Plenty of positives for Ireland even if Pumas proved to be so poor

It was not an evening to get giddy about, but that’s not to dismiss it in its entirety. Ireland needed a strong kick out of the blocks here and they got it

Craig Casey found a fluency and Sam Prendergast knitted the patterns together for Ireland. Pic: ©INPHO/Ben Brady

Andy Farrell was brutal in his honesty this last week. Could his team board a flight to Australia for next year’s World Cup, he wondered, with a cast-iron belief that the Webb Ellis trophy was gettable?

It was his own question predicated on their recent form, and he owned the answer.