Andy Farrell closing in on RWC squad selection

Ireland head coach Andy Farrell says Saturday's 29-10 win against England has given him a clearer picture of what his Rugby World Cup squad will look like.

Farrell is due to name his final 33-man panel for next month's Rugby World Cup on Monday 28 August, two days after this weekend's final warm-up game against Samoa in Bayonne.

It's unlikely the meeting with Samoa will have a say in the final makeup of the squad, with Farrell hinting that he may have already made his mind up before this weekend.

"Obviously we have stuff going on in the back of our mind [around selection]," he said.

"I don't know what's going to go on in Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday or Friday with the captain's run over there in Bayonne. All sorts could happen so keeping people connected is important but we've obviously got a good idea of how that's going to unfold."

The game in Bayonne is being used as a guinea pig for how Ireland's game-weeks will look at the tournament. The squad traveled to Biarritz on Sunday where they will stay and train until Thursday before departing for Bayonne two days out from the game.

This will match up with their schedule for the tournament, with Ireland moving from their team base in Tours to Bordeaux, Nantes and Paris during the pool stage.

"I'm really looking forward to it," he added.

"Even recovery today. It's our first time that we've had back-to-back games because of the satellite bases that we've got in France. We travel on a Thursday and we travel back from wherever we're playing on the Sunday so we'll be doing that tomorrow," he said on Saturday evening.

"Night rugby is obviously something that we're getting used to. It's a night kick-off. There's all sorts of stuff, as far as accreditations that have to be given out.