THERE MAY HAVE been just two new faces named in Andy Farrell’s 36-man squad for the Six Nations, but the appointment of an additional member to the coaching team will ensure there is a very different feel around the Ireland camp as they step up preparations for this year’s championship.

The Ireland squad will begin working with Paul O’Connell for the first time in earnest this week, gathering at their Carton House base today ahead of the February 7 trip to face Wales in the opening round of the 2021 Six Nations. 

The former Munster man was brought on board as forwards coach earlier this month, with Simon Easterby turning his attention to defence. His presence will instantly be felt. There are few men in Irish rugby whose words carry the same weight.

Farrell’s most obvious and immediate hope is that the experience O’Connell gleaned across 115 Test caps can fix a lineout which malfunctioned desperately at times last year. If some of his famed competitive edge rubs off on the younger players in the squad, then all the better.

“First of all, he has been brought in to add, to be himself, and the obvious thing would be that Paul is going to add to any environment,” said Farrell, speaking from Carton House at this morning’s virtual Six Nations launch event.

“Myself and Paul have a good rugby relationship for many years now. He is someone who I keep in touch with on a regular occasion. We have had him in camp a couple of times and I have always been interested in what his thoughts are and what his next steps are.

“I suppose conversations just kept on happening over a period of time, and yeah, the timing is right now for Paul to come into camp and get ready for this Six Nations.”

O’Connell joins a group neatly balanced in terms of experience and youth, with 12 of the 36-man squad yet to hit the 10-cap mark at Test level.

At the other end of the scale you have veterans like Keith Earls, Conor Murray, Peter O’Mahony and captain Johnny Sexton, to name just some of those in the current squad who know what it’s like to soldier alongside O’Connell.

“I’ve caught up with him a couple of times,” said Sexton. “I obviously know what an impact Paul has on teams by playing under him when he was captain of Ireland, and for 10 or 15 years with Ireland and Munster, the impact he had on their environments and he’s no different here.

“He’s a brilliant leader, he’s a brilliant person and his passion for the game is second to none and that will rub off on us. I’m really looking forward to working with him.”

The addition of O’Connell is intended to make the Ireland pack a sharper, more organised unit, offering the platform required for a backline teeming with talent. 

Outside of O’Connell, the new faces on the pitch come in the form of Munster scrum-half Craig Casey and Ulster prop Tom O’Toole, both of whom have impressed while spending time around the squad previously. The fact they both got the nod ahead of more experienced players in their respective positions shows just how highly Farrell rates the young duo.

“Like every international coach would tell you, there is always the here and now, the medium term and the long-term future,” Farrell said.

“You’ve got to deal with them all. Selections always comes first and foremost to whether you deserve to be in the group and with those young lads that people are talking about, of course they deserve to be there because they are there to make the group better.

“The experience of being in an international campaign like a Six Nations will be big for them, so we will see how they deal with that along the way.”

While Ireland never fully hit their stride across a challenging first year in charge for Farrell, the tools are certainly there to mount a more serious charge at the Six Nations this season.

The nature of defeats to France and England in 2020 left plenty of question marks around the team, but the head coach isn’t shy to set the bar high for a team which on paper, should be able to match any of their opponents across the next two months.

“My job as the head coach is to make the team as good as they possibly can be, to play to our potential,” Farrell added.

“You guys (the media) have commented on it and rightly so, there’s two teams (England and France) in the pecking order right now going in as favourites and we aspire to be in that. That comes from hard work and performing under pressure.

“We want to be back up there in that type of light come the end of this tournament.”