Ireland meet Scotland for only the second time in Rugby World Cup history, knowing that an opening win in Yokohama would put them in the box seat to reach the knockout stages as Pool A winners.
RUGBY WORLD CUP – POOL A: Sunday, September 22
IRELAND v SCOTLAND, International Stadium Yokohama, 4.45pm local time/8.45am Irish time (live eir Sport 1/RTÉ 2/UTV/ITV/RTÉ Radio 1/BBC Radio Ulster/BBC Radio 5 Live/IRFU Live Blog)
Team News: Eight of Ireland’s starting XV will be making their Rugby World Cup debuts in Yokohama. A member of the 2007, 2011 and 2015 squads, captain Rory Best packs down at hooker for his 121st Ireland cap and his twelfth World Cup appearance.
Head coach Joe Schmidt has made five changes to the team that defeated Wales 19-10 a fortnight ago in the final warm-up match. Jordan Larmour, one of five World Cup newcomers in the back-line, moves to full-back in place of Rob Kearney (calf niggle).
Andrew Conway, who has scored four tries in his last six Tests, and Jacob Stockdale, with three tries in two outings against Scotland, will offer significant threats on either wing, while Garry Ringrose slots in alongside Bundee Aki in midfield. Keith Earls (thigh) and Robbie Henshaw (hamstring) both miss out.
Jonathan Sexton and Conor Murray provide plenty of World Cup experience at half-back, having both played in the 2011 and 2015 editions. Vice-captain Peter O’Mahony resumes at blindside flanker, winning his 60th cap at the start of his third World Cup tournament.
The back row is completed by Josh van der Flier and CJ Stander, who reverts to number 8, and Iain Henderson, a returning player from England 2015, rejoins James Ryan in the second row. Leinster pair Cian Healy and Tadhg Furlong flank Best in a formidable front row.
The eight players on the Irish bench are all featuring at their first World Cup – Niall Scannell, Dave Kilcoyne and Andrew Porter cover the front row, Tadhg Beirne and Jack Conan are the other forward replacements, and Luke McGrath, Jack Carty and Chris Farrell are the back-line options.
Asked about his side peaking at just the right time in Yokohama, Schmidt said: “You’ve just got to hope so, I can’t guarantee anything. In 48 hours’ time we’ll have a better idea. We’ll be just arriving in the stadium and getting ready to warm up, I’ll be anxious, and so will many others. Because you never quite know.
“But one thing I’ll be really confident of is that we’ll be tough to beat. That in 48 hours’ time I think you’ll see a very collective effort, and that effort will make us tough to beat. I’ve no doubt that the Scots will have been working away and will make themselves something similar.
“I don’t think there’s a huge amount between the two teams, so whoever does get the bounce of the ball or just be a little more efficient than the other just may tip the balance.”
Speaking about the team selection and the players working back from injuries, he admitted: “It was really just that we were getting tight for time. The best continuity we had was to have the guys we’d had training through the time we’ve been here.
It’s exciting to have the back-three we’ve got as well. It’s a great opportunity and a fantastic challenge. I think that Andrew and Jordan’s enthusiasm is something that’s contagious, their ability to get themselves into the game.
“Andrew has proven aerial ability and that will be really useful for us. I still have the vision very clearly in my mind of Jordan Larmour beating Israel Folau to a ball in the third Test in Sydney on our Australian tour last year.
“So he’s very good there as well, and of course Jacob is a big man in the back-field. They’re all feeding off each other, they are all very, very keen to impress, and now they have that opportunity.
“Iain Henderson has almost got 50 caps. He was involved in the big games at the last World Cup last time and to have that experience is really important, particularly in the first game out.
“Jean Kleyn, I have no doubt, he will feature in some really important games for us. Tadhg Beirne coming off the bench has the ability to change the game up. We have also got Jack Conan on the bench as well but Tadhg puts really great pressure on the ball and he has a little bit more time with us than Jean.”
He added: “You’ll see Joey (Carbery) will run fully in the warm-up as a reserve back. Keith Earls was the sharpest player at training on Wednesday. He was certainly the quickest. He was very, very sharp. Rob Kearney trained well as well.”
Meanwhile, Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend has made ten changes to the team that saw off Georgia 36-9 recently, with two-thirds of the starting line-up having previous Rugby World Cup experience.
“We’ve had a really productive week’s preparation in Nagasaki ahead of our arrival in Tokyo, with our players adapting to the time zone and weather conditions out here in Japan,” said Townsend.
“As we’ve got closer to the game against Ireland, our training has been more about fine-tuning the hard work that’s gone in over pre-season into a focus for Sunday’s game.
“Our team has a lot of experience playing together in major games for Scotland, with a bench capable of making a difference when required. That cohesion, experience and leadership is very valuable in a build-up to a match of this magnitude as well as during the 80 minutes on Sunday.”
Exeter Chiefs full-back Stuart Hogg and Saracens winger Sean Maitland return to the back-three, linking up with fellow British & Irish Lion Tommy Seymour, while another Lions pair, Finn Russell and Greig Laidlaw, also slot back in as a tried-and-trusted half-back pairing.
Centres Sam Johnson and Duncan Taylor are the only backs retained, with Johnson’s Glasgow Warriors club-mates Ryan Wilson and Jonny Gray also keeping their paces up front. The remaining six changes in the forwards include the front row trio of Allan Dell, captain Stuart McInally and Willem Nel.
Townsend added: “In Ireland we face quality opposition who, over the past number of years, have earned the right to be the number one ranked side in the world. We know them well and are well aware of the strengths they possess throughout their squad.
“We expect them to play very well, as they did in their most recent games against Wales, so only our best performance will do in order to win. The prospect of facing them in the opening round of a Rugby World Cup is a fantastic challenge for our players and supporters around the world.”
IRELAND: Jordan Larmour (St Mary’s College/Leinster); Andrew Conway (Garryowen/Munster), Garry Ringrose (UCD/Leinster), Bundee Aki (Galwegians/Connacht), Jacob Stockdale (Lurgan/Ulster); Jonathan Sexton (St. Mary’s College/Leinster), Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster); Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster), Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster) (capt), Tadhg Furlong (Clontarf/Leinster), Iain Henderson (Queen’s University/Ulster), James Ryan (UCD/Leinster), Peter O’Mahony (Cork Constitution/Munster), Josh van der Flier (UCD/Leinster), CJ Stander (Shannon/Munster).
Replacements: Niall Scannell (Dolphin/Munster), Dave Kilcoyne (UL Bohemians/Munster), Andrew Porter (UCD/Leinster), Tadhg Beirne (Lansdowne/Munster), Jack Conan (Old Belvedere/Leinster), Luke McGrath (UCD/Leinster), Jack Carty (Buccaneers/Connacht), Chris Farrell (Young Munster/Munster).
SCOTLAND: Stuart Hogg (Exeter Chiefs); Tommy Seymour (Glasgow Warriors), Duncan Taylor (Saracens), Sam Johnson (Glasgow Warriors), Sean Maitland (Saracens); Finn Russell (Racing 92), Greig Laidlaw (Clermont Auvergne); Allan Dell (London Irish), Stuart McInally (Edinburgh) (capt), Willem Nel (Edinburgh), Grant Gilchrist (Edinburgh), Jonny Gray (Glasgow Warriors), John Barclay (Edinburgh), Hamish Watson (Edinburgh), Ryan Wilson (Glasgow Warriors).
Replacements: Fraser Brown (Glasgow Warriors), Gordon Reid (Ayrshire Bulls), Simon Berghan (Edinburgh), Scott Cummings (Glasgow Warriors), Blade Thomson (Scarlets), Ali Price (Glasgow Warriors), Chris Harris (Gloucester), Darcy Graham (Edinburgh).
Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistant Referees: Pascal Gaüzère, Alexandre Ruiz (both France)
Television Match Official: Graham Hughes (England)
Match Odds (Paddy Power): Ireland to win: 2/7; Draw: 20/1; Scotland to win: 3/1
Pre-Match Quotes: Rory Best (Ireland) –
Like Joe said, we have to adapt. We’ve been here for a good few days now and we’ve trained in some rain, we’ve trained in a bit of heat. We’ve trained with various bits and pieces over the summer, whether it was in Portugal or at home.
“We knew what the potential conditions could be and we’re in a good place for that. You can put whatever you want on the ball in training but, ultimately, when we get to the game and the pressure of that, it will be about making sure that you can stay focused on what you need to do.
“This squad has got a lot of depth. It’s a reasonably young squad but they still have a lot of caps when you look down the list. There is even people in there which surprise you with the number of the caps they have.
“Ultimately, when you get to a World Cup, you need players peaking at the right time and in form but a little bit of experience counts for a lot as well. We’ve got that and a bit of youth as well and I think people are just excited. Players love playing in big games and for me there’s nothing bigger than the World Cup.
“The team room has World Cup games from the last number of years on repeat, it seems. It’s just exciting to be at a global competition where you get to pit yourself against the best players in the world. It’s going to be a big kick-off against Scotland but you have to start somewhere and I think that probably gets you more excited.”
Stuart McInally (Scotland) –
I feel pretty proud to be captain for the first game. We’re just excited to get going as a group. We have been here for two weeks and had two months of good training before that.
“I feel like this game has been a long time coming. We have been training well and we’re ready to go. I certainly feel like we are in good shape. We know exactly the challenge that faces us tomorrow. Ireland are an excellent side, they are a team that we know well but we are confident we are going to put in a good performance.
“We have done a lot of analysis on Ireland, we have our game-plan in place and we’re confident of executing it. I think it is going to be a really tight game. We are excited to go up against their forward pack. They have got a strong pack but we do as well. We tested ourselves against Georgia, and we did well. We know what is coming against Ireland and we are ready for the fight.”
Pre-Match Stats Preview:
Head-To-Head –
– Only one of the 20 teams at the 2019 Rugby World Cup has never lost a World Cup match against any of their upcoming pool opponents. Scotland have won all previous seven encounters with their Pool A opponents. All other teams have suffered at least one World Cup defeat against their four pool opponents combined
– Ireland lost their only previous World Cup clash with Scotland. On October 12, 1991, Scotland emerged as 24-15 victors at Murrayfield. A try was still worth four points and Gavin Hastings scored 13 points for the hosts. Ralph Keyes posted all 15 points for Ireland
– This will be the 136th Test match between Ireland and Scotland. Ireland have won 63, Scotland 66, with five draws and one game abandoned. Scotland have only faced England more often (137 times). For Ireland, it is the most common fixture, as they have squared off against England on 135 occasions
– Since January 1, 2000, these teams have met 24 times, with Ireland winning 18 of those and Scotland winning six. Five of those six Scotland victories took place at Murrayfield, and the other came at Croke Park
– On February 9 of this year, they met at Murrayfield in the Six Nations, with the visitors winning 22-13
– Rory Best will be facing Scotland for the 15th time in Test matches, equalling the Irish record shared by Brian O’Driscoll and Ronan O’Gara
Ireland –
– Ireland are ranked number one in the World Rugby Rankings, a position they have occupied from earlier this month
– Ireland have participated in all eight previous World Cups and made it past the pool staged in seven of the eight. Only in 2007 did they fail to reach the knockout stages
– Ireland were eliminated in the quarter-finals at six of the previous eight World Cups and failed to survive a play-off to reach the quarter-finals in 1999
– Ireland is the only country in World Cup history to reach the quarter-finals more than three times and never make it to the semi-finals
– Ireland have won each of their last five World Cup openers, after losing two of their first three. They lost their opening matches in 1987 and 1995
– Only four players in the matchday squad (Iain Henderson, Conor Murray, Cian Healy and captain Rory Best) were in the matchday 23 against Argentina four years ago, Ireland’s last Rugby World Cup match
– Rory Best will captain Ireland for the 35th time. Only Brian O’Driscoll (83) and Keith Wood (36) have captained the team in more Test matches
– Since the beginning of 2017, Cian Healy, Rory Best and Tadhg Furlong are the most common starting front row of the 20 World Cup participants. They will start together for the 14th time on Sunday
Scotland –
– Scotland are ranked seventh in the World Rugby Rankings
– Scotland have appeared in all eight previous Rugby World Cups
– Scotland’s best showing at a Rugby World Cup is their fourth place finish in 1991, in a World Cup they helped host
– In six of their previous eight World Cup campaigns Scotland were eliminated in the quarter-finals, including at the 2015 tournament
– Only once, in 2011, have Scotland failed to successfully negotiate the pool stgaes as they came third behind England and Argentina
– Scotland’s track record in World Cup openers is won six, drawn one and lost one. Scotland drew their first ever match at a World Cup, against France in 1987
– Seven players who started in Scotland’s quarter-final defeat to Australia at the 2015 World Cup will also start against Ireland
– John Barclay returns for Scotland in a third World Cup, after featuring in both 2007 and 2011 but missing out in 2015
– A third World Cup puts Barclay on a par with the likes of Gavin Hastings, Scott Hastings, Ross Ford and Chris Paterson, to name four of the 13 Scottish players to have reached that level. Paterson is the only player among the previous 13 to eventually make a fourth World Cup
– Stuart McInally will captain Scotland. He was selected in the original 31-man squad four years ago, but did not feature during the tournament
Pre-Match Links –
Head-To-Head: Ireland v Scotland
‘We Know The Irish Fans Will Be In Full Voice’ – Best
In Pics: Ireland Hold Captain’s Run Ahead Of Scotland Clash
Furlong And Ryan Excited For Rugby World Cup Start
Stockdale, O’Mahony & Easterby – The Build-Up To Scotland
Opta Match Facts Preview: Ireland v Scotland
Ireland v Scotland Team Announcement Press Conference
Recent Meetings –
2017: RBS 6 Nations: Scotland 27 Ireland 22, BT Murrayfield
2018: NatWest 6 Nations: Ireland 28 Scotland 8, Aviva Stadium
2019: Guinness Six Nations: Scotland 13 Ireland 22, BT Murrayfield
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