Captain Johnny Sexton insists there will be “no excuses” if he fails to perform in Ireland’s World Cup opener against Romania as he prepares to make his first competitive appearance in almost six months.
Fly-half Sexton missed his country’s three warm-up matches through suspension, having not played since injuring a groin in helping clinch the Guinness Six Nations Grand Slam against England on March 18.
The 38-year-old will make his long-awaited comeback as a starter on Saturday afternoon in Bordeaux and has been targeting the fixture since being hit with his ban in mid-July.
“I’m delighted to be back,” said Sexton.
“Playing for Ireland is always special, it’s extra special when it comes to the World Cup, so I’m very, very happy to be back in the team and really looking forward to it.
“Hopefully I can go out and play well and have a good performance. I expect that of myself. There are no excuses in that regard.
“Once I got over the injury obviously came the three games off and once I knew that was there I’ve just been focused on this game for the last couple of months. Looking forward to it now and finally getting back out on the pitch.”
Sexton will partner Leinster team-mate Jamison Gibson-Park in a strong XV packed with first-choice stars.
Rookie lock Joe McCarthy, who will make only his second Test start, is a notable exception, while Rob Herring has been given the nod at hooker ahead of Ronan Kelleher in the absence of the injured Dan Sheehan.
Sexton, who is at the fourth World Cup of his distinguished career ahead of retirement, admits there is a mix of nerves and excitement in the Ireland camp.
“I’m sure the Irish will travel like they always do and it’s a very different atmosphere to what you normally get at rugby matches,” he said.
“It’s very much like a soccer World Cup atmosphere, the ones I’ve been involved in to date, and we’re looking forward to that. But also with that comes a bit of nerves.
“We’ve built to this moment for the last four years so now it’s finally here the nerves come in, but it’s about embracing them and going out and trying to play our best.”
Ireland begin the tournament at the top of the world rankings amid a record 13-match winning run.
Wing Mack Hansen has been given the weekend off, while reigning world player of the year Josh van der Flier is the other significant absentee from the starting line-up, having been named among the replacements.
View this post on InstagramHead coach Andy Farrell says it is “full steam ahead” as his Six Nations champions seek to begin with a bang.
“We’ve got a squad of 33 that we totally believe in and whatever side we put out is going to be a good side,” he said.
“No matter what side we pick, it’s going to be one that’s threatening and a determined one at that.
“Our mindset at this stage is full steam ahead. We expect a fantastic performance at the weekend to kick us off in the right manner.”
Van der Flier’s demotion to the bench results in Peter O’Mahony shuffling across to openside flanker and Tadhg Beirne moving into the back row at blindside to accommodate McCarthy in the second row.
The 22-year-old McCarthy, one of 10 World Cup debutants in Ireland’s matchday squad, only made his international debut last autumn and has just 129 minutes of Test experience across three caps.
“He deserves it with the form that he’s shown, not just in the games that he’s played, but also in his preparation over the last 10, 11 weeks,” said Farrell.
“He’s really progressed his game and he gets an opportunity to start in the first game of the World Cup.”
Australia 'fell off a cliff' in biggest-ever Test defeat
Australia suffered their biggest-ever Test defeat on Saturday, as Argentina came from behind to win 67-27 in the Rugby Championship.
And Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt said his team simply "fell off a cliff" after taking a 17-point lead.
Having snapped an eight-game winless run in the Rugby Championship with their last-gasp victory over Argentina last week, Australia were looking to keep the momentum going.
And they looked well set to do just that as tries from Carlo Tizzano and Andrew Kellaway propelled them into a 20-3 lead.
But Mateo Carreras and Julian Montoya, who was playing for Argentina for the 100th time, dragged Argentina back into it and paved the way for Australia's capitulation after the break.
Juan Martin Gonzalez, Joaquin Oviedo, Juan Cruz Mallia and Lucio Cinti all crossed for the Pumas in the second half, with Santiago Carreras' conversion condemning Australia to their record defeat.
"To lead a Test match 20-3 and get run down in the manner which we did is really disappointing," said Schmidt.
"We cannot let a game get away from us like it did and fall off a cliff.
"We lost connection in our defensive line. We were forever chasing them.
"We didn't put enough pressure on at the breakdown, so they were operating off a lightning-quick ball, and it's just too difficult to keep chasing a team on a hot day when they’ve got the ball and going forward."
Australia's previous record Test defeat had come against South Africa in 1997.
Matters do not get any easier for the Wallabies, who now face two matches against Schmidt's native New Zealand as they aim to avoid finishing bottom of the pile.
Second-place Argentina, meanwhile, will tussle it out with Rugby Championship leaders South Africa.
Kolisi 'had to prove himself' in landmark South Africa triumph
South Africa captain Siya Kolisi said he had to prove himself after being given the chance to lead the Springboks out in their Rugby Championship win over New Zealand.
Kolisi's early try after the break sparked the hosts' revival after they went in at half-time 9-3 down before roaring to an 18-12 victory in Cape Town.
It was the fourth successive win by the Springboks over the All Blacks, as they maintained their perfect record in this year's Rugby Championship.
Kolisi described the encounter as South Africa's most important game since they won the World Cup final against the same opponents in Paris last year.
"The coach gave me the chance when I said I was okay so I couldn’t go half-hearted. Nobody is going to celebrate you if you don’t go flat out," said Kolisi.
"We didn’t start the way we wanted to and the coach was quite honest with us [at half-time]. At the start of the second half we did what we wanted.
"This game was really big for us."
The triumph marked the first time since 1949 that South Africa have won four straight Tests against New Zealand.
However, head coach Rassie Erasmus was muted despite achieving the most successful streak against South Africa's arch-rivals in the professional era.
"It was nice, but they have had big scores against us and six times in a row they have beaten us," he said.
"It's nothing to brag about because they have done worse to us. But it was special."
South Africa 18-12 New Zealand: Springboks close in on Rugby Championship glory
South Africa continued their dominance in this year's Rugby Championship as they clinched an 18-12 victory over New Zealand in Cape Town on Saturday.
Having trailed by six points heading into the break, the hosts rallied to record a fourth consecutive win over the All Blacks and lift the Freedom Cup for the first time in 15 years.
New Zealand started brightly, with their dominance rewarded by the boot of Damian McKenzie after Jasper Wiese had been sent to the sin bin.
McKenzie converted his second penalty just before the half-hour mark as the Springboks saw some uncharacteristic errors punished.
Handre Pollard's penalty failed to change the sway of momentum, with McKenzie's third conversion of the half giving the All Blacks the advantage at the break.
But an immediate response transpired after the interval as Siya Kolisi burst over the tryline, with Pollard's conversion handing the Springboks the lead for the first time.
Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu extended South Africa's advantage, but McKenzie's fourth and final penalty of the encounter closed the gap once again.
However, the hosts sealed the win when Malcolm Marx powered over for a try six minutes from time to see the Springboks close in on the title.
Data Debrief: Cape Town comforts
This is the first time since 1949 that South Africa have won four straight Tests against their great rivals New Zealand.
They have also now won four straight Tests in Cape Town, and that is despite trailing at half-time in three of those four matches.
New Zealand, meanwhile, have lost three of their last four Tests, having only suffered one defeat across their previous nine matches.
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