Favourites Ireland set to battle blistering heat in Rugby World Cup opener in France

The heat is on Ireland- literally!

When Johnny Sexton leads the team out to start their World Cup campaign on Saturday against Romania they’ll hold the favourites tag but they’ll also have to endure blistering heat.

The temperature is due to reach around 35 degrees Celsius on Saturday afternoon in Bordeaux. Kick off in the Stade De Bordeaux is at 3:30pm, and writing this 24 hours out from the match I can confirm it is definitely still the hottest part of the day here. The journalists covering the team are surviving by staying inside with air-con blasting when possible!

The Ireland team are as prepared as they feel they need to be for the heat, during their training camp in Portugal in August temperatures reached mid to high 30s. By their own admission at the press conferences this week they know it will be tough to play in those conditions tomorrow, but there will be no excuses if Ireland don’t rack up a big score against Romania - arguably the worst team at the tournament.

The players also acknowledged they have underperformed during their pre season games. Despite winning all their warm up matches against Italy, England and Samoa there were uncharacteristic errors and performances were “clunky” according to Head Coach Andy Farrell.

Since picking up a first series win in New Zealand 18 months ago followed by wins over world champions South Africa, and an in form France en route to becoming Grand Slam champions, the emphasis from within the Irish camp has been on evolving as a team. “We know other teams will have improved and figured out how we beat them so we need to go to a higher level and get better ourselves,” Hugo Keenan explained this werk.

I asked attack coach Mike Catt about that today after the Captain’s Run at the stadium. “The most important thing we as a coaching staff have driven is accuracy. We know things haven’t been perfect during the warm up games and they have tan their course. We need to be more accurate, it is crucial we get that right for this game and over the next few weeks,” he told me.

I also asked Andy Farrell about his personal emotions coming into this World Cup, his first as a Head Coach.

“Excitement is the main one,” he responded. “This has been in our thoughts for a long time so now we are in Bordeaux we are excited. But from my experience as a player and a coach we must now realise it’s all about the rugby. Yes there will be a carnival atmosphere and we will embrace what goes on but we are here to do business.”

There is also excitement for Ulster’s Rob Herring who makes his first World Cup start at Hooker. “It’s been a long road for me, I was in two World Cup camps and didn’t get initial selection so that was tough,” he explained.

“But now that I’m here I’m ready to take my chance and help the team by playing my part to the best of my ability.”

Herring’s Ulster team mates Iain Henderson and Tom O’Toole will also be raring to go if they get called upon from the replacements bench.

The only question mark this week has been around the omission of winger Mack Hansen. Farrell has selected his strongest back line bar Hansen. Farrell confirmed he isn’t injured and Catt insisted it wasn’t over a disciplinary issue, that despite Farrell referencing some younger players not handling the Biarritz trip well while the team stayed at a beach hotel.

The Stade de Bordeaux is an intimate ground which holds just over 42,000 spectators. It is the home of the local football team but over the next few weeks will host 5 Rugby World Cup games. Tomorrow the majority of fans are expected to be wearing green with the Irish due to take over so it should feel like a home match for Ireland. Farrell has selected 12 of his strongest starting 15 so he’s made his intentions clear, and Ireland have the chance to get the feel good factor and momentum going.

Forty-eight games in 51 days starts tonight with the mouth-watering clash between hosts France and New Zealand. Can Ireland live up to their world number one ranking? The optimism definitely feels more merited this time around.

Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know.