Farrell factoring in Murrayfield weather forecast

Andy Farrell believes his side's training session in freezing weather in Dublin on Thursday will help them if conditions are very cold at Murrayfield on Sunday

Ireland coach Andy Farrell admits the possibility of freezing weater at Murrayfield has been part of his thought process heading into Sunday's big Six Nations game against Scotland.

"The coldest day of the year so far was yesterday and we went outside and trained fully in that for a good hour and 10 minutes," said the Irish coach.

"So we're prepared. We prepared pretty well yesterday."

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The forecast for Sunday in Edinburgh has been changeable this week with snow at one stage being predicted during match time between 15:00 GMT and 17:30 although the weather experts now say rain light rain appears more likely, accompanied by temperatures of seven Celsius which will feel more like four degrees centigrade.

"It [the weather forecast for Sunday] changes all the time," added Farrell.

"Specialist or not, it changes in their eyes as well. Three o'clock to six o'clock [on Sunday], it was snowing yesterday [according to the forecast], and it could be sleet maybe turning into rain. It all depends on how cold it is."

Squad's ability to 'switch on and switch off

But whatever the weather conditions will be, Farrell believes his players' physical and mental preparations are as good as they possibly could be heading into a game, where victory will give them a shot at the Grand Slam when they face England in Dublin next Saturday.

Farrell believes one of his squad's great assets is its ability to "switch on and switch off" during match weeks, which he feels is primarily because of the genuine affection the players have for each other.

"What we've got really good at is towards the end of the week making sure that the right balance is there switching on, switching off and being relaxed enough and not too drained in terms of the emotion of the occasion, so therefore you are able to be yourself," Farrell told a news conference following Ireland's team announcement on Friday.

"They force it out of each other that they do switch off. They have a bit of craic themselves. They enjoy each other's company.

"You know when people put false fun out in front of them and try and organise something to enjoy each other's company. They don't like that. They just want to enjoy each other's company naturally."

Andy Farrell says the Ireland players genuinely "enjoy each other's company"

But while Farrell believes his side are in a good place heading into Sunday's game, he insists that he knows the magnitude of the task they will face against a Scotland team that have been very impressive to date in the championship, and who themselves will clinch the Triple Crown this weekend if they end Ireland's Grand Slam hopes.

"We need to understand what it means to them and balance that up with what it means to us.

"Two sides still in with a shout for the championship. That's the reality of it. To be able to win a Triple Crown for them is huge.

"Stuart Hogg's 100th cap is another bit of emotion that they will throw into the mix.

"Playing away at Murrayfield is always a tough ask anyway. All sorts of things are on the line for the home team and even more so for us in our opinion, still in with a chance of going for a Grand Slam etc.

"It's the perfect mix isn't it? It's exactly what we want. It's exactly how we want to be challenged and challenge ourselves."