Time running out to get it right

DECLAN KIDNEY today pares his squad to the 30 players he will take to the Rugby World Cup and will hope the chosen ones can inject a little more focus into Ireland’s final preparations.

Ireland open their Pool C campaign in 20 days against the United States and with the 14 discarded players leaving camp to return to their provinces, the distractions and pressures of making the team plane to New Zealand next week will have been removed, leaving the remaining selection to zone in on the collective target of getting into the knockout phases.

Next Saturday afternoon’s final warm-up Test, against England at the Aviva Stadium, will point to how successful that has been after three defeats in successive August outings, the latest an error-strewn performance on Saturday that had echoes of the start of this year’s Six Nations campaign.