Can we expect much change to Farrell's Ireland squad? 

Denis Leamy, who was a member of Paul O’Connell’s summer coaching ticket, said this week he was hopeful strong performances in the big wins over the Georgians and Portuguese would be rewarded by Farrell on Wednesday.

Andy Farrell before the Qatar Airways Lions Tour match at Accor Stadium in Sydney.

After a summer apart, the gang will be put back together on Wednesday when returning head coach Andy Farrell dons his Ireland hat once more after his British & Irish Lions sojourn and names a national squad for next month’s Quilter Nations Series.

With 18 Irishmen touring Australia in Farrell’s series-winning Lions squad expected to once again form the backbone of Ireland’s matchday selections across four weeks in November, barring injury, opportunities may be limited for those seeking an entry into the conversation this autumn.

While the consensus outside the camp appears to be that an injection of young blood is necessary to kick start this second half of the World Cup cycle leading into Australia 2027, Farrell’s recent utterings as he does a broadcast tour in support of his autobiography suggests that the ageing profile of his Ireland squad is irrelevant if those players’ advancing years are not affecting form.

That Farrell’s book is titled The Only Way I Know suggests that any amount of public lobbying for new faces is futile, yet with 23 months to go until the World Cup kicks off Down Under, preparations need to be put in place for the likelihood that his most faithful servants already past their 32nd birthdays could need replacing between now and then and bedding in their replacements should be begin sooner rather than later.

Farrell has warned against sweeping changes more than once, and with testing challenges ahead in the form of New Zealand in Chicago on November 1, an early reunion with this summer’s re-energised Lions opponents Australia a fortnight later in Dublin and World Champions South Africa seven days after that, also at Aviva Stadium, it is difficult to foresee the Ireland boss making too many adjustments to his best available matchday 23s. 

Add in the necessity to maintain a healthy World Rugby Ranking, they currently rank third behind the Springboks and All Blacks, in advance of the 2027 World Cup draw in Sydney on Wednesday, December 3 and there will be even less room for manoeuvre in terms of selection.

There will be changes, enforced by injury and the retirements of a trio of Test centurions. 

Loosehead prop Cian Healy, Ireland’s most capped player, scrum-half Conor Murray and flanker Peter O’Mahony exited the stage after the Six Nations last March, taking with them 376 caps of international experience while first-choice full-back Hugo Keegan has been ruled out until the new year following post-Lions tour hip surgery.

Ireland captain and No.8 Caelan Doris, cruelly denied his spot on the Lions tour due to a shoulder injury is on course to return, and lock Joe McCarthy who has not played since a foot injury in the first Test against the Wallabies in Brisbane, could return for Ireland come November.

Five Irish Lions – Tadhg Furlong, Ronan Kelleher, James Lowe, Jamie Osborne and Josh van der Flier - returned for Leinster last week as the URC champions swept aside the Sharks at the Aviva for their first win of the season and Leo Cullen is set to welcome back a second quintet - Jamison Gibson-Park, Dan Sheehan, Andrew Porter, Jack Conan, James Ryan and Garry Ringrose – to face Munster at Croke Park this Saturday while the visitors can call on Lions player of the series Tadhg Beirne for the first time this season.

Connacht's Mack Hansen. Pic: James Crombie/Inpho

Mack Hansen has returned to full training with Connacht after a foot injury in Australia denied him a Lions Test debut while Bundee Aki and Finlay Bealham could also feature for the first time under Stuart Lancaster at home to the Bulls this Saturday.

Ireland’s second fixture of the November series does offer an opportunity, however, with Japan set to return to the Aviva on November 8 and Farrell’s squad of an expected 35 players will be filled out by those who excelled on the national team’s summer Tests against Georgia and Portugal under the charge of forwards coach and interim head coach Paul O’Connell.

Tour captain and scrum-half Craig Casey is expected to have shaken off the hamstring issue he sustained in Munster’s opening game of the season at Scarlets and while Ireland’s leading lights at fly-half, Sam Prendergast and Jack Crowley, were both overlooked by Farrell for Lions duty, they remain frontrunners for the number 10 jersey this November. 

Ciaran Frawley also toured to Tbilisi and Lisbon during this summer but may face competition for the third fly-half berth from Leinster squad-mate Harry Byrne, who has looked assured and all the better for his loan period last season at Bristol Bears.

Munster defence coach Denis Leamy, who was a member of O’Connell’s coaching ticket on tour with Ireland, said this week he was hopeful strong performances in the big wins over the Georgians and Portuguese would be rewarded by Farrell on Wednesday.

“I think certainly there was guys that put up their hands and obviously Paul was the head of the tour and there's other guys within the management that will continue in their roles,” Leamy said on Monday.

“So they'll have gotten a very good feel for the boys and the performances. I would be hugely hopeful that there will be a good few of the guys that were there in the summer to be involved, certainly.

“You think of the lads who've come back from the Lions. There's a lot of competition but you'd have to say there was a lot of players put up their hands and we'll wait and see what that looks like. But certainly hopeful.”