What’s good for the goose is good for the gander? After the recent confirmation of Andy Farrell’s new four-year contract extension, it will be interesting to see if some, or all, of his assistant coaches are offered the same opportunity and follow suit.Co-opting Paul O’Connell on to the coaching ticket in January 2021 was questioned by some due to his lack of coaching experience. But it proved one of Farrell’s masterstrokes and while not inclined to agitate for a new deal, certainly Ireland’s forwards coach is evidently as engaged by the job as he’s ever been.“It’s great for Andy to get a contract of that length. We’d all love one of those,” said O’Connell with a wry chuckle in the Irish squad’s hotel base in Sydney a week out from next Saturday’s opening Nations Championship game against Australia at a sold-out Allianz Stadium.“But I don’t look that far ahead. Honestly, when I’m here, I feel like I’m learning all the time. Every day, I never feel like I’m ready for something else. I’ve never had that feeling since I’ve been in the job. I’ve always had the feeling that I’m learning and getting better as a coach all the time and because of that I don’t probably look so far ahead.“I really enjoy working with the team. The team means a lot to me. I really enjoy working with the coaching staff we have here. It’s just a pleasure to work for. We work really hard, but we have great fun as well. It’s not something I’d be looking to change any time soon.”The nature of working with an international team seems to suit O’Connell more than the weekly grind of a club or province. He was the only coach from the Ireland setup not to be involved in last summer’s Lions expedition. Indeed, O’Connell’s last match in Australia was when playing for the Lions in 2013.The rest of the Irish coaching ticket are back in the same Sydney hotel not far from the Opera House where the Lions were based last summer (and also in 2013). The same can be said for all but four of the 18-strong Irish playing contingent from the Lions tour – the exceptions being Andrew Porter, Finlay Bealham, James Lowe and Mack Hansen.The squad arrived last Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning. After a walk-through on Thursday, their first session took place on Friday at the Leichhardt Oval. “A little bit of a bus drive, but it’s a beautiful training ground.”The sun shone on the squad’s boat trip to Manly last Wednesday for some beach volleyball. A portion of the travelling party returned there on Saturday night to watch the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles romp to a 30-4 win over Melbourne Storm in the National Rugby League. But unlike the heatwave back home, the weather has been fairly grim since then.Japan in Newcastle and New Zealand in Auckland are the other Tests in the first leg of Ireland’s Nations Championship. Due to the relatively short run-in to Ireland’s first game since the Six Nations, O’Connell says no one is looking beyond the first of their three games. All the more so after poor starts to their last two campaigns against the All Blacks in Chicago and France in Paris.Ireland's Stuart McCloskey gets past Kyle Steyn of Scotland during the Six Nations match at the Aviva Stadium, Dublin, in March. Photograph: Liam McBurney/PA Wire All 36 players trained fully last Friday, including Stuart McCloskey (hamstring) and Tadhg Beirne (knee), who have recovered from the injuries which cut short their provincial campaigns. True to form, it is not the coaches’ express intention to play all 36 players in these three games. After all, that did not even apply when O’Connell was at the helm last summer against Georgia and Portugal.“We haven’t discussed that at all,” said O’Connell. “I’d imagine there’ll be changes next week for Japan; a few changes. After that, then we’ll be seeing who plays in the final game. We haven’t discussed it. We’ll pick the right team for Japan. We won’t try to cap people, it’s never been something we’ve tried to do.”That said, all five uncapped players are in the squad “on merit”, including four forwards. Connacht’s Sam Illo has been with Emerging Ireland and O’Connell said: “There was no doubt about his strength and his size and his physical prowess. The rugby piece probably needed to kick on a bit. I think the last few years he’s improved massively, training under Stuart [Lancaster].”After playing in the A international last February, 20-year-old Billy Bohan was also called up to the Six Nations. O’Connell highlighted his role in Connacht’s match-winning maul try against Glasgow.“For a young guy to be the linchpin of that maul, it was a real big moment for him. He’s scrummaged against South African teams all year. He’s had a brilliant season and he’s handled it with a real calmness.”Similarly, 21-year-old backrow Bryn Ward was called up to the Six Nations squad in his breakthrough season.“He’s a real point of difference with his carry, his size. A really curious guy. A lovely bit of confidence about him. He’s not shy.“We had Sean [Jansen] on Emerging [Ireland] with us as well. When you see Sean, you see this big bulldozer of a player. You probably don’t realise how eager he is to get better and how diligent he is about getting better as well,” said O’Connell, also highlighting Jansen’s curiosity and the influence of Cian Prendergast.“We’ve spoken about him for a while. We look at him and we say, ‘Jeez, he’d be a great guy to be bringing off the bench or whatever’. It’s brilliant to have him in and he’s done really well.“They’ve all earned their crack at it. We bring guys in to train from time to time, but these guys are here now on merit.”