RUGBY
Beirne cements World Cup place as Ireland return to winning ways – while Jenny Murphy returns from horror injury
By Daire Walsh
FOLLOWING the ignominy of a 57-15 drubbing at the hands in England in Twickenham Stadium on the previous weekend, Joe Schmidt’s Ireland returned to winning ways in their third World Cup warm-up game on Saturday.
Celtic rivals Wales provided the opposition at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, in what was Warren Gatland’s final home game as head coach of the reigning Grand Slam champions. It will be Schmidt’s turn to wave goodbye at the Aviva Stadium this coming weekend as Ireland renew acquaintances with the Welsh.
They will be hoping to build on a 22-17 success in the Principality, which was perhaps more emphatic that the final scoreline may suggest. While it isn’t expected to be officially announced until Sunday, Schmidt submitted his 31-strong squad for Japan to World Rugby yesterday.
This was in the aftermath of a lengthy consultation with his coaching team on Sunday and a number of individuals will have given him food for thought with impressive showings in Cardiff.
Chief amongst them were the likes of Andrew Conway, the versatile Will Addison and Jack Carty, who was the official man of the match on the day. The Connacht fly-half was an assured presence in the first half and played a significant role in the build-up to Jacob Stockdale’s opening try.
The powerful Ulster winger subsequently added a second try before the half’s end, bringing his strike record at test level to an astonishing 16 tries in just 21 appearances. Though his place in the World Cup squad isn’t particularly in doubt, Munster’s Dave Kilcoyne produced an outstanding performance at loosehead prop.
He has moved ahead of Jack McGrath in the pecking order for the number one jersey and can now be considered a genuine contender to Cian Healy for a starting spot in the front-row. After appearing as a replacement against both Italy and England, Eadestown native Tadhg Beirne played the full 80 minutes in a back-row that also included Peter O’Mahony and Jack Conan.
He only managed two carries over the course of the contest, but managed to get through 10 tackles as well as executing a crucial turnover. Given the value Schmidt places on versatility, he may well have done enough to make the trip to the Asian nation.
Athy’s Joey Carbery is still recovering from ankle injury sustained in a win over Italy three weeks ago, though he is also expected to make the travelling party.
Meanwhile, Kildare men Cian Prendergast and Martin Moloney featured on Saturday evening at Donnybrook, where Leinster ‘A’ enjoyed a convincing 50-12 triumph over Scarlets ‘A’ in the second round of the Celtic Cup. They will next travel to Musgrave Park for an encounter with arch rivals Munster.
There was also a welcome return for Jenny Murphy to competitive action in the weekend just past. She was a replacement in Leinster’s 20-13 victory at the expense of Munster in Cork on Saturday – a win that sets up a semi-final showdown with Ulster at Templeville Road on September 14.