'It's a long way away' - Josh van der Flier not distracted by Lions lure

There are quite a few subplots at play in Ireland's meeting with Australia on Saturday.

The fourth game of this Autumn Nations Series window, it’s also serving as the game that will mark the IRFU’s 150th anniversary celebrations. Just as the Ireland women’s team did when they hosted the Wallaroos in September, Andy Farrell's side will don a special edition kit to mark the occasion.

As well as that, there will be an extra focus on the two coaches.

Former Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt, now leading Australia, is back in town for the first time since he stepped down after the Rugby World Cup in 2019. Meanwhile, this will be Farrell’s final game in charge of Ireland before he temporarily vacates the post to go work for the British and Irish Lions – where he will be going up against Schmidt’s Wallabies.

A chance for the Ireland players to send their head coach off on a high, and also a final chance for them to make an impression on their coach, who will be selecting his Lions squad after the Six Nations.

""It's not something we're thinking of very much, I'm sure it's interesting for him because he'll be coaching against Australia late next year, but from our point of view; he's our Irish coach and we're fully in the week," Josh van der Flier said about the Lions narrative.

"Everyone's just so immersed in getting focused for this game and trying to play as well as we can. We'll try and leave all the rest of the stuff up to other people to talk about.

"We're more excited to play against Australia - a good, proud rugby nation that they are.

"That's how I'd see it, obviously I'm sure there's that narrative going on in behind, but as far as I'm concerned we're just playing a rugby game against a proud rugby nation and we're getting