WHEN PICKING OUT the most pleasing moments from last weekend’s win over Italy, Andy Farrell highlighted the late scrum which Ireland locked out under their own posts.

After a challenging day against a powerful Italian pack, securing the ball to relieve late Azzurri pressure was by no means a guarantee, but Ireland held firm. And the Ireland boss made sure to single out the role of Ulster prop Tom O’Toole, a tighthead by trade, who came off the bench to see out the game at loosehead.

“I thought probably one of the best parts of our game today was when Tom O’Toole came on and hadn’t much experience (at loosehead), certainly at this level anyway,” Farrell said.

“But that scrum under our post five metres out, that was rock solid.”

Expect O’Toole to be on loosehead duty again this weekend. Ireland’s injuries in the position are well documented, and while Farrell has other looseheads available in his squad, it’s no surprise to see him place his trust in O’Toole, who has been long been identified as a player who could make the switch across the front row.

The idea was first put to the player by Ireland scrum coach John Fogarty.

“He probably said it a couple of years ago. Obviously when we’re fully fit we’re pretty blessed with depth on both sides,” O’Toole says.

Italy put the Irish scrum under pressure last weekend. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

“I think it might have started with a training session, we were just playing around with the idea, obviously I was that little bit younger a couple of years ago when we first talked about it.

“So yeah it was John Fogarty who gave me the idea and to be honest I hadn’t really put too much thought into it. I’d last played loosehead at school, I did a little bit at U20s, so it’s something that probably wasn’t in my mind.

“I think early on in my career with Ulster anyway I was just trying to nail down a spot at tighthead, but obviously Fogs sparked that idea and to be honest it gave me a lot of excitement because it’s something new, something challenging.

When you look at the likes of South Africa who have guys that can cover across the board, I feel like if I can cover across the board whether it’s province or international, that can only be a real positive thing and a positive thing for the group going forward as well.”

The 27-year-old is now reaping the rewards of not just his adaptability, but his perseverance. Saturday marked cap number 18 for a man who was on the fridges on the squad just a couple of months ago. In November O’Toole toured with Ireland A while Farrell’s senior squad focused on four autumn Tests. A year previously, O’Toole was involved off the bench in three of Ireland’s 2024 November games, but as the 2025 Six Nations played out he was again with Ireland A, before playing on the summer tour to Georgia and Portugal. Having made his Test debut in summer 2021, it’s been a stop-start Test career, and O’Toole admits his spells out of camp were challenging.

“Yeah, it was. I think it should be difficult for everybody. I maybe didn’t play as much as other guys but I was in that group for a good few years and was a part of that Grand Slam winning team (2023), went off to the World Cup (2023).

“So some big moments with this team, with this squad. A lot of the guys, because you spend so much time together, become a lot like family. When you’re out of that, yeah it is (tough) but it’s also your job and you’ve got to be professional about it. For me that reset was really important, especially the stage I’m at in my career. I’m 27 now, so coming into the next few good years in my career, I’m really looking to push.

“Coming off a good season but also hopefully so far and then coming into this environment, I just feel like I’m in a good place.”

Farrell has highlighted the amount of leadership and experience the squad has lost over the last couple of years, so it was interesting that after the France game, both Keith Earls and Cian Healy popped into camp to share some words of wisdom with the players.

And ahead of his first appearance of the championship, O’Toole took a few minutes to catch up with Healy, the chat forming an important part of his preparation.

“I trained well throughout the week. I had that confidence, I have good guys around me.

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O'Toole speaking to the media in Abbotstown this week. Gavin Cullen / INPHO Gavin Cullen / INPHO / INPHO

“I met Cian Healy during the week, it was actually really nice to catch up with him again and we had a good chat on Thursday. He just said as soon as you cross the white line really just focus on your game, so that’s what I try to do, not try and build it up too much and then just kind of get into it.”

O’Toole hopes he can have an impact around the group in own way.

“I wouldn’t say (I’m) a potential leader I guess people can kind of lead in their own way. I’ve been around this group for a long time. We’re all quite close outside of here, close to families and friends and everything like that.

“I just care for a lot of people in this group and anywhere I can lend a hand or be there for someone. That’s what I like to do because I know that’s returned tenfold as well with everybody else.

“We’ve been together for four straight weeks now and you don’t really get much time outside the hotel so you’re with each other. I guess everybody plays their role within the group. I just try to be myself really and if I can be myself and be there for other people, that’s kind of the main thing.”