Doak is ready for physical challenge
Half-back Luke McGrath and second rower Mick Kearney have both been ruled out, although there was better news on Sean Dougall, JJ Hanrahan and Paddy Butler, with Dougall named in the starting line-up and the others chosen on the bench.
As head coach Dan McFarland makes nine alterations, his assistant Doak is anticipating a red hot reception from the Romanians: “They’re a really big side, they will want to keep it quite tight and make it a physical confrontation, so we have, while trying to match that, to try to manoeuvre them around the paddock.”
Doak watched Russia take Romania to the wire in midweek before losing to a late penalty try (20-18).
“They’re a real physical force, if you’re ill-disciplined, they’ve got a good kicker, from hand and at goal, and they certainly appear to be the most organised of the other teams in this tournament; they also have more experience and obviously on their home paddock will be wanting to put in a big show in the last game of the tournament.”
But Doak is confident the quality in the Irish squad will be enough to bring a trophy back home.
“I wouldn’t have seen a lot of our guys as a collective before but it’s been a great sounding board and an excellent opportunity to give them a chance to play international rugby; they’ve all had a long season and it would be fitting to sign off with a good performance.
“We’re playing against international teams who have a lot of experience and have had more game time together but our guys have gelled very well, have a good understanding of what we’re trying to do and the way we should go about it.”
He was pleased how Ireland dealt with intense Uruguayan pressure in a second half spell.
“We discussed the fact that we hadn’t conceded a try yet and determination at that time showed how committed they were and what they’re about in a green jersey.
“We were sharp to turn one particularly difficult situation into an attacking opportunity that ultimately led to another score. We were able to get a turnover and got a shift to the outside edge and Johne Murphy did well.
“That has been a key for us, to have a sharpness of mind to turn a difficult situation into an attacking opportunity.
“We’ve been reminding the players of the quality within the squad and that if we keep the tempo high in the games hopefully the others won’t be able to live with us.”
EMERGING IRELAND: J Murphy (Munster), C Gilroy (Ulster), E Griffin (Connacht), S McCloskey (Ulster), A Conway (Munster), I Keatley (Munster), P Marshall (Ulster), J Ryan (Munster), J Tracy (Leinster), M Bent (Leinster), B Holland (Munster), D Foley (Munster), D Ryan (Leinster, captain), R Copeland (Munster), S Dougall (Munster).
Replacements: B Byrne (Leinster), R Lutton (Ulster), P Butler (Munster), T O’Donnell (Munster), M Heaney (Ulster), JJ Hanrahan (Munster), B Macken (Leinster).
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