As the national rugby teams finalise their preparation for the upcoming 2023 Rugby World Cup, Ireland will play their final warm-up match against Samoa this Saturday.
Ireland extended their excellent recent record by beating England 29-10 last weekend, while Samoa's last match came at the start of the month when they beat Tonga 34-9.
Match preview
Andy Farrell has been all business of late and has already touched down in France to give his side the best part of three weeks to finalise plans for their opening match of the World Cup against Romania on September 9.
After beating England relatively easily last weekend, Ireland moved to 12 consecutive wins over the last 18 months, and they are now level with their joint-longest ever winning run, which they are strongly fancied to surpass in this one.
Ireland were excellent in the Six Nations tournament earlier this year as they took the title off France with a flawless record of five wins in five matches, including a 32-19 win over Les Bleues at the Aviva Stadium.
Arguably Ireland's greatest strength is that they have the most settled side of any nation ahead of the main tournament, and they will enter the competition as the world number one and second favourite to go on to win their first world title.
While Samoa are not really expected to pull off a shock win here, they will relish the opportunity of having a free crack at the best side in the world, as a positive performance will do wonders for their morale leading up to the World Cup.
Like most countries, Samoa have played two warm-up matches up to this point and were beaten 33-19 by Fiji at the end of last month but bounced back with a solid 34-9 win over Tonga at the start of the month.
Seilala Mapusua's side came second at the 2023 World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup, beaten by the tournament winners Fiji, though that is the only team they have lost against in Test matches dating back to July 2021.
Samoa clinched their place at this year's World Cup last July when they managed to beat Tonga over two legs to win the Oceania 1 qualifier berth, and they will be relatively content with a Pool D draw that features England, Japan, Argentina and Chile.
Ireland form (all competitions):
- W
- W
- W
- W
- W
- W
Samoa form (all competitions):
- W
- W
- W
- W
- L
- W
Team News
Tom Stewart earns his first Test start for Ireland in this match, and we will join fellow Ulster teammates Iain Henderson and Stuart McCloskey, with Henderson named as the skipper.
Mack Hansen, Tadgh Beirne and Josh van der Flier are the only players who have retained their spots in the lineup from the 15 that played England last week.
Mapusua is yet to name his starting lineup for the match, but most expect a full-strength team to be fielded, which should include Christian Leali'ifano, who was excellent against Fiji last month.
Brian Alainu'uese could get the nod to partner Chris Vui in the back row, while Tim Nanai-Williams, Ed Fidow and Nigel Ah Wong should make up the backfield trio.
Ireland starting lineup: 15. Jimmy O'Brien, 14. Mack Hansen, 13. Robbie Henshaw, 12. Stuart McCloskey, 11. Keith Earls, 10. Jack Crowley, 9. Conor Murray, 8. Caelan Doris, 7. Josh van der Flier, 6. Ryan Baird, 5. Tadhg Beirne, 4. Iain Henderson (c), 3. Finlay Bealham, 2. Tom Stewart, 1. Cian Healy
Replacements: 16. Rob Herring, 17. Jeremy Loughman, 18. Tom O'Toole, 19. James Ryan, 20. Peter O'Mahony, 21. Craig Casey, 22. Ross Byrne, 23. Garry Ringrose
Samoa predicted starting lineup: 15. Tim Nanai-Williams, 14. Nigel Ah Wong, 13. Ulupano Seuteni, 12. Duncan Paia'aua, 11. Ed Fidow, 10. Christian Leali'ifano, 9. Jonathan Taumateine, 8. Steven Luatua, 7. Jack Lam, 6. Miracle Faiilagi, 5. Brian Alainu'uese, 4. Chris Vui, 3. Michael Alaalatoa, 2. Ray Niuia, 1. Jordan Lay
Replacements: 16. Sama Malolo, 17. Tietie Tuimauga, 18. Charlie Faumuina, 19. Theo McFarland, 20. Fritz Lee, 21. Melani Matavao, 22. Neria Foma'i
Head To Head
There have been seven previous meetings between these sides. Ireland have won on six occasions, while Samoa have won once.
We say: Ireland 42-7 Samoa
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