Ireland v Romania, RWC Pool B. Stade De Bordeaux, 14:30 Saturday 9th September 2023. Virgin TV / ITV

In 1898, a young Winston Churchill played a starring role in the final stages of a battle fought in modern day Sudan.

It all began 4 years earlier when a regional leader of a rebel faction called Mahdi Muhammad Ahmad staged a revolt and within a year of fighting against British Occupation his forces had captured large swathes of territory around the Nile basin stretching from the border with Eritrea and up to near Egypt.

After the killing of famed British general Charles Chinese Gordon (played by Charlton Heston in the 1966 movie Khartoum), the British army sent a number of gunships down the Nile along with 8000 heavily armed soldiers backed by Sudanese irregulars. While they were massively outnumbered by Mahdi Muhammad's 50,000 strong army - however they were far better equipped carrying heavy arms and backed by artillery. The Mahdi's rebels were largely equipped with hand weapons and only a few old and barely functioning muskets.

The battle was a massacre. The Sudanese rebels refused to retreat but were suffering significant losses to the British. At one point 12,000 of Mahdi Muhammad's men were killed and a further 13,000 were wounded with the British having suffering just a few losses.

It wasn't until a decision was made by a young lieutenant named Winston Churchill to mount a cavalry charge (such an act would curry favour in London) whereupon almost 50 of the mounted division were killed and many more wounded and ultimately forced to retreat as the Mahdi's forces were resolute. But for this failed charge the British forces would likely have suffered virtually no losses and it is for this reason the battle of Omdurman is to this day considered one of the most one sided conflicts in history.

On the opening weekend of the RWC 2023, the World no.1 team on a 13 game winning streak face Romania ranked 19th in the world. By rights Romania are the third lowest ranked team in the tournament, but such has been the unfortunate implosion of the sport in Romania that in a knock out against Namibia or Chilli (ranked 21 and 22), Romania would likely lose both by a margin.

Romania's last three fixtures are losses to Italy (57-7), Georgia (56-6) and USA (31-17).

This is a ridiculously one sided fixture and one that Ireland will exploit with the rest of the tournament in mind. The downfall of Romanian rugby has been incredibly disappointing to watch with youth development having been left in terminal decline. Representation by Romanian internationals in Europe's top leagues has dropped to at or near zero and even the pro D2 has virtually no Romanian internationals. Romania were disqualified from the last world cup having fielded ineligible players in the qualifiers and gained there spot in this tournament due to Spain being disqualified for the same reason.

Teams

Talking Points

From an Ireland point of view, the absences make for as interesting a discussion as the starters. Ireland fans will continue to sweat over the fitness of Sheehan, Conan and Kilcoyne but the omission of Hansen, Bealham and Byrne have emerged as the slightly eyebrow raising non selections given the otherwise first team nature of the 23. Similarly having VDF on the bench alongside Henderson with JoeMc getting the 4 jersey is a tough one to figure out.

For the most part, this is ultimately another warm up game but far weaker opposition so the selection needs to be viewed with that in mind.

Aki slotting in at 12 with Henshaw on the bench might be a sign of a change in the pecking order there, and McCarthy / Henderson is starting to become a bit of a debate. I'm quite keen to see this second row in action however, Ryan our breakdown expert and McCarthy already looks to have the physicality to trouble top teams.

What is success from an Ireland point of view

The unfortunate reality of this game is that Ireland will need to keep running in the scores. This needs to be one of those New Zealand type scenarios where they absolutely demolish one of the minnows. If I were coaching Ireland in this game and it wasn't a world cup, I'd turn it into a conditional game and restrict aspects of play to increase the challenge.

I think from Andy Farrell's point of view - he will want to see near perfect discipline. You often get the sense that a referee is going a little bit lighter on a smaller nation if they are getting blown away, but that doesn't happen in world cups. Ireland need to be very exact and composed tomorrow given the disparity between the teams and a red card would constitute a Churchillian moment of stupidity and needless cost for Ireland

We want a clean bill of health at the end and for the combinations to work from the start. Ireland's score margin record win is 83 - 3 against the United States in 2000. It's not disrespectful to Romania to suggest that margin might get beaten.

Johnny Sexton looking sharp and taking some attacking play onto himself would be what the coaches are hoping for and some dynamism from Furlong to show he's over his fitness concerns. I'm interested to see how the backrow goes and keen to see Crowley come on and take a run at tired legs.

Historical World Cup Results

This is the fourth time that Ireland will play Romania in the World Cup. The last time we played Romania in a World cup was 2015 where we made quite hard work initially and were 13-3 up at 30 minutes until Earls scored in the left corner.

1999 Rugby World Cup

2003 Rugby World Cup

Rugby World Cup 2015

Conclusion

Ireland have gone more or less full strength whilst having it's most historically successful team whereas Romania is at a historic low. I can't see beyond Ireland having scores on the board early and honestly I worry about the fixture becoming a farce by full time. We would expect France, New Zealand, South Africa or Scotland to put a significant score margin on Romania so I expect we'll do the same.

Ireland 106 - 6 Romania

Date & Time

Saturday 9th September 2023, 14:30

Location

Stade De Bordeaux

Where to Watch

Virgin Media or ITV. Or Stade De Bordeaux obvs.

Obligatory - the other big game against Romania