IN THE HISTORY of Irish rugby, there has never been an itinerary as intense as this, one Irish side lining up to face a New Zealand XV tonight, another preparing for the Springboks tomorrow.
For once it is Ireland rather than the All Blacks or South Africa who are top of the world rankings, their lofty position helping to make these fixtures more marketable even though everyone knows the status of being No1 on a list of names carries much less value than winning a World Cup.
Both New Zealand and South Africa have had their names engraved on the Webb Ellis Cup three times. That’s why tonight’s A fixture in the RDS and tomorrow’s full-blown Test in the Aviva are considered by Andy Farrell to be the ‘ultimate’ exam of a side’s mettle.
“Honestly it doesn’t get any bigger,” Farrell said yesterday. “I have said this to the players. This is called living properly; there is no better time to be an Irish rugby player. Meeting the New Zealand XV on Friday night and performing for the group and then backing up the next day with the other lads. It doesn’t really get any better.
“When the Springboks are in town, everyone gets super excited. And we know what is coming, which is why everyone else is super excited.”
Things don’t slow down for a while after this weekend. Another set of Irish players will represent Munster against South Africa next Thursday, two days before the Fijians arrive in Dublin. Then it’s the Wallabies on the third Saturday of the month. In total, you’ll have 60-70 Irish players involved across those five fixtures.
We are about to discover how deep the talent pool is.
“I promise you, next week for whoever takes the field (against Fiji) that will be their biggest game as well,” said Farrell.
“The week after that (the Australian game) will be the biggest game again because they are under the spotlight the whole time they know they are going to be judged so therefore the feelings are pretty similar. But having said that there is no doubt there is going to be an extra edge on Saturday night.”
As for tomorrow’s date with the Springboks: “This is the ultimate test, because it’s the next one, isn’t it?
“From my mind, looking forward, playing South Africa, who we’ve not played for five years, Fiji, a completely different style of rugby, and Australia, who we’ve not played in such a long time (since the 2018 tour), it actually couldn’t get any better as far as experiences are concerned for us.
“Because what we’re going to experience in a year’s time at the World Cup, that’s what we’re going to meet, different styles week-in, week-out. You’ve got to be able to adapt, adjust and understand it and be at your best on the back of it. That’s why this autumn is fantastic for us.”