Fear of unpleasant surprise prompts Farrell to name strong side

Mack Hansen has been named to start on the right wing for Ireland’s game against Tonga tomorrow night. Pic: ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan

Andy Farrell has issued a reminder to all those expecting a straightforward victory against Tonga tomorrow night that there are surprises around every corner at the World Cup.

The Ireland head coach took no chances with team selection yesterday as he named close a full-strength side for the Pool B clash with a Tongan side boosted by the presence of former New Zealand All Blacks and Australian Wallabies who have returned to the nation of either their or their parents’ birth under World Rugby rules introduced ahead of the tournament.

Johnny Sexton will once again captain the side having returned from injury and suspension last Saturday for his first action in six months to lead Ireland to a record-breaking 82-8 victory over Romania. In what was an already strong side that dispatched the pool minnows, Farrell has now introduced Mack Hansen on the right wing, a fit-again Ronan Kelleher at hooker, and 2022 World Rugby player of the year Josh van der Flier to openside flanker while the other change sees Test centurion Conor Murray replace Jamison Gibson-Park. Farrell further bolstered his pack by switching Tadhg Beirne back to lock from blindside flanker, allowing Peter O’Mahony to return from the openside to number six to accommodate van der Flier.

The Ireland boss’s warning came as he was asked yesterday for his thoughts on the opening weekend of fixtures at France 2023, which saw the hosts beat New Zealand, South Africa beat Scotland, and England defeat Argentina in potential pool deciders while Wales survived a scare as Fiji blew their chance to beat the Six Nations side with a series of botched chances.

“I think some real good stuff, it’s all a bit of nerves I would have thought certainly in the first few games,” Farrell said.

“What I take out of it more than anything was the strong teams that we always thought were going to be strong definitely are, and are in good form.

“There is always going to be surprises that are just around the corner and the teams that we know can surprise some of them might have been disappointed from last week and that’s what happens in competitions like this.

“You get another chance next week and the week after so those surprises, you’ve got to be ready for, there is no doubt about that. I think it was a good start to the competition and everyone is excited to roll it on to week two.” 

There had been speculation that Farrell could send out a mix-and-match side in order to give more players game-time at the tournament but this was another formidable line-up for the world number one-ranked side as they build towards the following Saturday’s showdown with defending champions South Africa at Stade de France.

When asked if he was tempted to rotate his squad more against Tier Two opposition tomorrow night at Stade de la Beaujoire, Farrell replied by nailing his colours to the mast and insisting on being next-game focused. The match after that can wait as far as he is concerned, no matter the opposition.

"There's always temptation because as far as selection is concerned we go through every different type of permutation but at the end of the day it's what is right for the team.

"Finding form, that side that played last week hadn't played together before, we get to roll onto this one and you're damned if you do and you're damned if you don't, really in some circumstances but the only thing that I care about is winning this weekend because the points that are on offer is exactly the same as what's coming down the line.

"I suppose it's as simple as that and you look at what could happen, what does happen to people in training, you give people a so-called rest and you've seen people...I mean, we had Robbie pull out of our captain's run last week and miss the game, you have players now getting injured in training and missing the competition.

"So people could be rested this weekend and be ill for next weekend etc, so we'd like to go with what we've got, a fit side, a good side, and build the momentum throughout the competition.”