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Conway and Co. face nervous Sunday as they await Schmidt's call

By Online Editors

Andrew Conway has admitted Ireland’s players face a nerve-wracking Sunday waiting to find out their World Cup fate.

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The Munster wing impressed in Ireland’s 22-17 victory over Wales in Cardiff on Saturday, scything through the home defence before sending Jacob Stockdale in at the corner for a fine try.

Conway, Will Addison and Jordan Larmour are all pushing to squeeze into a probable five-strong Ireland back-three group certainly comprising Stockdale, Keith Earls and Rob Kearney.

Boss Joe Schmidt will submit his 31-man World Cup squad to World Rugby on Monday, though Ireland will not announce that group until September 8.

Conway conceded no one in the Ireland squad quite knows what to do with their Sunday, when at some point head coach Schmidt could well be in touch with pivotal news.

“It’s not going to be nice, I haven’t experienced this one, for a World Cup,” said Conway.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do, just do something with my other half, keep the mind active and not be sitting looking at the phone.

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“It’s been a big block of work, and hopefully I’ve put in a few relatively good performances in the last three games. You never know.

“I don’t know how we’ll find out. It’s potentially calls, some lads get calls.

“Usually when we’re in the squad you’d get an email saying you’ve been selected for a Six Nations or autumn squad, so I’m not sure if there’s any differences now.

“Whatever is going on, it’s going to be a tough day.

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“From a selfish point of view I really hope I make it, but there’s going to be guys that have done really well in this pre-season, worked incredibly hard and aren’t going to make it. That’s going to happen no matter what.

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“So it’s going to be a tough day for a lot of people, and for the squad in general. Because you don’t like seeing guys who’ve put in such a massive effort lose out, but it is what it is.”

Stockdale drew level with Ronan O’Gara as Ireland’s 10th-highest Test try scorer of all time with his brace against Wales on Saturday, taking his international tally to 16 scores in just 21 appearances.

Ireland hit back from their record 57-15 loss to England at Twickenham by denying Warren Gatland a farewell Cardiff win in the last home match of his Wales tenure.

Schmidt’s men will be at full strength to host Wales in the return fixture – and their final World Cup warm-up match – at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday.

By then Ireland’s squad will know their World Cup selection fate, with their opening Pool A clash against Scotland fast approaching on September 22.

Schmidt typically examines training just as closely as matches when it comes to selection, and Conway admitted he hopes a summer’s hard graft can help him pull through now.

Asked if he can feel proud he has shown the best of himself across this extended World Cup build-up, Conway said: “Yes I think so, and do you know, it’s not really about the games whenever you talk about that, it’s about the training, and the times I know that I’ve dug in and that I’ve put everything into it.

“All my preparation, physical, mental, emotional, even going spiritual, meditating, doing all these things to get the extra per cent.

“So I’m pretty comfortable in how much effort I’ve put in. And what will be will be.”

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Jon 8 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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j
john 10 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

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