It can take as long as four months to sail from the shores of the British Isles to the port of Brisbane, where the first Test of the British and Irish Lions tour will take place. Given there’s only 114 days until that first Test,

The knock-on effect is that Paul O’Connell ought also to benefit from heading the Irish adventure to Georgia and Portugal, and the same should apply to whoever is part of his team, be it Mike Prendergast, Jimmy Duffy, Sean O’Brien and, maybe, Johnny Sexton. Imagine the next generation embarking upon a mini tour with that ticket?