Chris Farrell has smoothed over any fears about Ireland's centre pairing despite Robbie Henshaw's injury absence, with the Munster man taking home the Man of the Match award in Ireland's 37-27 win over Wales in the third round of the Six Nations.
Farrell, who was making his first competitive start for his country, not only gained yards and carried the ball comfortably all day, but put in a tight shift defensively as he and Bundee Aki's fledgling partnership delivered more than almost anyone had hoped for.
One man who wasn't surprised in the slightest however was Leinster boss Stuart Lancaster, who had faith in Farrell's ability to step up at the highest level.
"For an experienced player like Chris Farrell is, he's played at a high level, he's played for Munster, he knows the lads. So he'll have done the prep, they had a week before this game, they had a full week to get ready for it, so it's not like the first time he's been in the camp, he knows the players, he knows the calls, so I wasn't surprised".
Lancaster, who was speaking at the Aviva Fan studio to Off The Ball's Adrian Barry, said he wasn't worried about Ireland's centre pairing before the game, despite it being Farrell's first Six Nations cap, and the pairing only holding a combined total six appearances between them going into the game.
"I don't think it was a worry to start with really. They're good players, and they're well prepared. This is a very established Irish team with a lot of experience in the collective group, so a new player comes in, he gets up to speed and does his job well. Everyone else looks after their own job and helps him along the way".
Larissa Muldoon was also in at the Aviva, and the Irish scrumhalf doubled down on Lancaster's comments, believing that Farrell was well worthy of the Man of the Match honour and said he was setting a marker to say he's ready not just to fill in for this game, but for rest of the tournament and beyond.
"I thought Farrell was outstanding, from the get go he was knocking people back, he was outstanding. He was making a stance, 'I'm here, and I'm here to play'. Fair dues to him, he deserved man of the match".
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