'I don't feel let down" says Farrell on Sexton's ban

'As you know, I just roll with it anyway. What can I do about it? It is what it is. I think it was drawn out a little bit, if you pushed me a little bit, but the outcome was going to be the same anyway. So, we move on.' 

LAY OFF: Johnny Sexton. Picture: INPHO/Ben Brady

Nine World Cups completed and only one won by a northern hemisphere side. It’s a damning statistic and one that speaks for what has, for the most part, been a yawning gap in ability between the two rugby hotbeds on opposite sides of the equator.

If standards have been the driving force in this global imbalance then the signs are that Europe is decently-placed to record only a second triumph given the fact that Ireland and hosts France are in the top-three ranked sides in the world.