PRAISE THE RUGBY gods for water breaks. Ireland’s players might have done some warm-weather training to prepare for this, but they’re certainly not accustomed to playing in 35°C heat.
Things will be hot and heavy at Stade de Bordeaux this afternoon as Andy Farrell’s team finally get their tilt at World Cup glory up and running with a clash against Romania [KO 2.30pm Irish time, Virgin Media].
After all the previews, predictions, premonitions, and palaver, it really is good to get stuck into the rugby. Ireland are huge favourites against the minnows of Pool B, with Romania’s world ranking of 19th highlighting how difficult it’s going to be for them against the number one side in the game.
Barring a disaster of unparalleled magnitude, Ireland will extend their winning streak to 14 games this afternoon and while the searing sunshine might make it uncomfortable at times, the sheer strength of Farrell’s selection for this game suggests that the Romanians won’t have a moment’s rest aside from those water breaks.
Up in the stands of the 42,000-capacity venue, the visiting Irish fans will no doubt have plenty of fluids on board too. There will be a party atmosphere, as well as an air of expectation for this opener. Farrell hopes his players can stay on-task.
22-year-old Joe McCarthy is the only inexperienced player Farrell has picked in his starting XV but the Leinster lock has earned a chance with the front-liners on account of his strong pre-season. Farrell has kept a few wise heads in reserve here, suggesting they will start against Tonga in Ireland’s second clash, but this is an Irish team set to make a resounding opening statement.
The return of captain Johnny Sexton will attract plenty of attention and rightly so. Farrell wants to win the Webb Ellis Cup, so Sexton’s fitness and form will be highly influential. He’s surrounded by class in a side that should have far too much for the Oaks.
Ireland have had a pleasant build-up at their training base in Tours and arrived in Bordeaux on Thursday after a two-hour ride on the high-speed TGV train. They were clapped into their new team hotel in Bordeaux and it’s likely there will be plenty more adulation today given the thousands of Irish who have flooded into the city.
Romanian boss Eugen Apjok, who is being supported by the experienced Vern Cotter, has reshuffled the side that lost to Italy in their final warm-up game with an interesting selection at out-half. Hinckley Vaovasa is better known as a centre, wing, or fullback but he moves to number 10 for this game. His footwork is sharp and his kicking game is good, but it will be a big ask to run the ship under pressure from Ireland.
The Romanians haven’t had a great build-up and there is worry that this could be a blow-out scoreline, which we never want to see at World Cups. The Oaks will have to be at their grittiest, most aggressive, scrappiest best to just stay in touch with Farrell’s side.
These nations met in the pool stages in 2015 and it was a phenomenal occasion as a record World Cup crowd of 89,267 turned up in Wembley. Ireland went without many key players that time but still won convincingly on a 44-10 scoreline.
So the likelihood is that it will be a happy opening effort for Ireland before they rotate their team against Tonga on the second weekend of the tournament. Farrell welcomes adversity, as we know, but he’ll hope to see his front-liners coming through unscathed today, particularly given that three squad members – Dan Sheehan, Jack Conan, and Dave Kilcoyne – weren’t available today due to injuries.
Farrell has also laid it out in plain language that he’s not in the mood for Ireland to take their eye off the ball, so anything other than a slick, cohesive performance will leave him frustrated.
If Ireland are World Cup contenders, they must start with a ruthless edge in Bordeaux.
Ireland:
- 15. Hugo Keenan
- 14. Keith Earls
- 13. Garry Ringrose
- 12. Bundee Aki
- 11. James Lowe
- 10. Johnny Sexton (captain)
- 9. Jamison Gibson-Park
- 1. Andrew Porter
- 2. Rob Herring
- 3. Tadhg Furlong
- 4. Joe McCarthy
- 5. James Ryan
- 6. Tadhg Beirne
- 7. Peter O’Mahony
- 8. Caelan Doris
Replacements:
- 16. Rónan Kelleher
- 17. Jeremy Loughman
- 18. Tom O’Toole
- 19. Iain Henderson
- 20. Josh van der Flier
- 21. Conor Murray
- 22. Jack Crowley
- 23. Robbie Henshaw
Romania:
- 15. Marius Simonescu
- 14. Nicholas Onutu
- 13. Fonovai Tangimana
- 12. Jason Tomane
- 11. Tevita Manumua
- 10. Hinckley Vaovasa
- 9. Gabriel Rupanu
- 1. Iulian Hartig
- 2. Ovidiu Cojocaru
- 3. Alexandru Gordas
- 4. Adrian Motoc
- 5. Stefan Iancu
- 6. Florian Rosu
- 7. Vlad Neculau
- 8. Cristian Chirca
Replacements:
- 16. Florin Bardasu
- 17. Alexandru Savin
- 18. Gheorghe Gajion
- 19. Marius Iftimiciuc
- 20. Dragos Ser
- 21. Alin Conache
- 22. Tudor Boldor
- 23. Taylor Gontineac
