Andy Farrell's message may have more nuance, but for the Irish fans watching tonight’s final Rugby World Cup warm-up game between Ireland and Samoa in Bayonne (live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player), the plan is simple: Get in, get the win, and get back on the plane in one piece.
While there have been a couple of injury scares to Dan Sheehan and Jack Conan, as well as minor knocks to Rónan Kelleher and Dave Kilcoyne, Ireland have got through the first two games of their warm-up campaign in better physical shape than others.
Hosts France have seen Romain Ntamack ruled out of the tournament due to a knee injury, while influential prop Cyril Baille will miss the start of the tournament, including the opener against the All Blacks.
England have seen Anthony Watson sidelined, while Lood de Jager, Handre Pollard and Lukhanyo Am have all missed out for South Africa.
In the last 12 months, Farrell has often spoken about how quickly the best laid plans can go awry, and the 80 minutes of rugby that stands between he and naming his 33-man squad for the tournament on Sunday will feel like an eternity.
The Ireland coach may have his potential squad dotted into his notebook by now, but will hold off on revealing those selections until Sunday afternoon.
Of the 15 players starting tonight’s game at Stade Jean Dauger in Bayonne, the vast majority look like being safe picks for Sunday’s squad, while for others like Keith Earls and Stuart McCloskey, their inclusion in the side gives a strong hint that they will make the cut.
Tom Stewart (below) is the man with everything to gain and nothing to lose.
The 22-year-old comes in for his second cap and first Irish start, given a chance to impress in the first XV after a whirlwind year which saw him score 17 tries in 19 games, a strike rate that would make even Dan Sheehan blush.
Kelleher’s hamstring injury means the door is ajar for the Ulster hooker to stake his claim for a place in the squad. Reading the tea leaves, it would seem the Irish coaches are confident Kelleher will recover from that hamstring injury in time to travel to the tournament and his big-game experience could tip the scales in his favour.
That shouldn’t play on the mind of Stewart though, who has come from the back of the pack in the last 12 months to catch the eye of the Irish coaches, and an impactful start against Samoa would rubber-stamp his place as the next cab off the rank if injury hits Sheehan, Kelleher or Rob Herring during the pool stage.
In large parts, the team picked by Farrell for Samoa looks similar to the line-up we could expect to see in Ireland’s second pool game against Tonga in Nantes on 16 September, with a smattering of frontline starters like Tadhg Beirne, Caelan Doris, Josh van der Flier and Mack Hansen, as well as experienced campaigners like Conor Murray, Robbie Henshaw and Keith Earls.
The selection of Henshaw alongside Stuart McCloskey in midfield for the second time in three games appears to be a trial run for a similar outing against the Tongans, while props Cian Healy and Finlay Bealham would also be expected to fill in for Andrew Porter and Tadhg Furlong, allowing them a week off between the opener against Romania and the crucial round three meeting with the Springboks.

Likewise, the Irish management have been treating this week as a test case for how their schedule will operate during the tournament. At the World Cup, fewer support staff and players will be allowed in the changing rooms on gameday, something they will replicate this evening, while the 8.45pm (7.45pm Irish time) kick-off time mirrors what they will be dealing with in three of their four pool games.
Ireland were 47-5 winners when they last met Samoa in the 2019 World Cup, but Seilala Mapusua’s side have improved, particularly in the last 12 months, with the arrival of some experienced Test players to their squad.
World Rugby’s change in eligibility rules in 2021 have allowed them bring in former All Black Lima Sopoaga at out-half and the 32-year-old, who previously won 16 caps for New Zealand, makes his full debut after appearing in last week’s non-cap game against the Barbarians in Brive.
Bristol number 8 Steven Luatua is another experienced former All Black who has come into the side, while on the bench they can call upon former Ulster and Australia 10 Christian Leali’ifano
Leinster fans will be all-too-familiar with the threats posed by centre UJ Seuteni, who scored a try and was a constant threat for La Rochelle in May’s Champions Cup final win at the Aviva Stadium, and their own tighthead prop Michael Ala’alatoa who is among the replacements.
The Samoans, who come into the game ranked 12th in the world, will also have some inside knowledge on their coaching ticket in the form of Leinster attack coach Andrew Goodman, with the New Zealander part of Samoa’s staff for the World Cup.

A game against Ireland will be an ideal testing ground for Samoa, whose Rugby World Cup preparations have seen them win four of their five games so far. They finished second in the Pacific Nations Cup earlier this summer, defeating Tonga and Japan either side of a loss to Fiji, and have followed that up with wins over Romania and the Barbarians.
They haven’t reached a World Cup quarter final in 28 years, but with games against Chile, Argentina, Japan and England in Pool D of the World Cup, they have an outside chance at causing an upset and reaching the last eight of the competition. A strong performance against Ireland would be a major confidence-builder.
Avoiding injuries and picking up a win will be the two obvious targets for Ireland, but there are a couple of checkpoints they’ll want to hit along the way.
Their previous games against Italy and England have seen them run into issues at the lineout, both in terms of winning clean ball and also around the concession of penalties; they’ve been pinged for obstruction three times in those two games.
It will also be curious to see how and when Ireland look to move through the gears in attack. In their seven wins from seven in 2023, the Six Nations champions have scored an impressive 213 points, but the breakdown of when they’ve scored those points has been interesting to note.
Sixty one of those points have come in the opening 20 minutes of those games, with 63 in the second quarter. The 20 minutes after half time, however, has yielded just 15 points, before they move up an extra gear in the final quarter of the game where they have scored 74 points.

How and why that’s happening could be down to many reasons, with Ireland’s opponents needing to attack hard in the third quarter to chase the scoreboard.
Crucially, while Ireland have only scored 15 points in the 40-60th minutes, they’ve only conceded 20 during that block, and the fact that they’ve outscored opponents 74-24 in that period indicates an impressive stamina.
A third-quarter lull won’t be a major concern this week, as Ireland simply look to fine tune the engine ahead of their opener against Romania in Bordeaux on 9 September.
A win tonight would be a 13th in a row, and a new Irish record. They’ll hope it’s not the last piece of history they create this year.
Ireland: Jimmy O'Brien; Mack Hansen, Robbie Henshaw, Stuart McCloskey, Keith Earls; 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 (co-capt), Theo McFarland; Taleni Seu, Fritz Lee, Steven Luatua.
Replacements: Sama Malolo, Jordan Lay, Michael Ala'alatoa (co-capt), Miracle Fai'ilagi, Jordan Taufua, Ereatara Enari, Christian Leali'ifano, Neria Foma'i.
Referee: Wayne Barnes (RFU).
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