FINALLY, IT’S GAME week for Ireland at the World Cup.
The squad had a day off training yesterday, with a big contingent of players and coaches heading out to a golf course near Tours to get a round in despite the heat. Others rented bikes and headed into the city centre for a bite to eat and to check out the marché, while some simply put their feet up before everything picked up pace again today.
Ireland trained in 30°C heat at midday at their facility in the northern suburbs of Tours. The temperature is forecast to continue rising towards peaks of 34°C in the coming days, while it’s expected to be that hot in Bordeaux on Saturday for Ireland’s Pool B opener against Romania.
A kick-off of 3.30pm local time in Bordeaux means Ireland will be playing in sweltering conditions, but they believe they’ve done what they can to prepare.
“Certainly I’m struggling in the heat but we’ve had a brilliant pre-season,” said Ireland assistant coach John Fogarty after training in Stade de la Chambrerie this afternoon.
“We’ve been to Portugal, it was nice and warm there. We’ve been down in Biarritz and on Saturday, it’s a pretty hot day.
“It’s certainly going to play its part at 3pm in Bordeaux but we feel we have stressed the players in that and there’s some really good strategies around how we’re going to deal with it. It’s certainly a factor but we feel we’re ready.”
Ireland are in relatively decent nick coming into their opener. Although Fogarty said “no one is ruled out,” it appears that Dan Sheehan will need a while longer to fully recover from his foot injury.
But loosehead prop Dave Kilcoyne is expected to return from a hamstring issue, Jack Conan is thought to be in the mix after his foot issue, while hooker Rónan Kelleher was one of those to speak to the media today.
The Leinster man missed all three of Ireland’s warm-up games with a hamstring problem but he’s set to feature against Romania.
“I’m fighting fit and ready to go,” said Kelleher. “I’ve been training fully and I’m just raring to get going now. I had a few little niggles there over the last couple of weeks but fit now and ready to go.”
Of course, Ireland captain Johnny Sexton is also back available after completing his three-match ban. It’s expected the out-half will be involved this weekend.
The Irish coaches presented analysis of Romania to the players earlier today, outlining what they should expect from the Oaks, who are ranked 19th in the world and were poor in their three warm-up defeats to the US, Italy, and Georgia.
Ireland will travel from Tours to Bordeaux by train on Thursday, with head coach Andy Farrell announcing his matchday 23 after arrival in Bordeaux.
A huge Irish crowd is expected and it’s likely that the 42,060-capacity Stade de Bordeaux will be awash with green. Ireland, who are 62-point favourites, are determined to make a strong start as they launch their bid for World Cup glory.
“We want to get better every time we take the field and that’s something that the group and the coaching staff, everyone, is keenly aware of,” said Fogarty.
“We need to make sure that we’re nice and calm, nice and controlled, really clear on what our plan is, and then delivering it.
“There’s going to be moments where something is going to present itself. We need to be able to execute, so the players want to do that to the best of their abilities. We want to represent this group to the best of our abilities on the weekend, so that’s a big focus for us now.”