of yesteryear, or indeed that of any other nation, keeping its head above such turbulent waters, let alone riding the crest of those unpredictable waves.