Staking a claim for the World Cup: Ireland v Italy talking pointsEd Elliot, PA, DublinIreland begin their World Cup warm-up matches by hosting Italy at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Forwards coach Paul O’Connell described game time for the rookie trio as a “real good silver lining” to Sexton’s undesirable situation. Staking a claimIreland’s World Cup hopefuls have just three games to secure places on the plane to France, with Farrell due to cut his 42-man squad down to 33 on August 28th. Maintaining momentumTadhg Beirne, who is among the replacements, this week pointed to poor warm-up performances contributing to Ireland’s underwhelming World Cup campaign in Japan four years ago. Ireland are bidding for an 11th successive win and a 15th on the bounce at home to protect their number one world ranking.

Source: Irish Independent August 04, 2023 21:28 UTC