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Dublin - Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt and captain Rory Best will experience their last taste of a home rugby Test match on Saturday against Wales and Andy Farrell says he hopes the players produce a performance worthy of the occasion.
Schmidt, who has been in charge since 2013, and Best have overseen a purple patch for the national side since the disappointment of the 2015 World Cup when an injury-hit side were run ragged by Argentina in the quarter-finals.
Two historic wins over world champions New Zealand - their first ever in Chicago in 2016 and then a home win last November - and the 2018 Six Nations Grand Slam, only the third in their history speaks volumes for Schmidt's coaching ability and Best's captaincy.
Farrell, who will step up from his defence coach role to succeed Schmidt after the World Cup, conceded this year has seen those high standards fall with the nadir the 57-15 thrashing inflicted by England a fortnight ago.
However, he sees Saturday's clash with a pretty much full-strength Wales team at Lansdowne Road as ideal to give the Irish a pep in their step before they fly to Japan for the World Cup and also provide a fitting farewell to Dublin for Schmidt and Best.
"I would like to see that fighting spirit really," sad Farrell.
"We are at home with our fans right behind us.
"Rory (who has been captain since the 2015 World Cup) will understate it being his last game but it does mean something to us that it is Joe's last game and Rory's last game.
"How do we use that emotionally?
"We grab hold of it, we use it to focus a bit better and hopefully we will get that accurate performance we are looking for."
Farrell, whose son Owen the England captain played a pivotal role in the destruction of Ireland at Twickenham, said anyone who took Saturday's game lightly because it is the final match before hostilities begin in Japan later this month would be kidding themselves.
"This is a proper Test match," said the 44-year-old Englishman.
"Why? Because Wales are coming full bore and I'm sure that they'll want to get on the plane with a lot of confidence and we're exactly the same."
Farrell, who was a rugby league great but then switched codes and played at the 2007 World Cup, said the criticism from outside following the England humiliation was as nothing compared to what it was like inside the camp.
"We think it's unbelievably positive to be honest with each other, and I've never seen a more honest environment," said Farrell.
"It's open and people are able to say what they think."
Farrell is no stranger to the pitfalls of failure as was the case being a member of the England coaching team at the 2015 World Cup which saw them fail to get out of their pool - doubly wounding as they were the hosts.
Farrell - who has been credited with much of Ireland's success since coming on board in 2016 - says he has learned lessons from that which he has found useful in preparing the Irish for Japan.
"Well, it's dealing with moment and it's a work-on that we've been trying to address in the first three matches (the warm-up Tests against Italy, England and Wales last Saturday).
"It's dealing with moments.
"The big crunch match from the last World Cup was the Welsh game and it was a do or die game and we didn't deal with big moments at the right time.
"We (the Ireland coaching team) feel that we've got the right people in place to be able to deal with that."
