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Published 12:58 19 Mar 2019 GMT
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(Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile)[/caption]
"One of the strong points of Joe Schmidt's time in charge has been this fear. The players were afraid of him and that no-one was above the law with him, and if you are not playing well then you are off the pitch. It doesn't mean that your [form has massively dropped]. It's just that if you are not going well and the team is not going well, you need to bring someone on to inject a bit of life."Trimble was being slightly tongue-in-cheek when he suggested Ireland were not 'more dangerous' going to the World Cup. He did, however, have a point. That feting, and installing as potential favourites, will now fade away and Japan will be considered as the staging ground for a fresh start and a chance to build momentum, one win at a time. While many Irish players may now be fretting about their positions - unable to get back into an Ireland camp of any shape or form until August - our proposed starting XV for the World Cup opener against Scotland (September 22) has several familiar faces. This is what we now feel is Ireland's strongest squad to take on the Scots, and one hopes all mentioned get the rub with fitness and form.
1. Cian Healy 2. Rory Best (captain) 3. Tadhg Furlong 4. James Ryan 5. Iain Henderson 6. Peter O'Mahony 7. Dan Leavy 8. CJ Stander 9. Conor Murray 10. Johnny Sexton 11. Jacob Stockdale 12. Robbie Henshaw 13. Garry Ringrose 14. Keith Earls 15. Rob Kearney Replacements: Sean Cronin, Dave Kilcoyne, Andrew Porter, Tadhg Beirne, Josh van der Flier, Kieran Marmion, Joey Carbery, Jordan Larmour.Cian Healy just, just holds off Dave Kilcoyne and Iain Henderson gets in ahead of Tadhg Beirne and Devin Toner, both of whom should travel to Japan. Will Addison misses out on this 23 but one hopes he finishes this season strong and gets a chance to impress in the World Cup warm-up fixtures. WATCH HOUSE OF RUGBY'S BONUS EPISODE WITH TOMMY BOWE AND ADAM JONES:

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