Three Irish Players Who May Have Booked Their Flight To Japan Following Italy Win

The road to Japan.

Ireland got their World Cup warm-up series off to a winning start yesterday afternoon with a comfortable 29-10 win over Italy at the Aviva Stadium.

Tries from Joey Carbery, Dave Kearney, Andrew Conway, Jordi Murphy and Kieran Marmion proved to be enough to get past an Italian side who impressed at times, scoring two first half tries.

In truth while it was a comfortable win for the men in green – the players and coaching staff won’t be happy with the overall performance. Yes there were some moments of brilliance, but Ireland know they need to be much better, and time is running out.

But it was an experimental side to be fair, with a number of fringe players given a chance to impress as head coach Joe Schmidt gets set to name his 31-man squad for the World Cup in the coming weeks. And it looks like three of those fringe players might have booked their tickets to Japan early.

Andrew Conway
The 28-year-old put in a man of the match performance out on the wing and it looks like he could very well travel to Japan. The Munster man can operate on the wing or at fullback, and has an incredible try-scoring record in green. He’s also incredibly consistent, rarely having a bad game for club or country. There’s fierce competition in the back three for Ireland, but Conway looks to already have done enough to make the final 31.

Tadhg Beirne
Just seconds after his introduction in the second-half Beirne popped up with a trademark turnover, before putting in an excellent shift in the final 20 minutes. Schmidt will likely only bring four locks with him to Japan, with James Ryan, Iain Henderson and Devin Toner guaranteed to travel. And while Jean Kleyn also impressed on his debut, there’s just no way you can leave a player of Tadhg Beirne’s ability at home. His ability to be able to slot into the back-row is also a huge plus.

Chris Farrell
Another bruising performance from the Munster centre who is yet to have a bad game for Ireland. He linked up beautifully with Carbery, and there’s a lot be said about his partnership with Ringrose. Their styles compliment each other beautifully, and while the likes of Bundee Aki and Robbie Henshaw are still to come into the equation – you simply cannot overlook what Farrell brings. If he doesn’t travel to Japan, he’ll be one of the first names on the standby list.

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