You’re going to hear a lot about Andy Far­rell’s selec­tion policy in the weeks ahead.

How there is little scope for exper­i­ment­a­tion. The World Cup in Aus­tralia may be less than 12 months away, but that shouldn’t influ­ence Andy Far­rell’s think­ing ahead of next month’s autumn inter­na­tion­als or the 2027 Six Nations.

You will hear plenty about the need to set down a marker against Argen­tina who, all going accord­ing to plan, will provide the oppos­i­tion in a World Cup quarter-final in Bris­bane next Octo­ber.

As for the Spring­boks later in the Test win­dow, few are enter­tain­ing the notion that Far­rell will go any­thing but fully loaded ahead of that match.

The Fiji game, which lies between the Pumas and South Africa fix­tures, will be mooted as the only oppor­tun­ity to test the mettle of some fringe play­ers.

You will also read and hear plenty about the ‘finals’ week­end of this inaug­ural Nations Cham­pi­on­ship in Twick­en­ham at the end of Novem­ber. Another factor which will appar­ently restrict Far­rell’s selec­tion options next month.

Why do we keep banging this drum? A lot of rugby naysay­ers like to class these inter­na­tional meet­ings in Novem­ber as ove­rhyped friend­lies, but they’re not far wrong. We place far too much emphasis on the import­ance of these autumn games at the Aviva Sta­dium and it con­sist­ently lands us in trouble at World Cups.

What will Andy Far­rell learn if he rolls out the ol’ reli­ables against Argen­tina and South Africa? Yes, there are other factors at play. Con­fid­ence, momentum etc.

But time is run­ning out now. The 2027 Six Nations is effect­ively a dry run for the big one Down Under. Far­rell and his back­room team aren’t going to rock the selec­tion boat dur­ing the cham­pi­on­ship, espe­cially with Eng­land and France pay­ing vis­its to the cap­ital.

There is too much pres­sure, both internal and external, to do something rad­ical in the spring. There is a poten­tial title at stake, prize money and tick­ets to sell for three home games at Aviva Sta­dium. Far­rell might make the odd tweak, but it will be foot to the floor for the Six Nations.

Which makes next month’s Test win­dow so pivotal. Andy Far­rell will need a deep squad in Aus­tralia next year and, to his credit, he has drilled into the depth chart over the past 24 months. Billy Bohan, Sam Illo, Sean Jansen and Byrn Ward made their inter­na­tional bows in the sum­mer, while Edwin Edo­gbo and Nathan Doak earned first Ire­land caps dur­ing last sea­son’s Six Nations.

Injur­ies to Caelan Doris and Jack Conan will allow a chance to look at fresh No8 options. But he needs to dig a bit deeper in Novem­ber. Look­ing at a few young locks would do no harm. Ditto, scrum-half.

Far­rell is well stocked with mid­field­ers. The estab­lished quar­tet of Bundee Aki, Stu­art McClo­s­key, Rob­bie Hen­shaw and Garry Ringrose have an aver­age age of 33, however.

Who is the next cab off the rank? Bet­ter to find out now rather than just before a World Cup knock-out game, surely?

There is a school of thought that Far­rell could name his Ireland World Cup squad tomor­row. Is that a good or a bad thing? Time will tell really.

A host of young play­ers have put their hands up. Brian Gleeson, Charlie O’Shea and Sean Edo­gbo have made strong impres­sions at Mun­ster. Mean­while at Ulster, James McNab­ney, David McCann and Jamie Ben­son have caught the eye. Con­nacht wing Finn Treacy has a bit about him. Fintan Gunne and Alex Usanov have broken into Lein­ster’s first team.

Do they have the right stuff at Test level? Far­rell only has a few more weeks to find out.

Tomor­row’s squad announce­ment will be instruct­ive. Next month’s autumn inter­na­tional series is his last chance to nail some vital World Cup prep.