Old guard the key component of Ireland's historic series success

As the dust settles on Ireland's greatest achievement in their rugby history – winning a series against the All Blacks in New Zealand – it’s important to reflect on some of the key considerations before the tour began.

We questioned what a successful tour would be. Getting any sort of win in the first two games would have been a huge achievement, and Ireland did that. The rest of the tour success would come down to how many minutes some of the fringe tourists would get and who would put their hand up for selection to challenge what has been a very consistent team sheet.

There was always going to be game time, considering it was a five-game tour. We wanted players like Gavin Coombes, Ryan Baird, James Hume and Joey Carbery to get more time to see if they could handle the hottest cauldron of international rugby.

They didn’t play as much Test rugby as we would have hoped, but then nobody expected Ireland to go to New Zealand and come home with a series win. Our expectations of game time and the barometer of success have moved substantially.

The series win isn't about a Steinlager Series trophy. The meaning behind the win is far removed from the trophy that was on offer. That success will breed a different level of confidence within this group for a long time yet. It’s similar to what Joe Schmidt helped the team to achieve, and they wouldn’t have done it without his previous success, but Andy Farrell has brought this team to another level.

One of the biggest successes for me, was that the older generation of players really stood up and led from the front. They didn’t wilt under the public pressure of their selection, and if anything, they showed the younger guys the way in terms of creating history and playing the game in the