Sexton's understudies have proven ability to 'drive the ship' 

There’s no doubt that the whole No.10 topic is a headache, however. 

OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS: Jack Crowley. Pic: ©INPHO/Ben Brady

Rare is the man or woman who can command a room just by entering it. Scarce again are those folk who can dominate one in their absence.

Andy Farrell has 41 of his 42-strong preliminary squad available to him as Ireland turn into a first World Cup warm-up game against Italy at the Aviva Stadium this Saturday but no prizes for guessing who and what continues to dominate the agenda just over a month out from the tournament.

Paul O’Connell spoke for the bones of half-an-hour yesterday as Ireland’s bid to break the bonds of the quarter-finals for the first time suddenly became much more real and his deliberations on the nature of the squad’s pre-season work made for an intriguing peek into the inner sanctum.

But … Johnny Sexton.

The team captain and talisman remains central to the team’s ambitions, and hasn’t yet missed a day’s training, but a three-match suspension that keeps him sidelined until the tournament proper makes him a will-o-the-wisp figure for now for those of on the outside looking in.

O’Connell, the forwards coach, admitted that Sexton, sidelined because of injury from late March until the summer, might be a tad “worried” by his inability to run the legs against the Azzurri, England or Samoa ahead of the pool opener against Romania.

But there was a suggestion attached with it that this handcuff may actually free Farrell to go some way towards remedying a glaring weakness in the experience levels of Sexton’s deputies and one that seems all too familiar after the World Cup campaigns in 2015 and 2019.

Sixteen of Ross Byrne’s 19 caps have come from the bench, Jack Crowley has just three Test appearances to his name and Ciaran Frawley is uncapped. All of which prompted O’Connell to spin the talisman’s unavailability as a “silver lining”. 

Sure, how else could they paint it?

That he went on to express a confidence in the abilities of all three candidates to fill the breach wasn't a take that would sell any papers but it is a statement made on the back of the clarity the management has tried to build into how they approach the game.

“So you do figure out a guy that’s unsure very, very quickly but all of our guys know how we want to play. They don’t have as much practice at it, or experience as Johnny has of taking ownership of it, but that’s why these few weeks will be great for them.

“I think we play differently to Munster and Leinster and the guys that are there but there is a lot of similarities as well so it’s nothing massively new to them. They’ve all driven the ship for their provinces in big, big games and done really well.” 

There’s no doubt but that the whole No.10 topic is a headache.

The curious case of Joey Carbery, a man with 37 caps, leaves Ireland without the most obvious of understudies, plans to blood Ciaran Frawley have been undone by injuries, and that has all left Ross Byrne and Jack Crowley jostling for position on the starting grid.

Crowley was the next cab on the rank back in November but Byrne moved up in rank for the Six Nations. How the back end of a club season where Leinster faltered and Munster fulfilled long-held ambitions will affect any of this remains to be seen.

Simon Zebo’s take on Crowley last week, when he depicted a talented if raw player with things still to learn, was interesting. Another teammate, Craig Casey, has no doubt but that his half-back partner with club and country has made major strides.

“First time I came up against Jack actually we were playing scrum-half against each other in Senior Cup. He has definitely changed a lot since then. He’s a student of the game so he kind of adapts game on game. He’s very diligent with the work he puts in.

“Like, you have seen he has grown immensely. He has taken a lot of responsibility on in Munster especially, but he has grown into himself here as well. It has been great to see. He has matured a lot, he has taken a lot on his shoulders and it’s helping him.” 

All of which ties into the wider question as to who will or won’t get the nod, and not just this weekend, but when the enlarged working party is slimmed down to the required 33 some time towards the end of this month.

O’Connell gave a vague indication that all 41 would be offered an audition at some point or other but there are a handful of plates that need balancing here besides those senior players in need of game time and others looking to book tickets on the plane.

Results may be meaningless for now – and O’Connell was at a loss to remember any of his own warm-ups from four World Cup campaigns as a player – but the traumatic loss to England in Twickenham four years ago remains a useful cautionary tale.

The intention has been to bank a pre-season that was hard, but not the hardest they’ve ever put in. Certainly nothing like the "barbaric" experience referenced by Casey yesterday. That players have been challenged to “use their brains while they’ve been running hard”, as O’Connell put it, so that they're now primed to hit the ground running.

“Sometimes in pre-season the rugby side of it, or the matches side of it, almost comes as a shock, whereas we're hoping that won't be the case for this pre-season.”