There’s Always A Plan But Plans Always Change – Andy Farrell On Team Selection

Ireland Head Coach Andy Farrell named a changed Ireland team today for the third game of four this November.

The team to face Australia at a sold out Aviva Stadium on Saturday sees the return of Mack Hansen, a first start after two caps off the bench for Paddy McCarthy in the front row, and Sam Prendergast in the number 10 jersey.

Asked about the changes Farrell said,

“There’s always a plan. Plans always change, whether it be subtly or quite a bit. Obviously, there was a lot of change within the side last week, so you would have thought that that was always going to be the case at this stage of the season, with the four games being back-to-back and the three big Southern Hemisphere teams that we’re up against. There was always going to be a little bit of juggling.”

Speaking about Prendergast, Farrell commented, “Giving Sam an opportunity within a big game is pretty important to him, and to Jack as well. He came on and played pretty well so giving him the opportunity to hold the reins on Saturday night is the one that we’ve gone with.”