With their opening Rugby World Cup game just over two weeks away - Ireland are set to take on Samoa this Saturday in their final warm-up game before the beginning of the competition. We have all the info on how to watch Ireland v Samoa right here.
When is Ireland v Samoa
Ireland are set to take on Samoa this Saturday, August 26, at 7:45pm (Irish time), at the Stade Jean-Dauger, in Bayonne, France.
How to watch Ireland v Samoa
Ireland v Samoa will be broadcast live to Irish audiences on RTÉ 2 with coverage beginning at 7:15pm.
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While fans outside of Ireland will be able to catch live coverage on Amazon Prime Sport.
12 October 2019; Jacob Stockdale of Ireland is tackled by Alapati Leiua, 13, and Henry Taefu of Samoa during the 2019 Rugby World Cup Pool A match between Ireland and Samoa at the Fukuoka Hakatanomori Stadium in Fukuoka, Japan. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
Form Guide
Ireland come into this fixture as hot favourites, and even accounting for the disjointed nature of warm-up games, anything but an Ireland win would be a significant upset.
The side are on a 12-game winning streak and their last loss came over a year ago when they fell to New Zealand in early July 2022.
Ireland are two from two so far in their Rugby World Cup warm-up games having comprehensively defeated both Italy, and a very poor England.
However, despite the two wins, both games have been mistake-ridden and uncharacteristically sloppy from an Irish perspective.
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While Samoa are a second-tier team with their last win against a top-tier nation coming in 2014 when they beat Italy, they're currently 12th in the World Rugby rankings ahead of both Italy and Japan.
They've won three of their last four games, notably defeating Japan, as well as Tonga and the Barbarians, with their only loss of the warm-up games coming against Fiji.
Ultimately, anything but a comprehensive win for the top-ranked team in the world would be hugely disappointing.
Team News
Andy Farrell named his Ireland team for the game on Thursday afternoon, making a number of changes to the side that defeated England last weekend.
Iain Henderson comes in to captain the side in the second row, with the front row completely changed from the English game. Jack Crowley comes back in at fly-half, where he will be partnered by Conor Murray at halfback.
Elsewhere, Keith Earls, Stuart McCloskey, Robbie Henshaw, and Jimmy O'Brien all come into the back row.
Ireland have named their team to take on Samoa in Bayonne on Saturday ☘️
A final opportunity for some players to impress ahead of next month's World Cup 👀 pic.twitter.com/Xl4Fa31iyJ— Balls.ie (@ballsdotie) August 24, 2023
Ireland will be hoping for a good performance in their final outing before their World Cup opener against Romania on September 9th.
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