These mid-Lions summer tours are always a weird mix of one or two guys with half an eye on the Lions, a few guys looking to stake their claim for more minutes come November (they won’t), and a few lads bricking it because they’re making their debut. A secret fourth type of guy establishes themselves as a core part of the squad’s future, but that isn’t always knowable immediately.

There’s jeopardy, too, though. Underwhelm here and your days as a test player might well be done, especially with a team like Ireland, where chances are few and far between. The uniqueness of our system under Andy Farrell means that to make your way to the Real Irish team, you have to showcase usefulness within a certain role. If your natural skillset isn’t a clean fit for that role, you’ll have to shape your game around it if you want to progress. If not, the best you can hope for is wider squad callups and/or a rake of injuries ahead of you in early November or early Spring.

It’s not necessarily about being the best version of yourself, it’s about showing you can do a passable version of Caelan Doris, Josh Van Der Flier or Bundee Aki.

Of course, there’s also the “didn’t realise we needed that” role where your natural game gives Andy Farrell an idea of how you might fill a gap in the team that only he has been thinking about, but that’s potluck. Not everyone can be the right guy at the right time like Joe McCarthy.

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In two years, Ireland will begin their summer camp for the 2027 World Cup.

The following players currently in Ireland’s plans (this squad or in the Six Nations squad) will be over the age of 30 by the time the World Cup in 2027 kicks off. I’ve highlighted in bold the players who will have hugely attritional Lions tours in their legs by the time that tournament rolls around.

• Andrew Porter (31)

• Finlay Bealham (35)

• Tadhg Furlong (34)

• Rob Herring (37)

• Iain Henderson (35)

• James Ryan (31)

• Tadhg Beirne (35)

• Jack Conan (35)

• Josh Van Der Flier (34)

• Nick Timoney (32)

• Jamison Gibson-Park (35)

• Bundee Aki (37)

• Garry Ringrose (32)

• Robbie Henshaw (34)

• Stuart McCloskey (35)

• Jacob Stockdale (31)

• James Lowe (35)

• Hugo Keenan (31)

While I wouldn’t put it past Andy Farrell to hang onto every last one of these players, it’s an inevitability that anyone over 32 will start to either break down physically or be at the point where they need others to help raise the level of the test side as they will no longer be capable of doing so.

You start to see names like Andrew Porter, Tadhg Furlong, Tadhg Beirne, Josh Van Der Flier, James Lowe, Bundee Aki, Jamison Gibson Park and others on that list, and things start to get a little spooky. Why? Because we know that if Andy Farrell’s selection patterns continue between now and then, and there’s little to suggest they won’t, these players will be run into the ground.

Unless some players can make a run at the test side in the next 18 months. In the aftermath of the Lions, players always end up having a dip of some kind. The name that always stands out to me on this is Mako Vunipola, who was arguably the best loosehead prop in the game between 2014 and 2021. After he played his third Lions tour, he never really got back to being the guy he was. The season after his last Lions series, at just 30, he looked a shadow of the Mako Vunipola we knew. A season later, he was washed.

Every player only has so much rugby in them, and Irish players will be no different.

That means an opportunity for whoever can take it during the summer. It’s complicated by only having Paul O’Connell as part of the permanent coaching group on this tour, but anyone who can stand out has a good chance of getting another audition in November.

All they need to do is take it. The game against Portugal will be straightforward, but this one is a proper landmine against a Georgian team with obvious superstrengths in weather that only enhances that strength.

Who’s going to make a case for November and beyond?

Ireland: 15. Jimmy O’Brien; 14. Tommy O’Brien, 13. Jamie Osborne, 12. Stuart McCloskey, 11. Jacob Stockdale; 10. Sam Prendergast, 9. Craig Casey (c); 1. Jack Boyle, 2. Gus McCarthy, 3. Thomas Clarkson; 4. Cormac Izuchukwu, 5. Darragh Murray; 6. Ryan Baird, 7. Nick Timoney, 8. Gavin Coombes

Replacements: 16. Tom Stewart, 17. Michael Milne, 18. Jack Aungier, 19. Tom Ahern, 20. Cian Prendergast, 21. Ben Murphy, 22. Jack Crowley, 23. Calvin Nash

Georgia: 15. Davit Niniashvili; 14 Aka Tabutsadze, 13. Demuri Tapladze, 12. Giorgi Kveseladze, 11. Alexander Todua; 10. Luka Matkava, 9. Vasil Lobzhanidze; 1. Giorgi Akhaladze, 2. Vano Karkadze, 3. Irakli Aptsiauri; 4. Mikheil Babunashvili, 5. Lado Chachanidze; 6. Luka Ivanishvili, 7. Beka Saginadze, 8. Tornike Jalagonia

Replacements: 16. Irakli Kvatadze, 17. Giorgi Tetrashvili, 18. Beka Gigashvili, 19. Giorgi Javakhia, 20. Ilia Spanderashvili, 21.  Mikheil Alania, 22. Tedo Abzhandadze, 23. Tornike Kakhoidze

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The big worry in this game is that an Ireland team full of new combinations everywhere plays a janky version of Farrell’s attacking game and ends up getting scrummaged into the ground by a Georgian side with size and scrummaging experience all across the front row and beyond.

This Irish front five is… light. Boyle and McCarthy are a light enough combination at loosehead and hooker, Izuchukwu and Murray are great athletes, but I wouldn’t class either of them as big scrummaging locks and that could become an issue if they then can’t balance out the defensive lineout. A lot of focus will fall on Tom Clarkson, who finished the season on a high point from a scrummaging perspective against a green and over-eager Jan Hendrik Wessels, but dealing with the 128kg frame of Giorgi Akhaladze – playing with Clermont in the TOP14 – is a different story.

That’s ultimately what this game will come back to – who kicks better, who chases with more accuracy, and who can win the set-piece battle.

I think the maths on this is pretty simple for a scratch Ireland side:

• If Ireland can nullify the scrum, Ireland will win.
• If Ireland gets pumped in the scrum, they’ll still win if they can stifle the Georgian lineout and kick better
• If Ireland gets pumped in the scrum and fails to impact at the lineout, this could get very sticky

I would hope that the forecast rain, greasy pitch, and heavy playing conditions will tighten Ireland’s game back a little because we’ve seen a heavily rotated Ireland side lose heavily trying to ape the rugby of Andy Farrell’s XV, who went a whole three-year cycle using only four players in their back row.

It is impossible to play rugby at their level of cohesion, so it’s a fool’s errand to try against a team who are built to kill you at the scrum and on kick transition. Keep an eye out for Davit Niniashvili on kick transition if Ireland try to take too many metres in the kicking game to avoid the scrummaging that comes with contestables. As the game breaks up in the second half, look for a re-run of Dan Sheehan’s try from the Lions with a cross-field kick to Ahern, with a throw back inside to Tommy O’Brien as the Georgian defence tends to narrow up on phase defence to exert control on opposition ball carriers.