Kearney: Defensively Ireland are a different animal

Two years? It feels like a lifetime.

Almost half – 11, to be exact — of the 23 Ireland players who featured in the World Cup loss to Argentina in 2015 will be absent when the sides meet this Saturday in Dublin and for the first time since that day in Cardiff.

Different teams, different times. The relevance of that 43-20 loss continues to reverberate through the Irish professional game given it played at least some part in Joe Schmidt extending his stint in charge and in the coach’s determination to reach the next World Cup with a deeper squad of players.