No room for Chicago sentiment

Ireland coach to be absent with leave to join the Lions.

- BY DEREK FOLEY

While for his part Farrell took exception to the idea - when it was put to him directly - that the Lions job was a ‘jolly’, that the day job was more important.

And to be fair Farrell had been working on looking at younger players, Joe McCarthy, Ryan Baird, Sam Prendergast, Jamie Osborne, Gus McCarthy, Thomas Clarkson come to mind.

But there are issues there, he has been hands off for the last six months and there is a checklist that needs going over.

Let's hope McCarthy isn't as injury prone as he has been these last two seasons and that foot ‘thingy’ isn’t some debilitating returning mystery