ANDY FARRELL USED the word “lucky” three times in his press conference at Bective rugby club this evening.

The first time was about how Ireland came through the All Blacks game last weekend without a long injury list.

Tom O’Toole was deeply unfortunate to suffer a concussion just a minute after coming on in the second half and having already delivered a good scrum effort and a strong carry.

But otherwise, Farrell was relieved not to have an injury toll. Indeed, he had a fully-fit squad to choose from for Friday’s clash against Argentina aside from O’Toole and fellow tighthead Tadhg Furlong.

The second use of “lucky” came when Farrell was talking about the beneficiary of the tighthead injuries, Thomas Clarkson, and the other uncapped player included on the bench for Friday, out-half Sam Prendergast.

Farrell said he and his coaches are the “lucky ones” getting to tell Clarkson and Prendergast, as well as many players before them, that they will be winning their first Test caps. Ireland welcomed Clarkson and Prendergast’s families into the Shelbourne Hotel this evening so they could be there for the players’ jersey presentation.

And the third use of the word “lucky” was in relation to how Farrell has made just one change to his starting XV to face the Pumas in Dublin.

The Ireland boss would have been justified in dropping a few players after what was a poor performance against New Zealand.

“Some of them are lucky enough to get another chance,” said Farrell today.

Farrell speaks to the media at the Bective Rangers clubhouse. Laszlo Geczo / INPHO Laszlo Geczo / INPHO / INPHO

Inside centre Bundee Aki is the only one to drop out of the starting side from last Friday and the Connacht man misses out on the matchday 23 altogether. However, Farrell was always going to rotate at inside centre in this autumn window given that he has quality players like Robbie Henshaw, Stuart McCloskey, and Jamie Osborne in that position too.

Henshaw is the man to come into the starting XV this week, with Osborne remaining on the bench. Aki did make some errors against New Zealand but he certainly wasn’t the only one to do so. He had some excellent moments too so this doesn’t feel like a big statement decision by Farrell.

As expected, he has opted against mixing up the starting side as he backs his players to respond to last week in a positive, accurate manner. He has generally been vindicated in doing so when Ireland have underperformed in the past.

Back in July, Farrell made the major decision to drop then-captain Peter O’Mahony to the bench after Ireland’s first Test defeat to the Springboks, but the only other change not forced by injury was to introduce Garry Ringrose for Aki in midfield.

Farrell largely backed the same team to deliver a better showing, fired them up in brutally honest review sessions, and then watched as they claimed Ireland’s second-ever win over the Boks on South African soil in dramatic fashion.

He’s expecting something similar now.

“There were too many people not at their best last week and we’re hoping for everyone to improve,” said Farrell.

So he has resisted any temptation to bring the athleticism of Ryan Baird or the uncapped Cormac Izuchukwu in to start at blindside flanker, or the possibility of pushing Tadhg Beirne into the second row, or of changing up his back three of James Lowe, Mack Hansen, and Hugo Keenan, or of making a big switch at out-half where he backs Jack Crowley again.

Farrell has freshened things up on the bench, with four changes to his replacements.

Clarkson comes in due to the injuries but Baird takes Iain Henderson’s place, Conor Murray drops out as Craig Casey comes in, and the uncapped Prendergast swaps in for Ciarán Frawley. 

Ryan Baird with Tadhg Beirne. Billy Stickland / INPHO Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO

The Ireland boss is excited about Prendergast and Clarkson’s ability and will hope to see Baird at his explosive best, while Casey will be determined to pick up where he left off in a strong performance in the first Test against South Africa.

Farrell could see the flaws in his bench players’ performance last time out, even if he insisted they weren’t to blame against New Zealand.

“I think some of them came on a little bit too desperate, there were one or two errors or penalties or whatever, but that wasn’t just the bench – that was throughout the game with the team as a whole anyway,” said Farrell last Friday.

Again, it was probably always going to be the case that Farrell would make a few bench tweaks from game to game this November but bringing in Baird and Casey certainly looks like a measure to help Ireland produce a fast finish on Friday.

Farrell seemed delighted that 37-year-old Cian Healy will equal Brian O’Driscoll’s all-time record of 133 Ireland caps when he comes off the bench, praising the veteran prop for his influence on fellow looseheads Andrew Porter and Jack Boyle.

“He’s been a legend of our squad for all these years and he continues to be so,” said Farrell.

And the Ireland boss has kept Peter O’Mahony in the mix at number 20. The two most obvious skills the Munster man offers are at the lineout and in the leadership department.

With new skipper Caelan Doris self-admittedly in the learning phase, it must help to have O’Mahony around. And if the lineout wobbles, Farrell will be relieved to be able to send a specialist like O’Mahony into the fray.

Having been fairly understanding of a collective underperformance last time out, Farrell will be demanding much better this Friday.