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Published 13:24 1 Sept 2019 BST
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With Schmidt letting his squad know who will be going to Japan, both starting XVs will likely contain players striving to impress while hoping not to fall, to injury, at the final hurdle. That being said, World Rugby does not stipulate that teams must feature all players from their submitted 31-man squad. England, for example, brought Joe Marchant off the bench against Ireland, last weekend.
The 22-17 victory over Wales, on Saturday, got Ireland back on track but there are still questions over several players - both form and fitness - heading into the World Cup.
Joe Schmidt will be eager to get one more tough game into his senior stars, and will be hoping to get Keith Earls, Johnny Sexton and Robbie Henshaw out on the pitch. Next Saturday's game against Wales will be close to full-strength while rewarding those that showed form in the August Tests.
Noting that Cian Healy and Joey Carbery are recovering from ankle injuries, this is the Ireland matchday squad we would select to go out on a high against Wales.
1. Dave Kilcoyne (Munster) 2. Rory Best (Ulster) 3. Tadhg Furlong (Leinster) 4. Devin Toner (Leinster) 5. James Ryan (Leinster) 6. CJ Stander (Munster) 7. Peter O'Mahony (Munster) 8. Jack Conan (Leinster) 9. Conor Murray (Connacht) 10. Johnny Sexton (Connacht) 11. Jordan Larmour (Leinster) 12. Robbie Henshaw (Leinster) 13. Will Addison (Ulster) 14. Keith Earls (Munster) 15. Rob Kearney (Leinster)Replacements: Niall Scannell, Andrew Porter, John Ryan, Iain Henderson, Josh van der Flier, Kieran Marmion, Jack Carty, Andrew Conway. WATCH THE LATEST HOUSE OF RUGBY EPISODE HERE:
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