The World Rugby decision that means Ireland must hit ground running in November
Andy Farrell's return to the Ireland hot seat will coincide with higher than usual stakes for Ireland's tough Autumn Series campaign following confirmation that the Rugby World Cup draw will take place in December.
Farrell joined the British and Irish Lions on a sabbatical after the 2024 Autumn internationals and will resume in the Ireland hot-seat in August after the Lions' return from their trip to Australia.
The 49-year-old, his Ireland-heavy coaching staff and the record number of 15 Ireland internationals who have been selected for the 10-game tour won't have much time to recover before setting their sights on a vital November schedule.
Ireland are facing the All Blacks in Chicago on November 1st before returning to Dublin to take on Japan (November 8), Australia (November 15) and South Africa (November 22).
Currently third in the world rankings, Farrell will want his charges to maintain as high a place as possible to give themselves the best chance of breaking through that World Cup quarter-final glass ceiling at the next finals in Australia in 2027.
The November Tests, however, will see them face the world's top two - South Africa and New Zealand, while Australia are currently ranked eighth following an upturn under Joe Schmidt.
Even prior to November, Ireland must ensure that they take care of business on the lower profile summer tour to Georgia and Portugal with those games also counting towards the December rankings.
Paul O'Connell will lead a squad depleted of frontline experience for the two-Test series, so it will be interesting to see if that plays into team selection.
For the first time the World Cup draw will take place with all teams qualified for the finals. "It means that every match counts in the race for all important rankings positions ahead of the draw," said World Rugby in a statement.
The final qualification tournament will take place in Dubai in November, with four teams competing across three matchdays for the final place at the World Cup. Belgium will participate in that tournament, with qualifiers still due to take place in Africa, South America and the Pacific.
Meanwhile, World Rugby has approved the global trial of the 20-minute red card in elite competitions following what it describes as an extensive review of "successful" closed trials in Test and 'elite' club rugby over the past year.
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