Tom Farrell not giving up on Ireland dream as he targets Champions Cup worldies for Munster

Tom Farrell is having a MVP season for new club Munster but knows that will take something special to break through for a long wished-for Ireland debut.

Mind you, he's not ruling it out if he can fire for the Reds over two vital Champions Cup Saturdays.

Signed by the Reds last summer at the end of his Connacht contract - and just as he was close to a move to France - the 31-year-old Dubliner has excelled as Antoine Frisch's outside centre replacement this term.

READ MORE: Munster must find cutting edge to keep Champions Cup hopes alive

READ MORE: Munster v Saracens: Peter O'Mahony in race against time to make Champions Cup clash

The province needs him to repeat the trick at Thomond Park on Saturday night in their must-win Champions Cup round three clash with Saracens, then in Franklin's Gardens against Northampton seven days later.

Ireland interim boss Simon Easterby will be watching as he finalises the Six Nations squad that will be named on Wednesday.

Farrell has come close to a Test cap in the past but realises that with a bloc of centres tried and trusted within the Ireland set-up - Garry Ringrose, Bundee Aki, Robbie Henshaw and Stuart McCloskey, and now Jamie Osborne - breaking through will be tough to do.

"Like, I'm fully aware of the personnel that are there," he said. "You have three potential British and Irish Lions there who have been in and around the team for the last five or 10 years.

"With what they're doing and how good of players they are, obviously it'll take something outstanding or something worldly to displace them at this stage in my career.

"But look, I wouldn't rule it out. Never say never. You never know, another good two or three weeks under my belt, anything can happen."

In fact, Farrell has led the way in terms of attacking stats in the URC so far this term and has six tries from 11 appearances. He believes that Munster's style is suiting him, with the team's licence to thrill.

Munster’s Tom Farrell scores his second try in the festive victory at Ulster
(Image: ©INPHO/Morgan Treacy)

Mike Prendergast's input has been vital in that regard - and Farrell insists he hasn't been looking to prove a point to his former employers.

"No, but I just knew that getting to join a club like Munster was a no-brainer," he reflected. "Once there was a sniff there I put everything on hold, any conversations I had abroad were put on hold pretty quickly and it was a very easy decision, to be honest.

"A couple of months before it I didn't really know where I was going, I didn't know whether I was going to be in Ireland or abroad.

"Looking down the line where we are now, it probably has gone better (than expected). That coupled with the injuries that we have, it's allowed me a lot of games under my belt and to get a lot of minutes, so loving it, yeah."

Farrell echoes Prendergast's demand that Munster are more clinical against Sarries than they were against Leinster just after Christmas - especially given how efficient Saturday's visitors are themselves, and how difficult they are to play against.

"We're aware of where we are in our group, we're a couple of points off Sarries so a win will put us into second place," he said. "The Stade game was my first game for Munster in Europe and it was a cool experience, so hopefully now come Saturday we'll have another big crowd and we can put a performance in.

"We've only been talking Sarries the last 10 days or so, so we're fully aware of it. We are probably looking at it as a two-game block. The way we manage to pick up those points doesn't really matter once we do pick them up.

"But giving ourselves the best chance would be in front of a home crowd at Thomond Park, we're under no illusions about that, but if things don't go to plan, we always have a trip to Northampton next week. But we are fully focused on the job at hand first."

Get the latest sports headlines straight to your inbox by signing up for free email alerts.