Girvan Dempsey: Squad now itching for action

As a veteran of the 2003 and 2007 tournaments, Leinster coach Girvan Dempsey can easily identify with the emotions that the Irish squad will be experiencing ahead of the upcoming Rugby World Cup.

In the absence of the injured Geordan Murphy, the former Terenure College student was first-choice full-back in Australia 12 years ago, and he also featured in Pool D encounters against Namibia, Georgia and France four years later. Speaking ahead of Joe Schmidt’s final squad announcement, Dempsey felt that there would be a lot of excitement within the camp, even though there is always a lot of nerves before the final selection is made.

“From my own experience, you’ve got to the stage where you are a bit nervous waiting for the final selection. Apprehensive that you’ve got your name on that list of 31 players.