Six Nations: Loss to France ‘has to stand to’ Ireland says head coach Andy Farrell

Thanks to their unusual Thursday start to the campaign, Ireland will have nine days to prepare for the visit of the Azzurri.

While the injury count was high coming into the tournament, Farrell felt his side came through their opener relatively unscathed despite “wounded pride, bangs and bruises”, but a fierce selection debate can still be expected.

Farrell rolled the dice to an extent against Les Bleus, dropping James Lowe in favour of Jacob Stockdale and giving Cian Prendergast an opportunity to start in the back row.

Given the nature of the result and the fact that those coming off the bench lifted the performance, admittedly with result already decided, there will be calls for even greater change, but Farrell says he will look at the “in-depth reality” of the game before making decisions.

“It’s obviously at the forefront of our mind, selection and how we get the best response for that,” he added.

“Sometimes it’s giving people another chance but we have to look at the in-depth reality of how it went and act accordingly to that.”