Conor O’Shea: Ireland mustn’t get sidetracked

Ireland must ignore any threat of slipping into a World Cup 2019 pool of death ahead of Saturday’s RBS 6Nations clash with Scotland, according to Conor O’Shea.

The pool draw for Japan 2019 could yet take place as early as December, leaving Test teams already eyeing remaining inside the top eight of World Rugby’s rankings.

Any Test nation ranked outside the top eight at the time of the draw will miss out on first and second seedings, risking falling into a pool as daunting as the line-up that paired hosts England with Australia, Wales and Fiji in 2015.