Ireland's near full strength selection for tomorrow's game against Tonga has surprised many, given the at least three very difficult clashes coming after the game in Nantes.
It does follow Andy Farrell's trend of picking the practically strongest XV available for most important clashes, but it further increases the risk of injury, against a massively physical Tongan side.
However, France's scrappy and narrow win over minnows Uruguay yesterday, shows the potential for upsets if teams go in underprepared, as Stephen Ferris discussed with us earlier.
But I think the reason why it did make it a good game is because France, one of the favorites, against a Uruguay that they're supposed to blow away, and it was actually tight like it was eight points in it for a period of time.
So a game where I feel that you look at the French team and they made a raft of changes.
They made a lot of changes and straight away in the first 10 minutes, it felt like they drifted away from their game plan.
Their confidence didn't look as good, they weren't as sharp on the ball, different combinations of players.
Ireland May Be Glad Of Strong 23 Against Big Talented Tonga Side
15 September 2023; Jonathan Sexton during the Ireland rugby squad captain's run at the Stade de la Beaujoire in Nantes, France. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
READ HERE: Stephen Ferris Lauds Andy Farrell For Strong Selection Against Romania
"So, when I watched that game last night I sort of went, do you know what?," continued Ferris.
"The reason why Andy Farrell has picked a lot more consistent team is because he doesn't want that slip up.
"He doesn't want that inconsistency to creep in to his game because he can't afford to, especially in seven days time when they play South Africa.
"So I think there's been a lot of thought put into the team selection from Andy Farrell, and that game last night maybe reiterated that it's really important to keep your core group of players who are playing well and in and in good form, keep them moving forward and hopefully they can get through to after week three."
SEE ALSO: Ireland To Scrum Against World Cup's Heaviest Player, Tonga's Ben Tameifuna
