{"id":564269,"date":"2026-07-23T13:17:20","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T13:17:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/564269\/"},"modified":"2026-07-23T13:17:20","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T13:17:20","slug":"predicting-irelands-first-choice-23-for-the-2027-rugby-world-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/564269\/","title":{"rendered":"Predicting Ireland’s First-Choice 23 For The 2027 Rugby World Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"

We’re now three years into a Rugby World Cup cycle, and eyes are turning ever more to Australia next winter for Ireland and fans of Irish rugby.<\/p>\n

It’s safe to say the mood around the Ireland team is significantly lower than it was at the same stage in the buildup to the 2023 edition in France, but there are some causes of optimism for Andy Farrell’s side.<\/p>\n

\n Recommended\n <\/p>\n

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A strong finish to the Six Nations, coupled with the emergence of some brilliant young talent, as well as the expansion to 24 teams and introduction of a last-16 stage, are all intriguing factors to consider.<\/p>\n

There is much to ponder after the Nations Championship<\/a>, which gave us a flavour of how Ireland might fare down under at next year’s World Cup.<\/p>\n

Much could change over the coming season, but here’s who we’re predicting will make up Andy Farrell’s first-choice Ireland 23 at the World Cup in Australia next year.<\/p>\n

Predicting the Ireland 23 for the 2027 World Cup opener
\nIreland team<\/p>\n

Back three: 15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Robert Baloucoune, 11 Mack Hansen<\/p>\n

\"Hugo30 November 2024; Hugo Keenan of Ireland during the Autumn Nations Series match between Ireland and Australia at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Photo by David Fitzgerald\/Sportsfile<\/p>\n

The 14 jersey is up for debate, with Tommy O’Brien and Calvin Nash both in the running having impressed over the past three years’ Six Nations campaigns.<\/p>\n

Robert Baloucoune’s explosive pace and power marked him out as an instant fan favourite in this year’s tournament, and his instant return to the starting XV against New Zealand after an injury layoff suggests it has marked him out as Andy Farrell’s first-choice, too.<\/p>\n

It’s hard to see a world in which Hugo Keenan and Mack Hansen\u00a0don’t start for Ireland if fully fit come the World Cup. They are comfortably established as Ireland’s best back-three players.<\/p>\n

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Centres: 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Stuart McCloskey<\/p>\n

\"\"21 February 2026; Ireland players Robert Baloucoune, left, and Stuart McCloskey after their side’s victory in the Guinness 6 Nations Rugby Championship match between England and Ireland at the Allianz Stadium in Twickenham, England. Photo by Brendan Moran\/Sportsfile<\/p>\n

Robbie Henshaw will feel hard done by, but Stuart McCloskey has experienced a complete career renaissance over the past 12 months.<\/p>\n

This time last year, the Ulster centre was a fringe Ireland player. Since then, he has placed a firm grip on the 12 jersey, been nominated for Six Nations Player of the Tournament, and won both Ulster and IRFU Player of the Year awards.<\/p>\n

The only drawback is that McCloskey will be 35 come kick-off in Australia – but Henshaw and Bundee Aki hardly have much cause to argue in that area.<\/p>\n

Bar a catastrophe in the coming year, veteran Garry Ringrose will be his centre partner.<\/p>\n

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Half-backs: 10 Sam Prendergast, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park<\/p>\n

\"Ireland5 February 2026; Ireland players Sam Prendergast, left, and Jack Crowley during the Guinness 6 Nations Rugby Championship match between France and Ireland at Stade de France in Paris, France. Photo by Seb Daly\/Sportsfile<\/p>\n

Maybe the bravest call we’ve made in this team selection comes at 10, where we’re tipping Sam Prendergast to get the nod over Jack Crowley.<\/p>\n

Prendergast’s disastrous mid-season dip in form saw Crowley seemingly take firm grasp of the fly-half spot during the Six Nations, but the battle is now in flux once more after Crowley’s late-season injury issues.<\/p>\n

During Crowley’s time on the sidelines, Prendergast burst into brilliant form for Leinster, and impressed for Ireland during the Nations Championship campaign down under<\/a>. When both are fully fit and firing, Andy Farrell has previously shown a slight preference towards Prendergast, and we expect that to hold if things are at the same stage this time next year.<\/p>\n

Even if Craig Casey and Nathan Doak will be itching to start, it will take something seismic to shift Jamison Gibson-Park from the 9 jersey.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Front row: 1 Andrew Porter, 2 Dan Sheehan, 3 Tadhg Furlong<\/p>\n

\"\"10 February 2026; Tadhg Furlong during an Ireland Rugby squad training session at the IRFU High Performance Centre in Dublin. Photo by Brendan Moran\/Sportsfile<\/p>\n

A lot here depends on the fitness of Tadhg Furlong, a growing area of concern for Ireland over the past few years.<\/p>\n

This would be Furlong’s fourth World Cup if he remains fit, a testament to his longevity in the Irish jersey. That longevity has started to take its toll on the 33-year-old in recent seasons, and he has started to face a battle for his starting spot at both provincial and test level.<\/p>\n

For experience alone, he is likely to start unless his fitness falls off a cliff between now and the World Cup. Alongside him will be the routine, first-choice Ireland front-three of the past five years.<\/p>\n

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Locks: 4 Joe McCarthy, 5 Tadhg Beirne<\/p>\n

\"\"15 November 2025; Tadhg Beirne of Ireland during the Quilter Nations Series 2025 match between Ireland and Australia at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Photo by David Fitzgerald\/Sportsfile<\/p>\n

The omission of James Ryan may seem contentious, but the second- and back-rows are the areas in which Ireland have the most options, and he is the least “undroppable” of the five veteran options in the pack.<\/p>\n

We’ve moved Tadhg Beirne forward to the second row. Alongside him is Leinster’s Joe McCarthy<\/a>, who has enjoyed his finest run of form in an Irish jersey over the past six months and was a true standout of the Nations Championship series.<\/p>\n

Keep up that form, and he could be a pivotal player for Ireland next winter.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Back row: 6 Jack Conan, 7 Josh van der Flier, 8 Caelan Doris (c)<\/p>\n

\"\"15 March 2025; Caelan Doris of Ireland during the Guinness Six Nations Rugby Championship match between Italy and Ireland at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy. Photo by Seb Daly\/Sportsfile<\/p>\n

Routine choices here, despite the level of competition in the Ireland back-row; no selection more routine than that of captain Caelan Doris.<\/p>\n

Has there been a more consistent performer for Ireland over the past five years than Jack Conan? We’d wager it’s not even close.<\/p>\n

7 is a closer call, and we could see some manoeuvring should Beirne play in the back-row, but Josh van der Flier has returned to form of late and we’d be surprised should he be excluded.<\/p>\n

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Ireland subs<\/p>\n

Forwards: 16 R\u00f3nan Kelleher, 17 Paddy McCarthy, 18 Thomas Clarkson, 19 James Ryan, 20 Cian Prendergast<\/p>\n

The most contested spot here is the back-row cover, with the likes of Ryan Baird, Cormac Izuchukwu, and Nick Timoney all staking a claim. However, we feel that the Irish coaching team have displayed something of a preference towards Prendergast of late.<\/p>\n

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Backs: 21 Craig Casey, 22 Jack Crowley, 23 Jamie Osborne<\/p>\n

Nathan Doak could force his way into the mix here in the months to come, and Calvin Nash, Tommy O’Brien, Bundee Aki et. al will be devastated if they miss out on selection for a knockout game. For versatility, though, Osborne wins out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"We’re now three years into a Rugby World Cup cycle, and eyes are turning ever more to Australia…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":564270,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[54046,61,60,43],"class_list":["post-564269","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-irish-rugby","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/564269","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=564269"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/564269\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/564270"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=564269"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=564269"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=564269"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}