Best of Frenemies scenario as Andy Farrell and Joe Schmidt come head-to-head

The suspicion remains that Andy Farrell and Joe Schmidt, behind the smiles, are simply the best of fr-enemies.

The Irish boss has chosen a teak-tough, battle-hardened unit for the Australians who, four weeks in Europe, looked punch-drunk against Scotland last week.

The notable exception in the Ireland team is 21-year-old rookie out-half Sam Prendergast, a player who, between being on the bench against Argentina and starting against Fiji, now has more international minutes (89) than Champions Cup minutes for Leinster (69).

READ MORE: Who is Ireland rookie out-half Sam Prendergast?

READ MORE: Joe Schmidt able to pick new Wallabies superstar for showdown with Ireland at Aviva Stadium

Sure, the Irish coach wants to experiment on Saturday but the rest of the team screams wanting to thrash his former boss by thirty or forty points!

"This isn’t just throwing someone in and hoping to get the best out of it," insists Farrell of picking Sam Prendergast ahead of Jack Crowley.

"I think he deserved it a little bit but also there’s obviously an eye on them, I suppose, with the two young lads, this game won’t define them. It’ll be a good part of their development and that’s what you’re hoping for."

Otherwise, there are four thirty-somethings in the backs—Robbie Henshaw, Bundee Aki, James Lowe, and Jamison Gibson—and three in the forwards: Finlay Belham, Tadhg Beirne, and Josh van der Flier.

There are just three players under the age of 26: Prendergast, Ronan Kelleher, and Joe McCarthy.

Last week's debutant Gus McCarthy takes a spot on the bench where his one cap compares with a combination of 437 caps for the other seven!

“I think it has been good," says Farrell of the progress made this month.

"There are four debutants, but it’s not just that. We’ve four new members of staff as well, so we are developing, growing, and getting tighter together as a group. That has certainly been evident over the last five months.

"The camaraderie around the team is just the same if not kicked on. As it should do. Our game, in how we’re trying to go about it, there’s a nice edge to the want to do that. Hopefully, we can show that on Saturday.”

As for the head-to-head with Joe Schnidt, how does the current Ireland coach th-nk his team differs from the previous Ireland coach's team, what did Andy Farrell regime change?

“It's not necessarily 'change'; it’s the bigger picture of what it is that we’ve got in our DNA, that is cemented in our foundations, and Joe was at the heart of a massive chunk of that.

"So, whatever is good we keep cultivating that and keep allowing that to grow, and then on top of that I suppose you deal with things in a way that’s true to yourself, the direction of the game that you want to play and the personnel that you’ve got to play it.

“So, hopefully, people can see a little bit of difference in the way that we’re going about our business because we’ve got different people playing the game and coaching the game as well.”

There is, for instance, Jamison Gibson-Park, who Schmidt opted not to RWC 2019 but who was installed almost immediately after Farrell took over.

“Not just Jamison. Jamison has grown into the player that he’s become because he’s flourished at this type of level.

"You don’t know until you know, do you? Giving him the chance to thrive was pretty important but you don’t quite know how it’s going to go but you think you can see snippets from the games that they’ve played.

"And again it’s the type of game that you want to play and the personnel that fits that and what we’ve got available to us here in Ireland.”

Thus, Saturday's game is about posting a win, re-establishing the Aviva as a fortress.

“Hopefully it will be our best performance of the autumn and maybe more, hopefully. That’s what you’re always wishing for, isn’t it, to progress. Australia are certainly progressing.

“We feel that the occasion, the importance of everything that we put on, trying to kick on in any type of series is enough for us to see the best of ourselves.”

While Farrell, at the same time has warned of the Aussie threat, not keast their potential breakthrough star Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii

"The best is yet to come, I would have thought. For everyone that’s seen him play League, you all know he’s a special talent.

"His idol there is Israel Folau and he certainly looks like Israel Folau in his heyday, doesn't he. He’s only going to get better but he’s certainly a confident kid, who backs himself and looks like he’s having a good time as well.

Joe Schmidt's Wallabies are coming forwards in leaps and bounds.

“I think they’ve got their DNA back. I think if you look over the history, they’ve been unbelievably difficult to play against because of that DNA.

"I think they’ve brought a little bit of that back with a little bit more structure as well, which probably goes hand in hand at making them a better team. That is probably showing in the last couple of months, of how they’ve played and that’s only going to get better. Therefore, it’s a brilliant test for us.”

Ireland (v Australia): Hugo Keenan (Leinster); Mack Hansen (Connacht), Robbie Henshaw (Leinster), Bundee Aki (Connacht), James Lowe (Leinster); Sam Prendergast (Leinster), Jamison Gibson-Park (Leinster)Andrew Porter (Leinster), Rónan Kelleher (Leinster), Finlay Bealham (Connacht), Joe McCarthy (Leinster), James Ryan (Leinster), Tadhg Beirne (Munster), Josh van der Flier (Leinster), Caelan Doris (Leinster)

Replacements: Gus McCarthy (UCD/Leinster), Cian Healy (Leinster), Tom O’Toole (Ulster), Iain Henderson (Ulster), Peter O'Mahony (Munster), Craig Casey (Munster), Jack Crowley (Munster), Garry Ringrose (UCD).

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