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.”

While Joe Schmidt is understandably seen as the man with the inside track, there is another member of the Australian backroom team for this Saturday’s Autumn Nations Series encounter who has in-depth knowledge of some of those within the Ireland camp.

A native of Canberra, Laurie Fisher was appointed as forwards coach of Munster in the summer of 2008 and remained there for a total of three years. Paul O’Connell was a key player during this period, while Peter O’Mahony and Conor Murray were beginning to make significant strides towards the end of Fisher’s spell in the province.

PAUL O’CONNELL could be forgiven for feeling confused at the Aviva on Saturday.

The Ireland forward coach will be saying farewell Farrell and hello Joe.

The showdown with Schmidt’s Australia will be Ireland’s final match before head coach Faz takes a break to lead the Lions next year to  take on  . . . Schmidt’s Australia.

O’Connell was a key figure for Leinster’s arch rivals Munster during the Kiwi’s time in charge of the Blues.

When the former teacher stepped up to the Ireland hotseat.

The Limerick lock captained two of Schmidt’s three Six Nations title-winning sides before his retirement in 2015. Schmidt then left Ireland in 2019 and was succeeded by his assistant Farrell.

Having led the Green Army to a historic win over New Zealand, he became attack coach with his native country and was part of the set-up when the All Blacks knocked Ireland out of the World Cup in last year’s quarter-finals.

As his side prepare to do battle with them at the Aviva Stadium this weekend, Australian prop Isaac Kailea has hailed the Irish pack as one of the best in world rugby at the moment.

Of both Tongan and Chilean descent, Kailea made his international debut for Australia in the first Test that Wales played on their Tour of the southern hemisphere nation back on July 6 of this year – the Wallabies emerging victorious on a score of 25-16 at Sydney Football Stadium.

He was renowned for his attention to detail during his time on these shores and Waratahs scrum-half Jake Gordon has acknowledged that Joe Schmidt is using a similar approach to try and get the very best out of the Australian rugby team.

After guiding Leinster to four trophies during a memorable spell as head coach from 2010 to 2013, Schmidt enjoyed a six-year stint in charge of Ireland and helped them to secure three Six Nations Championships – including the Grand Slam success of 2018.

ANDY FARRELL reckons former Ireland chief Jose Schmidt has Australia where he expected them to be at this stage of his tenure.

Schmidt began his role as Wallabies head coach in March on a two- year deal after taking over from their previous boss Eddie Jones.

The former Leinster and Ireland boss led Australia to three wins on the spin to start with — defeating Wales twice and Georgia once.

But his side finished bottom of the Rugby Championship after recording just one win in six games.

They started the November international window with a 42-37 victory against England in Twickenham.

An emphatic 52-20 success followed at the expense of Wales before Scotland got the better of them 27-13 at Murrayfield yesterday.

But Australia are capable of posing a threat to Farrell and Co ahead of Saturday’s showdown at the Aviva.

Schmidt was Ireland chief for six years before handing the role over to Farrell in 2019.

And Farrell — who saw his side thump Fiji 52-17 on Saturday — said: “I think Australia are progressing exactly how we thought they would do.

“Joe has taken his time by playing a good few players first and foremost.

“It took a little bit of pain but he has done the right thing for the squad.

“He has got a good opinion and they’re reaping the rewards for that at this moment in time.

“They’ve always got the athletes and he’s trying to find out about them more personally, I would have thought, over the last six months.

“He’s got that now and he has got them playing really good rugby.”

While Farrell and some of his assistants worked with Schmidt in the IRFU before, Kiwi Andrew Goodman has also worked under the former Ireland chief.

Goodman was drafted in as a utility back during Schmidt’s final year at the helm of Leinster during the 2012-13 campaign.

He made only 17 appearances for the Blues that season but Goodman later returned to the eastern province as an assistant coach in 2022.

And he has subsequently found himself back in the international arena as attacking coach, taking over from Mike Catt.

And Farrell said: “Goodie is doing a fantastic job. He’s a workaholic and he’s across a lot of things.”

Goodman’s imprint could be seen in Ireland’s routine win over Fiji, with Gus McCarthy and Caelan Doris both crossing the whitewash.

Farrell added: “We’re starting to see the fruits of that work. His work he did with Gus McCarthy.

“A young fella who was coming charging around the corner during the week and just needs to calm down a little bit. The composure that he had at the line was the reason why the try from Doris was scored.”

Ireland ran eight tries past Fiji and strolled to a 35-point victory. But Farrell was pleased that his side rose to the physical challenge posed by the Pacific Islanders.

He added: “Everyone thinks it’s this fancy and offloading rugby but they are unbelievably tough and aggressive.

“One of the messages at half time was about our first up tackles and one-on-one tackles because they are strong. They challenge you.

“There’s no better way of putting that to use than at the breakdown. It was ferocious at the breakdown.

“It must have been really hard to referee. I was glad that we kept our composure.”

IRELAND head coach Andy Farrell was pleased with the performances delivered by debutants Gus McCarthy and Cormac Izuchukwu.

His side stormed to a commanding 52-17 victory against Fiji in the Autumn Nations Series at the Aviva Stadium.

A little over two years on from captaining Blackrock College to a Leinster Schools Senior Cup title, 21-year-old hooker McCarthy lined out alongside Andrew Porter and Finlay Bealham in the Irish front-row.

He capped his international bow with a second half try after previously setting up five-pointers for captain Caelan Doris, Craig Casey and Bundee Aki.

Ulster flanker Izuchukwu was unfortunate to have a try ruled out for a forward pass.

But the Offaly native left an impression on Farrell during his 51 minutes on the pitch.

Farrell remarked in his post-match press conference: “I was gutted for Izzy in regards to the forward pass.

“It would have been nice for him to get over the line.

“I thought he was a presence, certainly in the lineout. He’s some athlete.

“You give people these opportunities for them to realise their own potential.

“It’s what they do with that experience that is going to be important pushing on, but what a story there for Gus.

“Two years ago, lifting the Senior Cup with Caelan’s school and I thought he did a brilliant job.

“To play 80 minutes and finish the game at number 7? Well, him and his family will remember that forever.”

While it wasn’t his senior debut for Ireland, Leinster’s Sam Prendergast was making his first Test start at out-half after an encouraging appearance off the bench against Argentina last Friday week.

He spent 10 minutes in the sin bin during the early stages of the contest for a heavy tackle on Fiji’s Kitione Salawa that remained as a yellow card following a bunker review.

But the Kildare man ended the action with five successful conversions and an assist for Mack Hansen’s try in first half stoppage-time.

He had felt that the precocious fly-half was ‘excellent’ in his debut outing eight days earlier.

And the boss was once again thrilled with how Prendergast conducted himself in the Aviva on Saturday.

He added: “I thought he did great. I thought he was really composed.

“There was a few mistakes within his game obviously, but he was pulling the strings there for a good while and he was really composed.”

The 49-year-old also confirmed that Jacob Stockdale and Jamie Osborne were withdrawn with hamstring and adductor injuries respectively.