WE MIGHT BE into September now but summer is well and truly still in the air in France.
Ireland are settling into their new camp in Tours and got through their first training sessions on French soil today at the new facilities at the Stade de la Chambrerie that will be their training base for the next five weeks. They were in the gym and out on the pitch after arriving yesterday.
It has been a cloudy day but still warm for a group of Irish fellas at 24°C. It’s forecast to get hotter over the weekend and even hit the 30s by early next week. Bienvenue.
Although an elderly English lady on our flight over informed us that rugby is a “ghastly game,” the locals in Tours are evidently excited to have the Irish team here. There are Irish flags hanging outside several businesses in the city, including some of the Irish bars, of which there are at least five.
The first thing you see in Aéroport de Tours Val de Loire is a huge poster saying ‘Welcome Ireland’ with an image of some of Andy Farrell’s players celebrating. On the chalkboard outside one city-centre restaurant is an English translation of the phrase de la semaine – ‘The Irish have arrived.’
First impressions of Tours are strong. Vieux Tours, the old town, is a quaint network of cobbled lanes that lead towards the buzzy Place Plumereau. This square is packed with restaurants, bars, and people deep in conversation. The timber-framed medieval buildings make it picturesque.
As thousands of Tourangeau and Tourangelle look forward to tomorrow’s public training session, Ireland boss Farrell will be making a few final decisions with his side’s opening World Cup game against Romania now just a week away.
It’s almost certain that he and his coaching staff settled on their selection strategy for their pool games at the World Cup a long time ago.
They’ve had the fixture list since early 2021 when it was revealed that Ireland would start their Pool B campaign against the lowest-ranked team in the group, Romania, before facing the next lowest-ranked in Tonga. Ireland’s pool challenge is then expected to shift up a gear against South Africa and Scotland as they bid for a quarter-final spot.
It was always going to be interesting to find out how Ireland approached these opening two games, which they will be strong favourites to win. Romania are one of the weakest teams in the World Cup and while Tonga have added some big-name stars to their squad, they remain outsiders to secure a knock-out spot.
There are two schools of thought for Ireland’s opener against the Romanians in Bordeaux next weekend, Saturday 9 September, with the first being that Farrell should send out his first-choice line-up.
This approach is perhaps more attractive given that Ireland fielded their strongest available side in only one of their three warm-up matches, beating England with a selection that was similar to the side that earned a Grand Slam earlier this year.
The thinking here would be to send out the big guns in order to recharge their cohesion and inject major momentum into Ireland’s World Cup campaign with a dominant win before rotating key personnel out for the clash with Tonga.
That would protect the front-liners and allow them to be fully fresh for what is certain to be a brutal battle against the Springboks a week later. Win their first three games, picking up a bonus point or two along the way ideally, and the pressure lifts on Farrell’s men heading into their break weekend before the final pool clash with Scotland.
If that proves to be the case, Ireland’s first-choice team could look something like this against Romania:
Keenan; Hansen, Ringrose, Aki, Lowe; Sexton, Gibson-Park; Porter, Herring, Furlong; Ryan, Beirne; O’Mahony, van der Flier, Doris.
One can argue over the merits of Bundee Aki, Robbie Henshaw, or Stuart McCloskey at inside centre. At hooker, it’s still unclear exactly when Dan Sheehan will be available, while Rob Herring is in good form and Rónan Kelleher hasn’t played in months.
The other possibility is that Ireland use their wider squad against Romania, along with the likes of Sexton who need minutes, and then unleash their strongest selection against Tonga, who should be better than the Romanians. Ireland learned a harsh lesson when underestimating Japan back in 2019 and the Tongans have potential to cause an upset even if their form isn’t superb.
That would also allow Farrell’s first-choice selection to add an edge of battle hardness a week before they face the Springboks. Even if Farrell doesn’t go all-out against the Tongans, he’ll be cognisant of the potential for a slip-up in that clash.
If Farrell does look to use his squad depth against the Romanians, it could look something like this:
O’Brien; Earls, Henshaw, McCloskey, Hansen; Sexton/Byrne/Crowley, Casey; Loughman, Kelleher, O’Toole; McCarthy, Henderson; Baird, van der Flier/O’Mahony, Conan.
There are a few different ways one can make up this kind of selection.
There is a very strong argument to be made for starting Johnny Sexton given he hasn’t played a game since March, but perhaps Ireland could use him off the bench against Romania and then start him versus Tonga. But Farrell might not want to risk him in that second game.
Whatever the exact make-up of the Irish side, this approach of using the wider squad has merit. It’s certainly the best chance for fringe players to get a start and Farrell understands the value of everyone in the squad feeling truly involved. He doesn’t hand out caps but the players in France have earned their World Cup spots.
There should be fresh clarity on the fitness of the likes of Sheehan, Jack Conan, and Dave Kilcoyne tomorrow as Ireland have their first media sessions in France, but if they’re ready, it makes sense for them to be involved against Romania and get back up to speed as quickly as possible.
Of course, there is an option for Farrell to mix-and-match with selections that combine some front-liners and some of the wider squad players in each of the two opening games, although that wouldn’t be ideal for a top-up on the cohesion front ahead of facing South Africa.
It might not seem like the most important thing in their World Cup campaign, but Ireland’s selection for the Romania opener could have a big impact further down the line.