As clock ticks to Paris, Mangan aims to turn heads

Diarmuid Mangan is among those who has 10 weeks to make an impression on Andy Farrell.

Diarmuid Mangan during Leinster Rugby squad training at UCD in Dublin. Photo by Sam Barnes/Sportsfile

Ten weeks lie between Ireland’s last November hit against the Springboks and the equally daunting trip to Paris to open the 2026 Six Nations, and Andy Farrell started the timer before the Aviva Stadium had fully emptied last Saturday.

Not for the first time, the Ireland head coach voiced a challenge to a younger generation of Irish players in the four provinces to make themselves unignorable when it comes to national squad selection some time in late January.