Ireland change date for Rugby World Cup squad announcement

Ireland change date for Rugby World Cup squad announcement

Ireland have changed the date of their World Cup squad reveal.

Ireland will now announce their Rugby World Cup squad this Sunday at 4.30pm.

The 33-man squad was originally scheduled to be revealed at Monday lunchtime but a late change of plans means the players will learn their fates earlier than expected.

40 players – including injury cover front-rows Diarmuid Barron and Jeremy Loughman – are currently training with Ireland in Bayonne ahead of Saturday’s final warm-up fixture against Samoa (KO 7.45 Irish time), but they and five other players will have their World Cup dreams cut abruptly short before the trimmed squad returns to France for September’s tournament.

Reckoned to be on the periphery of the squad and in danger of being cut are the likes of Cian Prendergast, Ciaran Frawley, Stuart McCloskey and Jacob Stockdale. It was believed that Keith Earls was in danger of missing out on the fourth and final World Cup of his career, but his selection this weekend – coupled with his try-scoring cameo against England – should nudge him ahead of some of the backline competition.

While, under the ‘good news’ column is Farrell’s fitness update on Leinster hookers Dan Sheehan and Ronan Kelleher. On Sheehan, the head coach commented “we expect him to be fit for the World Cup” while Kelleher “is doing great” and would have been played this weekend if it was a game of more importance.

Ireland hope to be injury free after Samoa test.

Speaking to the press, this weekend’s captain Iain Henderson discussed the injury fears that lurk over such warm-up fixtures:

“A lot of the players have been here before and they’ve played in a similar scenario,” he said.

“Close to half the squad haven’t been in this position before but you can’t keep control of things that happen in games in terms of the injury side of things, so what the players are focusing on is how they’re going to put their best foot forward for Faz (Andy Farrell) to get a good glimpse of them.

“He knows each one of us pretty intimately at this stage and I feel that the final step that the players can take is to actually go out and show it again in the Test match this weekend.”

Rugby World Cup.

The Rugby World Cup kicks off in just over a fortnight when hosts France take on New Zealand on Friday 8th of September in Paris.

France are hotly tipped to go all the way and, given their Six Nations performances in recent years, the rare talent of their mercurial scrumhalf Antoine Dupont and their home advantage – perhaps that is for good reason.

They will, however, be without general flyhalf Romain Ntamack who went down with an ACL injury in their warm-up date with Scotland and with group rivals New Zealand back firing since the addition of Joe Schmidt to their coaching team, securing their first Webb Ellis Cup will be more than difficult.

Ireland are third favourites for the tournament but, as known for some time – they will have to beat one of the two favourites France or New Zealand – if they are to advance to the semi-finals and beyond.

Ireland Vs Samoa: Healy, Stewart, Bealham; Henderson (c), Beirne; Baird, Van Der Flier, Doris; Murray, Crowley; Earls, McCloskey, Henshaw, Hansen; O’Brien

Replacements: Herring, Loughman, O’Toole; Ryan, O’Mahony; Casey, Byrne, Ringrose