Here is Gerry Thornley’s match report:
[ Ireland survive Samoa scare as Cian Healy injury makes him doubt for World CupOpens in new window ]
That’s all from me. Keep an eye on this page and on Irish Times sport for Gerry Thornley’s report from the ground. Laters!
Attention turns now to the injury room. The big question over the coming 24 hours surrounds Cian Healy’s calf. Was that the last time we ever see him in an Ireland jersey? How cruel, how brutal if it is. He’s on crutches and in a moon boot but we can’t attach any significance to that, obviously. Time will tell. And there ain’t a lot of time left.
FULL-TIME: IRELAND 17 SAMOA 13 And so it is. Ireland make it 13 wins in a row, by the hair on their chinny-chin-chins. They weren’t impressive, it was all a bit scrappy and sloppy. But they got there in the end.
80 mins: They can! James Ryan gets a hand in and disrupts the line-out and Hansen clears his lines. That should be that. Ireland 17 Samoa 13
79 mins: Or is it? Samoa gather the drop out and force the issue once again. And once again, Ireland give away a penalty in a good position. This time Sopoaga does find the corner and this is it. Line-out Samoa, five metres out, game on the line. Can Ireland defend in? Ireland 17 Samoa 13
77 mins: Samoa are finishing this game with all the momentum. Gaps are opening in the Irish defence and they give away a penalty, whch Samoa kick to the corner. Oh no! They should have kicked to the corner but Lima Sopoaga kicked it dead! What a killer for them. Big let off for Ireland. Ireland 17 Samoa 13
75 mins: It’s gone scrappy again but at least Ireland are playing the game in the Samoan half now - and mostly in the 22. Mistakes are piling up on both sides. Crowley has an overlap outside him but drops the ball. Samoa have open country in front of them from the srum but kick out on the full. Bitty. Ireland 17 Samoa 13
69 mins: Huge goal-line stand by Samoa. Normal service has resumed. Ireland getting the basics right again - scrums, line-outs, mauls, the whole bit. Byrne kicks a penalty to the corner and they go through the phases. Samoa cough up penalty after penalty but keep Ireland out. Another kick to the corner, another line-out maul and eventually, as James Ryan looks to be on the verge of claiming his try, Samoa hold him up. Brilliant defence. Could have been a yellow at some stage maybe? Ireland 17 Samoa 13
66 mins: TRY IRELAND! And lo and behold, it comes from a line-out maul. Samoan indiscipline brings another penalty around the 22 and Byrne kicks to the corner. The line-out is back to what Ireland expect it to be and Herring is the one who burrows over from the maul. Couldn’t have come at a better time or in a better way. Crowley’s conversion is blocked down. Ireland 17 Samoa 13
61 mins: Actually Ringrose isn’t on yet. Henshaw looked to be injured there but he waved his replacement away. Ireland win a scrum penalty on their own 22 and that feels like a big moment. They have a line-out in the Samoa half now and can get some breathing space, finally. Samoa 13 Ireland 12
60 mins: Samoa are fairly rampaging around the park now, Ireland aren’t really establishing much of a foothold. Scrappy kicks away by Crowley and Byrne carry an air of desperation, especially when you see how well Samoa are combining and putting the ball through the hands. James Ryan, Garry Ringrose and Peter O’Mahony all join the fray. Samoa 13 Ireland 12
54 mins: Jimmy O’Brien has picked up a shoulder injury so Ross Byrne is on at outhalf and Crowley goes to full-back. Herring has settled the Ireland line-out. This is better. Samoa 13 Ireland 12
50 mins: TRY IRELAND! And it’s from a line-out! Rob Herring is on for Tom Stewart at hooker. Ireland lost five line-outs in the first half - that has to improve, needless to say. Well, he hits his first mark and Ireland recycle to get the ball to Stockdale on the left wing. He chips ahead for Conor Murray to fight his way to the line. Crowley misses the conversion but Ireland are back in it. Samoa 13 Ireland 12
49 mins: Better from Ireland. Stockdale hasn’t been in the game at all but he makes two incisions in quick succession to get Ireland moving and grab some territory. One lovely offload to Robbie Henshaw buys Ireland 20 metres and soon after he pops up on the opposite wing and carries into the 22. Sadly, it ends with a knock-on but that’s a long overdue cameo from the Ulster wing. Samoa 13 Ireland 7
46 mins: Penalty Samoa. Fully deserved too, as they’ve have been on the front foot since the restart. After a sustained period of pressure on the Ireland line, Wayne Barnes gives them a penalty five metres out and it’s a straightforward kick for Sopoaga . Samoa 13 Ireland 7
41 mins: The rain stopped for half-time but it’s back with a vengeance as Samoa get the second half underway. No changes for Ireland. Samoa 10 Ireland 7
HALF-TIME: SAMOA 10 IRELAND 7. This wasn’t in the script. Ireland were comfortable enough with five minutes to go until half-time. Sloppy, certainly. Guilty of handling errors here and there and yet again untidy in the line-out. But they had played most of the half on the front foot and deserved to be 7-0 up. But one loose pass from McCloskey and Samoa were back in it. And one smashed scrum and Samoa are ahead. It will be interesting to see how Ireland respond here. Back in 10.
40 mins: Penalty Samoa. Ireland get demolished at scrum-time and Lima Sopoaga splits the posts from 30 metres out on an angle. Half-time lead for Samoa. Samoa 10 Ireland 7
36 mins: TRY SAMOA! That’s pretty unlucky but also a little sloppy from Ireland. Staurt McCloskey throws out a loose pass trying to find a big overlap on the left wing and it hits Duncan Paia’aua in the face. Ireland stop momentarily because they assume it’s a knock-on but referee Wayne Barnes is on the money and lets it go. It leaves Paia’aua with 70 metres of open space in front of him and he skates away to the line. The conversion is simple and we’re level. Ireland 7 Samoa 7
34 mins: Ryan Baird is having a stormer. He forces a turnover in the Samoan 22 and Ireland come up with a penalty as Samoa go offside. Crowley kicks to the corner... and again it comes to nothing. For the second week in a row, the attacking line-out isn’t functioning at all.
31 mins: Huge opportunity here for Loughman, who only joined up with the squad 10 days ago to cover for Dave Kilcoyne in training. This is just his third cap and all of a sudden, he’s the next man up at loosehead for Ireland.
28 mins: The game has gone into a bit of a lull. A combination of the rain and Healy’s injury has quietened the crowd. Ireland 7 Samoa 0
21 mins: Oh no. That looks like a bad one for Cian Healy. He is carried off after picking up a calf injury. Jeremy Loughman takes his place. Above all else, that’s what Ireland wanted to avoid tonight. What a blow for the great Irish prop if that’s his World Cup gone. We don’t know anything yet, of course. Fingers and toes crossed for him. Ireland 7 Samoa 0
19 mins: Interesting setpiece play there from Ireland. An intricate move off a line-out as the ball pings between Josh van der Flier and Tom Stewart to put Hansen away. Unfortunately the last pass from Stewart was forward, otherwise Hansen had open country ahead of him. Incredibly slick work and we’ll watch for that one to be repeated at some stage over the coming weeks. Ireland 7 Samoa 0
15 mins: Crowley is on it so far tonight. That’s a magnificent kick to the corner from a penalty in the Ireland half, landing about two metres from the corner flag. By my count that’s four kicks so far - one brilliant grubber with his left and a crosskick, conversion and touchfinder with his right - each of them a peach. The line-out comes to nothing but we can hardly blame him for that. Ireland 7 Samoa 0
9 mins: TRY IRELAND! Ah, that was fantastic from Jack Crowley. Ryan Baird gobbled up a knock-on in midfield and when Ireland recycled it, Crowley plays a raking, 50-metre crossfield kick for Mack Hansen on the right touchline. Hansen straightened beautifully and found Jimmy O’Brien steaming through the middle. That’s O’Brien’s first international try. Crowley does the needful from the tee and Ireland are away. Ireland 7 Samoa 0
7 mins: Ooh, that was close for Samoa. From the scrum, they go through the hands and find Fidow on the right wing but Jimmy O’Brien does enough to bounce him towards the touchline and COnor Murray finishes the job. He was only a few yards from the Ireland line there. Good start from Samoa. Ireland 0 Samoa 0
5 mins: The conditions are having their way early on. Samoan wing Ed Fidow skews a bad touch kick on a slippy ball, giving Ireland good position in the Samoan 22. But Iain Henderson can’t take the line-out - again because of the slippy ball. Samoa come away with it and eventually force a scrum deep in Ireland territory.
Jack Crowley has the ball in midfield and gets us going. Game on!
Ireland are in white, Samoa in blue. The Samoan haka - the Siva Tua - gets underway.
Anthem time. Samoa’s is a pretty jazzy number, in fairness. Rousing to the end.
Ireland’s Call is what it is.
It’s spilling rain in Bayonne.
This game matters and it doesn’t matter, of course. In the end up, this weekend will be remembered for Farrell’s squad announcement rather than whether or not Ireland beat Samoa in the south of France. So who have you got in your 33? What are the close calls?
Here’s our analysis of what has gone into the decisions of the Ireland coach.
[ Ireland’s World Cup squad: What is it likely to look like?Opens in new window ]
Half an hour to kick-off, probably worth giving the teams again, particularly with the news that Jacob Stockdale has come in for Keith Earls who misses out with a “slight niggle”.
Ireland: Jimmy O’Brien; Mack Hansen, Robbie Henshaw, Stuart McCloskey, Jacob Stockdale; Jack Crowley, Conor Murray; Cian Healy, Tom Stewart, Finlay Bealham, Iain Henderson (capt), Tadhg Beirne, Ryan Baird, Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris.
Replacements: Rob Herring, Jeremy Loughman, Tom O’Toole, James Ryan, Peter O’Mahony, Craig Casey, Ross Byrne, Garry Ringrose.
Samoa: Duncan Paia’aua; Ed Fidow, UJ Seuteni, Tumua Manu, Nigel Ah Wong; Lima Sopoaga, Jonathan Taumateine; James Lay, Seilala Lam, Paul Alo-Emile; Chris Vui (capt), Theo McFarland; Taleni Seu, Fritz Lee, Steven Luatua
Replacements: Sama Malolo, Jordan Lay, Michael Alaalatoa, Miracle Fai’ilagi, Jordan Taufua, Ereatara Enari, Christian Leali’ifano, Neria Foma’i.
England’s hapless countdown to the World Cup continues to find new lows. Today’s rock bottom was a first ever defeat at home to Fiji at Twickenham.
You can get Gerry Thornley’s weekly Counter Ruck update every Friday direct you your email in-box. Just sign up here and you’ll have it all the way through the World Cup and beyond.
[ The Counter RuckOpens in new window ]
BREAKING: Keith Earls pulls out of Samoa warm-up match
Gerry has been in touch, as it happens. He filed this from the ground a few minutes ago.
“Keith Earls was withdrawn from Ireland’s final World Cup warm-up game against Samoa in Bayonne’s Stade Jean Dauger as a precautionary measure with what the Irish head coach Andy Farrell described as a ‘minor niggle’.
“Jacob Stockdale was called up to start on the left wing but Earls’ injury is not expected to endanger his chances of being chosen to compete in his fourth World Cup when the final squad of 33 players is announced tomorrow (Sunday) at 4.30 Irish time.”
Kick-off is just over an hour away yet (7.45 to be exact). So let’s catch up on some apropos reading to get in the mood. Gerry Thornley is in Bayonne for us and his Counter Ruck dispatch for the week is here.
[ Gerry Thornley: Ireland look to avoid a ‘Battle of Bayonne’ against SamoaOpens in new window ]
Hello and welcome to the last-chance saloon. Okay, maybe that’s making it sound a bit more dramatic than it realistically is. With Andy Farrell announcing his 33-man squad for the World Cup tomorrow afternoon, this game against Samoa probably isn’t going to change his mind on many - if any - of the players who will be returning to France for the tournament. It feels pretty unlikely that anyone will play their way in or out of the Ireland squad on the strength of tonight’s 80 minutes.
That said, there’s no underselling what’s involved here. The World Cup opener against Romania is 13 days away. Nobody who plays tonight can afford to be injured or suspended when Friday week rolls around. Even those who don’t make the cut tomorrow won’t find themselves too far from contention. The campaign is going to be attritional - it’s the only guarantee.
Samoa aren’t an exact analogue for what Ireland will face against Tonga in a few weeks - it’s all too facile to paint them as such. But they have a World Cup opener against Chile to get ready for in three weeks and they won’t be taking a backward step tonight. All in all, it’s set for a fascinating evening. Malachy Clerkin here, ready to see us through to around 10 o’clock tonight.
Let’s start with the teams:
Ireland: Jimmy O’Brien; Mack Hansen, Robbie Henshaw, Stuart McCloskey, Jacob Stockdale; Jack Crowley, Conor Murray; Cian Healy, Tom Stewart, Finlay Bealham, Iain Henderson (capt), Tadhg Beirne, Ryan Baird, Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris.
Replacements: Rob Herring, Jeremy Loughman, Tom O’Toole, James Ryan, Peter O’Mahony, Craig Casey, Ross Byrne, Garry Ringrose.
Samoa: Duncan Paia’aua; Ed Fidow, UJ Seuteni, Tumua Manu, Nigel Ah Wong; Lima Sopoaga, Jonathan Taumateine; James Lay, Seilala Lam, Paul Alo-Emile; Chris Vui (capt), Theo McFarland; Taleni Seu, Fritz Lee, Steven Luatua
Replacements: Sama Malolo, Jordan Lay, Michael Alaalatoa, Miracle Fai’ilagi, Jordan Taufua, Ereatara Enari, Christian Leali’ifano, Neria Foma’i.
