We believe we can win World Cup, insists Andy Farrell

Andy Farrell isn’t shying away from Ireland’s overall ambition in France. He doesn’t see the point.

Despite the All Blacks’ impressive form in the Rugby Championship, his side remain the world’s No 1-ranked side and they’ve beaten all of their rivals in the past two seasons.

It doesn’t guarantee them anything, but they’re setting out their ambitions early ahead of their first warm-up game against Italy tomorrow.

“Why wouldn’t we?” he said when asked about speaking publicly about their goals.

“There’s an attitude within the group that we chase every day to make sure that we’re better as a team, better as individuals. What we’ve done in the past adds a little bit of belief.

“How we’re pushing to try and get better in our training obviously will be built and will be judged in the coming weeks but the confidence that we hope to have going into a World Cup has to be rock solid.

“There’s no point in turning up for a World Cup if we don’t believe that we can win it.”

The next item on his itinerary is selecting a squad. He was coy on the issue of whether he’ll whittle down the 42 players slowly or do it in one fell swoop at the end of the month, but for some tomorrow’s clash with the Azzurri is the final chance to show the coach what they can do.

​“It all depends on standards and how things are going and injuries and all sorts of different permutations but the squad will certainly have to get whittled down sooner rather than later, won’t it?” he said, before being asked if the selection issue is affecting the players.

“I wouldn’t say so,” he replied. “I’m sure there is when they get five minutes on their own but they seldom get that because they’re all together enjoying each other’s company.

“There’s certainly a realisation that 42 doesn’t fit into 33 but at the same time there’s been no chat in regards to ‘if you don’t pull your socks up today, you might be out.’

“It’s everyone’s team. It’s all 42’s team.

“This World Cup – I’m not at good at predicting anyway but if I was a betting man I’d think that there will be more players used, just because of the nature of concussion and everything that goes with it.

“You look at the U-20s World Cup, how that was pulled from pillar to post. You’ve certainly got to be adaptable,” he added.

Everyone wants to play well, but there’s a few who need to perform to have a chance of making the plane.

Jacob Stockdale needs a huge performance on his first cap in more than two years to have a chance, while even with all the credit he has in the bank Keith Earls could do with a strong showing. Stuart McCloskey is in danger of being squeezed out by Robbie Henshaw and Bundee Aki, while Joe McCarthy is another who could do with a dominant first start.

Cian Prendergast can force his way in with a big performance off the bench, while the debutants Tom Stewart, Ciarán Frawley and Calvin Nash have a massive distance to travel.

Selection, Farrell says, remains open.

“It is open,” he said. “It has to be to give people a fair opportunity you’ve got to be open-minded. If I am, everyone else will be as well. Hence, everyone’s excited to get going.”

For others, like Jimmy O’Brien at full-back and Caelan Doris at No 7, it’s about showing they can cover that role if needed.

It’s a huge opportunity for the half-backs, while Ryan Baird will be relishing the shot at the No 6 shirt from the start and the front-row know that there’s some big hitters to come back.

In terms of a performance, Farrell has warned them of the basic requirements and referenced the Fiji match last November which was the last time Nick Timoney, Joey Carbery and Robert Baloucoune played in green.

“I’ve told the players ... I’ve referenced it (that Fiji game) to them,” he said. “It takes all 33 in a 33-man squad to be absolutely rock solid to be able to win a World Cup.

“And that’s why I’m looking forward to this game more than a lot of games we’ve played in the past really and that’s why, when you make so many changes, that you’ve got to have a bit of balance within that as well.

“We’ve had six weeks together, which we don’t normally get.

“We normally get 12 days before a Six Nations or before an autumn (Test), that probably correlates to about five training sessions.

“We expect to be at our best. It doesn’t matter what the combinations are because we’ve had plenty of time to be able to make sure that we adapt to that.

“It’s a Test match for us. People talk about it being a ‘warm-up’ game, but there’s no real warm-up games when you’re playing at the Aviva Stadium for Ireland.”