Andy Farrell is expected to name the vast bulk of the frontline team which sealed the Grand Slam against England at the Aviva Stadium on St Patrick’s Day at around 2pm on Thursday for Saturday’s World Cup warm-up game against the same opposition at the same venue (kick-off 5.30pm). But there may be one or two interesting exceptions, such as Cian Prendergast starting at number 8.
On the eve of Thursday’s team announcement, the Irish management released five players from the original 42-man training squad for the forthcoming World Cup, namely Connacht’s Caolin Blade, the Munster duo of Gavin Coombes and Calvin Nash, plus Leinster’s Jamie Osborne and the Ulster lock Kieran Treadwell.
This quintet “will now return to their provinces to continue their pre-season training programmes”, according to an IRFU statement, with Munster prop Jeremy Loughman, called up this week, retained in a trimmed-down 38-man squad. The final 33-man Ireland squad for Rugby World Cup 2023 will be announced on Monday August 28th.
Treadwell’s release would seem to confirm that Joe McCarthy will make the cut for the World Cup after his eye-catching full debut against Italy last Saturday week.
Coombes’s release would seem to strongly suggest that Jack Conan will be fit at some point in the pool stages. Even so, despite his strong contribution to Munster’s URC title win, Coombes has received no game time in these warm-up matches, whereas Prendergast was a first-half replacement against Italy and it appears his versatility will be tested in the middle of the backrow against England.
If so, that would represent quite an audition for the twice-capped, 23-year-old Prendergast.
Otherwise, it looks close to being the frontline team which played England last March. The events of the last week – notably Romain Ntamack being ruled out of a home World Cup and the cloud that hung over the Irish coach’s own son until controversially cleared by an independent disciplinary panel last Tuesday – might have tempted Farrell to wrap his frontline troops in cotton wool. But that was never going to be his intention.
In what is something of a statement of intent as both countries approach their penultimate warm-up match, Farrell clearly wants his team to maintain their winning momentum and ensure a proper World Cup send-off in their last home game before the tournament begins.
Almost 51,000 tickets have been sold and the match is thus on course to be a 51,700 sell-out.
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The one guaranteed change to the starting line-up which kicked off that historic 29-16 win last March, thereby completing just a fourth Irish Grand Slam and the first to be secured in Dublin, is at outhalf given Johnny Sexton is serving a three-game suspension.
As Jack Crowley started and Ciaran Frawley finished the previous warm-up win over Italy, it seems probable that Ross Byrne will start at 10 and will likely be partnered by Jamison Gibson-Park, with Mack Hansen, Hugo Keenan and James Lowe restored in the back three.
Whereas Garry Ringrose was ruled out of that Grand Slam coronation, with Bundee Aki and Robbie Henshaw forming the midfield partnership, given Henshaw was partnered by Stuart McCloskey against Italy, an Aki-Ringrose midfield looks the likely option.
Andrew Porter and Dan Sheehan look set for their seasonal reappearance in the front-row, and although Tadhg Furlong featured off the bench against Italy a fortnight ago, the trio may be reunited again.
Having also missed that grand finale in March, Tadhg Beirne may well re-form his secondrow partnership with James Ryan, who is likely to captain the side in Sexton’s absence.
Peter O’Mahony and Josh van der Flier could also be in line for their seasonal bows, and with Prendergast being looked at as another option at 8, presumably Caelan Doris will be on the bench.
Finlay Bealham, who was also sidelined for the last two games of the Six Nations, is likely to have some minutes off the bench for the first time this season, and ditto Conor Murray.
Keith Earls’ appearance in front of the media earlier this week is also a very clear signal that the popular Munsterman will, fittingly, earn his 100th cap in front of a capacity crowd on home soil.
IRELAND (possible): Keenan; Hansen, Ringrose, Aki, Lowe; Byrne, Gibson-Park; Porter, Sheehan, Furlong, Beirne, Ryan, O’Mahony, van der Flier, Prendergast. Replacements: Kelleher/Herring, Healy/Loughman, Bealham, McCarthy, Doris, Murray, Crowley, Earls.
