Ireland face Argentina ‘Cup Final’
Ireland are banking on the players that narrowly lost to South Africa to do the business against Argentina in Dublin on Saturday, in a Test match the hosts are labelling a ‘Cup Final’.
Ireland are banking on the players that narrowly lost to South Africa to do the business against Argentina in Dublin on Saturday, in a Test match the hosts are labelling a ‘Cup Final’.
Irish coach Declan Kidney has made just one change to the side beaten 16-12 by the Springboks a fortnight ago at Lansdowne Road, with Ulster wing Craig Gilroy rewarded with a starting place after his hat-trick against Fiji in last Saturday’s non-cap international in Limerick.
Gilroy’s provincial team mate Andrew Trimble is the man to miss out, but the rest of the first choice XV remain for a game that will secure the victors a place in the top eight of the International Rugby Board rankings, which are being used to determine the seedings for the 2015 World Cup draw in December.
Failure to win will put Ireland coach Kidney under immense pressure.
Ireland are on a run of five Test defeats in a row, and this year has seen the country experience its worst sequence of results in the professional era.
Dropping into the third tier of seeds for next month’s World Cup draw would leave Ireland with the possibility of being selected in a pool containing two major nations.