Chicago reunion with All Blacks has plenty riding on it for returning Farrell

A couple of years ago Ireland might have fancied winning all four of their November games but now, those betting on a clean sweep might wish to include some kind of each-way element

NOVEMBER NERVES: Ireland and head coach Andy Farrell look forward to an instructive month of autumn internationals, starting at the SeatGeek Stadium in Chicago this weekend. Pic: Dan Sheridan, Inpho

One minute we’re winding the clocks back an hour, the next we’re hurtling forwards into rugby union’s maddest month. Welcome to the whistle-stop world of the Autumn Nations Series, which, this year, has arrived as abruptly as a cat burglar in the Louvre. Sides that take time to settle into familiar old routines are about to experience a short, sharp shock.

Of course there is the flip side: the main southern hemisphere powers have been smashing away at each other for weeks and certain individuals must be slightly weary. In terms of cohesion and collective readiness to pick up where they left off last time out, however, there is barely a comparison.