AND SO, THE last tune-up before the World Cup is finally upon Ireland.
It should be pointed out that their Pool D opener against Romania on 9 September in Bordeaux will be akin to another warm-up. The Oaks have been in worrying form in recent weeks, losing heavily to Italy and Georgia as well as going down to the US, who won’t be part of this World Cup.
One has to fear for the Romanians when they come up against Ireland, South Africa, Scotland, and Tonga in France. So with that in mind, Andy Farrell and his Ireland team aren’t quite under pressure to be at their best on the opening weekend of the World Cup.
Still, Farrell would love to see his team given an intense challenge in Bayonne on Saturday when they meet a Samoa side who have the potential to cause an upset in Pool D.
Having won away to Japan, beaten Tonga and the Barbarians, as well as losing to Fiji, the past couple of months have seen Seilala Mapusua’s men build on their progress of recent years. A fairly settled squad has been improved with the additions of ex-All Blacks Lima Sopoaga, Charlie Faumuina, and Steven Luatua, former New Zealand 7s wing Ben Lam, and the experienced ex-Wallaby Christian Leali’ifano.
In the likes of Saracens lock/flanker sensation Theo McFarland and La Rochelle centre UJ Seuteni, there classy operators elsewhere in the squad.
The current forecast is for rain in Bayonne on Saturday, which wasn’t expected when Ireland first decided to bring this ‘home’ game over to France for a World Cup trail run, but the late kick-off time of 8.45pm local will be good practice for what lies ahead.
Farrell has shaken things up with his Ireland side after going close to full strength last weekend in the win over England, with interesting selections all over the place.
Jimmy O’Brien gets another valuable outing at fullback as he copperfastens his place as second-choice to Hugo Keenan in that position, while it’s exciting to see if Mack Hansen can pick up where he left off on the right wing.
Keith Earls usually operates on the right but gets another refresher out on the left on Saturday, having scored on that flank on his 100th cap last weekend. It’s hard to imagine him not going to the World Cup now but that is still possible.
The centre pairing is intriguing, as Stuart McCloskey and Robbie Henshaw team up having done so in the first warm-up match against Italy earlier this month. This means Henshaw will have more starts as a 13 than as a 12 for Ireland under Farrell.
The inclusion of McCloskey is eye-catching. With Joe McCarthy and Cian Prendergast having impressed up front in the first two games, it was tempting to think that Ireland had settled on bringing 19 forwards and 14 backs. Making that presumption seemed to indicate that McCloskey might be squeezed out of the final 33-man squad.
There’s still scope for an 18/15 split though, with McCloskey in. We’ve seen with some of the other contenders how head coaches can see things differently from the rest of us. Will Farrell bring four out-and-out centres? Or is this just a final tune-up for McCloskey so he’s ready at the top of the standby list?
Jack Crowley is back at number 10 with a chance to add to his rising reputation a week on from Ross Byrne reminding us that he has improved parts of his game – vision, passing, running at the line – that many, Farrell included, previously saw as weaknesses. Skipper Johnny Sexton will watch on again as he serves the final game of his ban.
Scrum-half Conor Murray will welcome the chance for a start after his replacement appearance last time out, while the back row of Ryan Baird, Josh van der Flier, and Caelan Doris is exciting.
Until recently, Ireland clearly viewed Baird as more of a second row than a blindside flanker but this is his second warm-up start in the latter slot. He was impressive against Italy and looks set to have an important part in Ireland’s biggest games in the World Cup whatever his role.
Iain Henderson is back in as skipper after one of his best games for Ireland in a while as the captain against Italy, while Tadhg Beirne will be pleased to build more rhythm alongside him in the engine room.
Cian Healy and Finlay Bealham still look like second-in-line at loosehead and tighthead prop, respectively, so they’ll welcome starts against the Samoans, while it’s going to be a huge day for 22-year-old Tom Stewart as he gets his first Ireland start.
Dan Sheehan and Rónan Kelleher are sidelined at the moment and it might have been a bit much to risk Rob Herring from the off with that in mind, but Stewart has more than earned his shot at number two.
While it still looks likely that Sheehan, Kelleher, and Herring will be Ireland’s three World Cup hookers, a massive showing from Stewart might test Farrell’s thinking. Even if not, Stewart has benefited from a full pre-season with Ireland and will be ready if there are further injury concerns at hooker.
Among the replacements, the involvement of Jeremy Loughman is worth noting. Dave Kilcoyne is still on the comeback trail from a hamstring issue, so his Munster team-mate gets a late chance after only being called up to the squad last week.
Kilcoyne is valued within the Ireland set-up and has a huge amount of experience but Loughman will enjoy an opportunity to show his set-piece work, mobility and skill levels before Farrell officially announces his World Cup squad on Monday.
It all feels real now.
