WE’RE LESS THAN six weeks out from Rugby World Cup kick-off in Japan, which means it was high time for The42 Rugby Weekly to end its summer hiatus and return for World Cup warm-up season.
In a meaty first episode back in their respective hotseats, analysts Bernard Jackman and Murray Kinsella, and presenter Gavan Casey, dove into Ireland’s squad selection for this Saturday’s Test with Italy in Dublin, and what it might mean for the smaller final group of players which eventually boards the plane for Japan.
The lads discussed the direction in which Ireland might try to take things after an off-colour Six Nations, as well as how our pool and potential quarter-final foes are faring in the lead-up to the tournament.
Should Ireland progress to the last eight as expected, it’s likely that they’ll square off either with world champions New Zealand or Rassie Erasmus’ resurgent Springboks, who recently fought the All Blacks to a draw in Wellington in the Rugby Championship.
And Bernard now believes that no matter who finishes top or second in their respective pools, Erasmus’ influence — much of it garnered during his time at Munster — means that Ireland will have to face off one of arguably the two tournament favourites if Schmidt’s side are to finally attain a semi-final berth.
Gavan: “You go back a couple of years and you would have been licking your lips at the prospect of facing the Springboks in the quarter-final.
“At the moment there’s no real right answer, I don’t think, as to who you’d rather face in the quarter-final, Bernard, is there?”
Bernard: “Definitely not.