JOSH VAN DER FLIER insists Ireland must stay focused ahead of their Autumn Nations Series finale against Australia.

The Six Nations holders face the Wallabies on Saturday afternoon looking to build on wins over Argentina and Fiji this month.

And they will be hoping to give Andy Farrell a big result before he takes charge of the Lions — with whom he faces three Tests against the Aussies next summer.

Simon Easterby is set to take over Ireland as interim chief in Farrell’s absence.

But Van der Flier believes the temporary departure of Farrell will have no bearing on Saturday’s clash at the Aviva — even though Ireland want to give him a win.

The Leinster ace said: “It’s not something we’re thinking of very much.

“I’m sure it’s interesting for him because he’ll be coaching against Australialate next year.

“But from our point of view, he’s our Irish coach and we’re fully in the week.

“Everyone is 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.”

Boss Farrell served as an assistant to current Wales head coach Warren Gatland when the Lions toured Australia in 2013 and the tourists won the series 2-1.

The current Ireland supremo later worked with Joe Schmidt in the IRFU.

But in 2013, Schmidt was only just appointed to the role as Ireland chief after taking over from Declan Kidney. He is now in charge of the Wallabies — with 67-time Ireland cap Van der Flier looking forward to facing his former international boss on Saturday afternoon in Dublin 4.

Schmidt gave Wicklow man Van der Flier, 31, his Ireland bow against England in a 21-10 Six Nations defeat back in 2016.

While Matt O’Connor was in charge by the time Van der Flier made his senior debut for Leinster, Schmidt was also the Blues’ head coach when the back row star joined the province’s academy set-up.

He therefore knows the Kiwi as well as most within the Ireland fold.

And Van der Flier even has a fair idea of what to expect from the Wallabies in this weekend’s Autumn Nations Series clash.

He said: “Joe gave me my first Irish cap. When I came into the Leinster Academy he was my first coach.

“That was my first experience of fully professional rugby.

“He helped me a huge amount. His emphasis on detail, he goes above and beyond in that way.

“That attention to detail he shows was something I tried to develop into my game and he is a brilliant coach.

“I learned a huge amount from him.

“He has played a huge role in my career to date.

“We know Joe very well. They will be well organised, we all know that.

“We saw his trick-plays from our side and the way he sets up the team to beat the opposition.

“It will be a bit different and we will be expecting a few trick-plays and a well-drilled side.

“The individuals as well, they have a lot of very good players throughout their team. They have some lads who can disrupt our ball pretty well.

“They have some good individuals who will make big tackles.

“I’m expecting quite a physical game with good attacking play from them.”