Wales and Ireland will both be playing for pride on Sunday afternoon when they face off at Perth Rectangular Stadium in their final match of the 2017 World Cup.
With Papua New Guinea playing the winless United States earlier in the day, both Wales and Ireland will know their likely fate of being unable to qualify for the knockout rounds before their match on Sunday begins, but it certainly won’t stop both sides from giving their all and trying to end their respective World Cup campaigns on a winning note.
Ireland were particularly impressive in their two matches so far — comfortably beating Italy in hot conditions in Townsville before taking PNG all the way to the wire in an enthralling encounter last weekend in Port Moresby. How the Irish go at backing up from that surely emotionally draining loss will be interesting to note, but even with the let down, you’d imagine that they should be too strong for the Welsh this weekend.
Wales were simply no match for the power and athleticism of Fiji last week, conceding 72 points in the end to take their tally to a whopping 122 points against in two games.
Ranked as the ninth team in the world heading in to the tournament, the Dragons haven’t been able to recapture their form from the 2015 European Cup that took them in to the World Cup, and will be hoping Sunday’s game doesn’t follow a similar pattern to their previous fixtures here in Australia with a potentially high-scoring game ahead.
Pool C: Wales vs. Ireland
MATCH DETAILS
Date — Sunday, November 12, 2017
Time — 6:30pm AEDT
Venue — Perth Rectangular Stadium, Perth
LIVE STREAM AND TV INFORMATION
Live Stream — Channel 7’s https://7live.com.au/ (Australia only)
TV — Click here for a full country-by-country list of TV broadcasts.
TEAM NEWS
Wales |
|
Ireland |
Scott Grix |
1 |
Elliot Kear |
Shannon McDonnell |
2 |
Rhys Williams |
Ed Chamberlain |
3 |
Michael Channing |
Api Pewhairangi |
4 |
Dalton Grant |
Liam Kay |
5 |
Regan Grace |
Joe Keyes |
6 |
Courtney Davies |
Liam Finn (capt.) |
7 |
Danny Ansell |
Anthony Mullaly |
8 |
Craig Kopczak (capt.) |
Michael McIllorum |
9 |
Matty Fozard |
Kyle Amor |
10 |
Philip Joseph |
Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook |
11 |
Rhodri Lloyd |
Will Hope |
12 |
Joe Burke |
Brad Singleton |
13 |
Morgan Knowles |
George King |
14 |
Steve Parry |
Matty Hadden |
15 |
Gavin Bennion |
Joe Philbin |
16 |
Ben Evans |
Oliver Roberts |
17 |
Ben Morris |
Reserves (IRE) — James Hasson, Tyrone McCarthy, Casey Dunne, Jack Higginson
Reserves (WAL) — Andrew Gay, Matthew Barron, Christiaan Roets, Matt Seamark
RLWC STANDINGS — POOL C
|
Played |
Won |
Lost |
F/A |
Points |
Papua New Guinea |
2 |
2 |
0 |
+52 |
4 |
Ireland |
2 |
1 |
1 |
+16 |
2 |
Wales |
2 |
0 |
2 |
-110 |
0 |
HISTORY
This will be the ninth time that the two nations face off, with Wales surprisingly having the better record between the two sides — including winning five of their last six games.
PLAYER TO FOLLOW — Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook (Ireland)
With over 300 Super League matches to his name, McCarthy-Scarsbrook is easily one of Ireland’s most experienced players, and he has been a revelation for the nation this World Cup, with 309 running meters, 41 tackles, two linebreaks and a try in his last two matches. If the Irish are to win here, expect the experience of McCarthy-Scarsbrook to be key against a Wales side that has shown a tendency to struggle defensively.
PREDICTION
Wales were beat up against Papua New Guinea, and then cut to pieces the following week by Fiji — what will they experience this Sunday afternoon? Ireland played their biggest game of the World Cup last week and fell agonisingly short — which will still be in the minds of many players — but even with that, it’s hard to see anything but a comprehensive win for the Irish to close out their World Cup campaign. Ireland by 34.
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