Tadhg Furlong and Jack McGrath hungry to make mark

Young props Tadhg Furlong and Jack McGrath are hoping they get the opportunity to take Romania on in their strongest department at Wembley this Saturday with McGrath warning the Irish pack must be “switched on” to the scrummaging challenge ahead.

Romania may be massive outsiders in the betting for this weekend’s Pool D clash but with a front row dominated by French-based players their scrum is understandably an area of interest for the Irish management as they continue preparations at their St George’s Park training base in the English midlands.

Changes in personnel from last Saturday’s opening win over Canada are on the cards for this meeting with a team ranked just one place above Ireland’s first opponents at number 17 in the world. Yet while both Furlong and McGrath remained unsure, in public at least, about whether they would feature against Romania, the Irish squad’s entire front row contingent have been doing their homework on Sunday’s rivals.