For most people, Ireland v Italy in an August World Cup warm-up matters not.
It's easy, on the one hand, to see why.
The Pool A game against Scotland is just 42 days away and this friendly, with a team that has just a couple of regular big-game starters doesn’t really register for many fans.
Indeed, the wisdom of having four warm-up fixtures is not entirely convincing when the risk-reward ratio is thought out.
But for a handful of players this could be the most important game of their international careers as Joe Schmidt gets ready to cull the panel from 43 to 31.
To be fair to Schmidt, with the exception on Ultan Dillane, who played three times in the 2019 Six Nations, and Rory Scannell, just too far down the pecking order, everyone is getting a shot at impressing the boss.
The funny thing is that tomorrow’s opposition will be taken into account when the numbers are being crunched: an international hat-trick, for example, is nothing to be sniffed at but international hat-tricks against Italy does not guarantee inclusion in the next squad.
The big question facing those is what exactly can you do against Italy to rise higher in the pecking order?
The goal for the cut-line players must be to put themselves in the frame should injury befall one of the 31 favourites to go to Japan
Despite stand-in coach Andy Farrell saying that the players who take the field tomorrow will be after team "cohesion", that ethic might not be enough for fringe players who must force their way into the picture.
Farrell at least admits that individual performances would be "in the back of people's minds".
At this stage there is little point in holding back. Here we look at five players for whom tomorrow's game could be telling for their World Cup chances.
Dave Kearney
Dave Kearney was a mainstay of Schmidt's opening Six Nations campaign in 2014, and indeed his late tackle against France in Paris that year was ultimately a championship-winning intervention.
A combination of injuries, the emergence of Jacob Stockdale and Jordan Larmour, and the form of Keith Earls, has meant he has had limited opportunities to improve his standing.
Ten of his 17 caps have come since that game in France but he last saw action against Fiji in 2017.
He did start the infamous win over France in RWC 2015 but that seems a lifetime ago.
The 30-year-old made 14 appearances for Leinster last season, scoring six tries. Like his brother, Rob, Kearney is a solid and dependable defender, but must make a better case for inclusion.
Jack McGrath
There is a real danger that the former Leinster prop may not make the final 31-man squad.
The three-Test Lion from 2017 had seen his stock drop below that of a resurgent Cian Healy and an eager Ed Byrne at Leinster, while Dave Kilcoyne has also impressed the national team boss recently.
The lack of game-time forced the 29-year-old to look north to Ulster.
In 2018 McGrath played in all of the Six Nations games, the three Tests in Australia, and the win over New Zealand.
This year he got 20 minutes off the bench against Italy in Rome. Times have changed and he must show some of the old form to have a shot.
Andrew Conway
As with Kearney, injuries and in-form competitors have not helped the cause of Conway, who won the last of his 12 caps as a late substitute in the win over France last March.
His club form probably merited a Six Nations start but it didn't come to pass.
He has five tries to his name and his ability to play on the wing or at full-back should stand to him, but with Jordan Larmour, and also Stockdale, expressing preference for the 15 shirt he’s not alone with that versatility.
Asked about the possibility of tomorrow’s game being a final trial, the 28-year-old said: "It hasn't really entered my mind.
"You're thinking of the performance you want to put in and if I put in the performance I want to put in, then it won't be my last shot.
"That is kind of the mindset I prefer to go with."
Jean Kleyn
Having just become eligible on residency grounds during the week, Kleyn has been handed a second-row berth alongside Devin Toner for the game.
The Leinster lock is certain to travel to Japan, as are James Ryan and Iain Henderson, meaning that Kleyn must likely nudge past Tadhg Beirne, who can also cover the back row.
The South African is an old-style second row, who knows his first jobs are to scrummage and operate the lineout.
After that comes the enforcement brief. Should Ireland get out of Pool A they will likely meet South Africa or New Zealand.
Having Kleyn’s bulk (6’ 8" and 19 stone) available for the sort of battle that quarter-final promises to be might be part of the head coach’s thinking. Having come so far so fast, it's improbable that he will be judged on tomorrow alone but it's a chance to stake a claim.
Mike Haley
The former England Saxons full-back was a surprise inclusion in the original 45-man training squad but Schmidt has seen something in the Munster man, who signed from Sale in 2018.
The inclusion of Robbie Henshaw at full-back for the game against England showed that Schmidt wanted to expand his options in that position.
However, with Will Addison well able to cover, and Stockdale, Earls, Larmour and Conway also adaptable, the 25-year-old will do very well to skip the queue.
He should make his debut off the bench but realistically has a lot to prove if he's to make the trip to the Far East.
🔵 #Italrugby: ecco il XV che sabato scenderà in campo con l'Irlanda ➡ https://t.co/YukRoe27wV#RoadtoRWC2019 #IREvITA pic.twitter.com/4jM19U1oGa
— Italrugby (@Federugby) August 8, 2019
Follow Ireland v Italy (2pm) via our live blog on RTÉ.ie/sport and the News Now app. Watch live coverage on RTÉ2 from 1.30pm and listen to commentary on RTÉ Radio 1's Saturday Sport.
