Ireland trained behind closed doors in waterlogged conditions at their base in the Central Coast Grammar School yesterday and reported a clean bill of health from which they will announce the side to play Namibia in Sydney's Aussie Stadium next Sunday at a press conference tomorrow.
In contrast to the Argentinians, who have made 14 changes, Eddie O'Sullivan has consistently stated his intention to field his strongest team in this game. The expectation, therefore, is that John Hayes will be promoted to the starting line-up in an otherwise unchanged forward division to give what is now deemed the first-choice pack its first run-out together.
There might be a case for involving one of the other backrowers, say Eric Miller, in the 22-man squad and there might also be an argument for promoting Ronan O'Gara, as he has only started one game since June and a later run-on role would hardly take any edge off David Humphreys's game. For seven or eight of the 30-man squad out here though, it's shaping into a long and relatively idle competition.
In the afternoon, the squad took part in a promotional/corporate golf outing, which is one of several events organised by the IRFU's promotions and marketing manager Padraig Power and honorary treasurer John Lyons - both of whom are with the official party during the World Cup.
Out of little acorns and all that. Maximising the commercial potential of this World Cup was part of Connacht's submission last season when the IRFU were considering disbanding the province's provincial team as a cost-cutting measure.
