I believe Italy vs Ireland in a few weeks will be tough for Andy Farrell, but for a few different reasons.

Stick with me here.

If he picks the more experienced players, people will ignore the fact it's ultimately his job to deliver results; that's professional sport.

If they then win big, it will be a case of "Sure it's only Italy".

If they don't win by 50, it will be "They could barely beat Italy".

If he picks a young team, and they do well (I'm in no way suggesting they don't have the ability to) it will be "Sure haven't I been saying for ages to pick the young lads" despite looking at the opposition.

If he picks a young team, and they don't do well (I'm in no way suggesting they wouldn't) it will be "Geez, we barely scraped past Italy", and the narrative of "We've nobody for the next RWC" spins out of control.

If he picks a mix of experienced and new players (which will probably happen), the focus will be on the older players in order to fit a narrative.

If the young players do well, it will be "Well he did well, so get X in too".

If Ireland lose to Italy, be it with an experienced or young team (and I honestly cannot see that happening at all), then God above, I don't want to go online for at least a week after.