IRELAND PLAY IN one of the great little rugby stadiums tonight as they visit Bayonne’s Stade Jean Dauger to take on Samoa [KO 7.45pm Irish time, RTÉ].
The venue is named after a legendary former Aviron Bayonnais centre who played for the club for nearly 20 years from the 1930s to 1950s. The atmosphere generated here when Bayonne play is a sight and sound to behold.
Bayonne’s fans are some of the best in the business and if you’re the kind of person with a rugby bucket list, then a visit to Jean Dauger should be on it, preferably the next time they face fierce Basque rivals Biarritz. The clubs’ stadiums are just 5km apart and passions run high in those derbies. For now, they’re also a division apart with Bayonne flying high in the Top 14 as Biarritz plot their return from the second tier.
We digress, as French rugby’s joys make us do. There will surely be plenty of Bayonne fans along tonight to watch the number-one-ranked team in the world but while the atmosphere might be a little different from the usual matchday at Jean Dauger, it’s clear that Andy Farrell wants some of the usual ferocity involved.
After a deliberately low-key and relaxed build-up for Ireland in this World Cup pre-season, this week was all about changing things up in order to get a feel for what lies ahead. This clash against Samoa is a ‘home’ game that Farrell and co. decided to host over in France. It’s an IRFU-organised game, with the Irish union responsible for running the show. They’ll be happy it’s a sell-out of more than 13,500.
Travel-wise, Farrell’s plan meant Ireland flying out to Biarritz last Sunday, the morning after the win over England in Dublin. That’s what they’ll have to do in the World Cup, leaving the match venue cities to return to their training base in Tours the day after each game. Tomorrow, Ireland are on a flight back home at midday before Farrell officially announces his final 33-man squad at 4.30pm.
Training in the heat this week has been a test given how poor the weather has been this summer in Ireland. They had a warm-weather camp in Portugal but this week’s stint in temperatures that went well above 30°C at stages will have been beneficial. There hasn’t been too much free time as preparation has intensified but players have enjoyed being able to take a dip in the sea just metres from the team hotel in Biarritz.
That heat hasn’t quite held and, at the time of writing, there is even rain in the forecast for Saturday. It’d be typical if Ireland have brought the weather with them.
The manner in which Farrell has changed up his team is also a good trial run for the pool stages, when Ireland seem certain to have two different-looking sides for their opening two games against Romania and Tonga, the weakest two sides in Pool B. So it is that Farrell has made 12 alterations to his starting XV today. Mack Hansen, Josh van der Flier, and Tadhg Beirne are retained from the team that beat England last weekend.
We’ve speculated enough elsewhere about what selections for today might mean for Farrell’s final 33-man group but looked at in a collective sense, this is a game in which he hopes to see his Irish side put under intense pressure. The warm-up games against Italy and England were relatively comfortable and so, Farrell would welcome a fiercer contest.
It’s unclear whether Samoa will deliver that. They have a settled squad that has been boosted by the additions of the likes of ex-All Blacks out-half Lima Sopoaga and Steven Luatua, both of whom start tonight, and former Wallaby Christian Leali’ifano, who is on the bench.
Away from those high-profile additions, co-captains Chris Vui and Michael Ala’alatoa are experienced operators, La Rochelle center UJ Seuteni is all class, and Saracens lock Theo McFarland is a game-breaker with astonishing handling skills and athleticism. Having been injured for most of last season, McFarland could be a breakout star of this World Cup.
The Samoans have ambitions of causing upsets in Pool D of the World Cup, where they join England, Argentina, Japan, and Chile. Seilala Mapusua’s men have had a good build-up so far, continuing the progress they’ve made in recent years. They lost to Fiji in the recent Pacific Nations Cup but were too good for Tonga and enjoyed an important win away to Japan. Even if the Japanese were hit by a red card, that victory was a notable psychological triumph for Samoa given they’ll meet again in Pool D.
Last weekend, the Samoans faced the Barbarians in Brive and while it was a classic of the BaaBaas genre, there were more promising signs as Sopoaga settled in well on his first appearance, McFarland showed his brilliance and Mapasua’s men appeared to be in decent nick. All of this considered, Ireland will hope to be pushed hard tonight.
In an ideal world, they’ll come through with another momentum-adding win, a bit more battle hardness, but no fresh injury concerns. Just one step to the World Cup.
As one line of Bayonne’s club song ‘La Peña Baiona’ urges,
On est tous là, allez les gars, encore une fois. Allez, allez!
Ireland:
- 15. Jimmy O’Brien
- 14. Mack Hansen
- 13. Robbie Henshaw
- 12. Stuart McCloskey
- 11. Keith Earls
- 10. Jack Crowley
- 9. Conor Murray
- 1. Cian Healy
- 2. Tom Stewart
- 3. Finlay Bealham
- 4. Iain Henderson (captain)
- 5. Tadhg Beirne
- 6. Ryan Baird
- 7. Josh van der Flier
- 8. Caelan Doris
Replacements:
- 16. Rob Herring
- 17. Jeremy Loughman
- 18. Tom O’Toole
- 19. James Ryan
- 20. Peter O’Mahony
- 21. Craig Casey
- 22. Ross Byrne
- 23. Garry Ringrose
Samoa:
- 15. Duncan Paia’aua
- 14. Ed Fidow
- 13. Ulupano Seuteni
- 12. Tumua Manu
- 11. Nigel Ah Wong
- 10. Lima Sopoaga
- 9. Jonathan Taumateine
- 1. James Lay
- 2. Seilala Lam
- 3. Paul Alo-Emile
- 4. Chris Vui (captain)
- 5. Theo McFarland
- 6. Taleni Seu
- 7. Fritz Lee
- 8. Steven Luatua
Replacements:
- 16. Sama Malolo
- 17. Jordan Lay
- 18. Michael Ala’alatoa
- 19. Miracle Faiʻilagi
- 20. Jordan Taufua
- 21. Ereatara Enari
- 22. Christian Leali’ifano
- 23. Neria Foma’i
Referee: Wayne Barnes [RFU].