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Preview: Ireland v Canada

Coach Joe Schmidt inherited the backbone of the Irish side from predecessor Declan Kidney and has honed an outfit missing the now-retired iconic captain Brian O'Driscoll into one capable of matching the best in the game.

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Schmidt has pulled no punches in team selection by choosing the strongest possible side, bar centre Robbie Henshaw –  a late injury, to face the Canadians at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium.

In a pool also including France, Italy and Romania, it was a statement by the Kiwi coach that Ireland mean business.

"We have a degree of confidence around our setpiece. Our scrum and lineout have been operating well and those are areas that are really good access points for us in the game and ways to deny Canada access," Schmidt said, warning however that there was no talk of actually winning the World Cup.

"It's a moot point when we've got a game (ahead of us) and for us at any stage we'd always have a fear that we'd trip over the step in front of us if we were looking too far ahead."

So no loss of focus other than on the immediate, the coach also putting little stock in defeats in the team's last two warm-up results.

"Our defence hasn't been as good as it needs to be as yet. We conceded four tries across five games in the Six Nations, and in the Six Nations before that we conceded four tries and scored 16.

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"It hasn't suddenly turned bad, I think the systems are good.

"When the season first starts, usually players get to play in the Pro12, then into European and then into Test matches. Going straight into Test matches playing good players is more difficult," he added.

Schmidt warned that Canada, like Ireland, an ever-present in every World Cup since the tournament's inception in 1987, posed a danger through their free-running, often Sevens-trained backs and a solid forward power base centred around his former Clermont charge and Canada captain Jamie Cudmore.

"Their ability to turn defence into attack, their ability to defend for long periods and attack out of them. We just know we're going to have to work hard for the points we get," he said of the Canadian threat.

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Schmidt also warned that it was no use being creative without an end.

"Creating chances doesn't win games, you've got to convert enough of them to get enough scores on the board to apply scoreboard pressure and get that differential on the scoreboard that allows you to take that 'W' away at the end of the day," he said.

Canada are coached by Kieran Crowley, another Kiwi and the only one of the 20 coaches present at the World Cup to actually have won the tournament, with the All Blacks back in 1987.

Crowley insisted his team were not there to make up the numbers.

"We have gone full strength and selected a side that we feel has the best opportunity of winning the game. We looked at the opposition and at what they will bring and we looked at what we can bring too. Then, we picked accordingly," he said.

Crowley conceded that set pieces would be crucial.

"It's an old cliche but every game comes down to set plays and we have got to get those things right on the day.

"It's our objective to make it hard for them. They [Ireland] are one of the favourites for the tournament, so we know we've got a massive challenge in front of us. But we have trained well this week and we hope things go our way," he stated.

Players to watch:

For Ireland: Rob Kearney returns to the team and has the ideal chance to prove himself in the No.15 jumper while captain Paul O'Connell will be his usual self. The halfback pairing of Connor Murray and Jonathan Sexton should run riot and allow the backline to stretch their legs for most of the match.

For Canada: There will be plenty of eyeballs on captain Jamie Cudmore as he plays in his fourth World Cup while Aaron Carpenter, Nathan Hirayama and DTH van der Merwe will be looking for a good start in their third tournament.

Head to head: The scrums will always be an interesting contest, so expect the front rows to have a full go at each other. There will be plenty of pressure on the shoulders of Canada's loose trio to stop the powerful Jamie Heaslip, Sean O'Brien and Peter O'Mahony. Nathan Hirayama will have the biggest test of his life as he attempts to control his opposite number, Jonathan Sexton.

Recent results:

2013: Ireland won 40-14, Toronto

2009: Ireland won 25-6, Vancouver

2008: Ireland won 55-0, Limerick

2000: Draw 27-27, Markham

1997: Ireland won 33-11, Dublin

1987: Ireland won 46-19, Dunedin (WC pool match)

Prediction: Canada may have nothing to lose and should be tough opponents in the first half but the Irish has too much experience and will easily claim a victory by 40 points.

Teams:

Ireland: 15 Rob Kearney, 14 David Kearney, 13 Jared Payne, 12 Luke Fitzgerald, 11 Keith Earls, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Sean O'Brien, 6 Peter O'Mahony, 5 Paul O'Connell (captain), 4 Iain Henderson, 3 Mike Ross, 2 Rory Best, 1 Jack McGrath.

Replacements: 16 Sean Cronin, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Nathan White, 19 Donnacha Ryan, 20 Chris Henry, 21 Eoin Reddan, 22 Ian Madigan, 23 Simon Zebo.

Canada: 15 Matt Evans, 14 Jeff Hassler, 13 Ciaran Hearn, 12 Nick Blevins, 11 DTH Van Der Merwe, 10 Nathan Hirayama, 9 Gordon McRorie, 8 Aaron Carpenter, 7 John Moonlight, 6 Kyle Gilmour, 5 Jamie Cudmore (captain), 4 Brett Beukeboom, 3 Doug Wooldridge, 2 Ray Barkwill, 1 Hubery Buydens.

Replacements: 16 Benoit Piffero, 17 Djustics Sears-Duru, 18 Andrew Tiedemann, 19 Jebb Sinclair, 20 Richard Thorpe, 21 Phil Mack, 22 Liam Underwood, 23 Conor Trainor.

Date: Saturday, September 19

Venue: Millennium Stadium, Cardiff

Kick-off: 14.30 (13.30 GMT, 09.30 Canadian time)

Expected weather: Partly cloudy with spots of sunshine low of 12 and high of 15.

Referee: Glen Jackson (New Zealand)

Assistant referees: Pascal Gauzère (France), Mike Fraser (New Zealand)

TMO: Ben Skeen (New Zealand)

AFP and @rugby365com

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