LAST UPDATE | 25 Aug 2023
ANDY FARRELL WILL now name Ireland’s final 33-man squad for the World Cup on Sunday instead of Monday as previously planned.
The announcement is planned for 4.30pm on Sunday as the final cut is made ahead of Ireland’s first World Cup game on Saturday, September 9, against Romania in Bordeaux.
Injury concerns to hookers Dan Sheehan and Rónan Kelleher have eased, while Farrell has indicated that the other two players on the injury list, No 8 Jack Conan and prop Dave Kilcoyne, will be available for selection.
The primary question now is whether Farrell will opt for a 19/14 split of forwards and backs or 18/15 to give more depth in the backline options.
A 19/14 split could leave Stuart McCloskey, Keith Earls, Jacob Stockdale, and Ciarán Frawley fighting it out for one spot in the squad.
Yet any knocks picked up Ireland’s final warm-up clash, against Samoa tomorrow [KO 7.45pm, RTÉ 2] could yet cause a rethink for Farrell and his management team ahead of Sunday’s announcement.
Ulster lock Iain Henderson, who is preparing for his third World Cup, admits tension has increased in camp ahead of the looming cut.
“Close to half the squad haven’t been in this position before,” said the 31-year-old.
“What the players are focusing on is how they’re going to put their best foot forward for Faz (Farrell) to get a good glimpse of them.
“He knows each one of us pretty intimately at this stage and I feel that the final step that the players can take is to actually go out and show it again in the Test match this weekend.
“I think there is a type of anxiety there but the players are well used to being put in sticky situations, selections for cup finals, selections for tours, selections for Six Nations games.
“Obviously this one carries a slightly different weight but we’re a really tight-knit group, the guys who are feeling probably the worst about it are probably the best supported.”
He added: “Everyone’s looking after each other and ensuring whoever is left out will feel as little left out as possible.
“I feel that the guys really do look out for each other and there’s a genuine care for how each other is feeling.”
