The RTÉ Rugby pod choose their Irish RWC squad

With less than a week to go until Ireland head coach Andy Farrell names his final 33-man squad for the Rugby World Cup, this week's RTÉ Rugby took a deep-dive into the Irish squad and selected the group they'd like to see head to France next month.

Bernard Jackman, Jonny Holland and Fiona Coghlan were in broad agreement on their selections, with all three opting for 19 forwards and 14 backs mirroring most of the major counties who have already named their squads.

There are some cavaets to be made around the selections; Dan Sheehan's unclear return date from his foot injury complicates the process, with the trio of RTE Rugby analysts making their selections on the assumption that the Leinster hooker is fit to play a part in the pool stage.

Here's what they came up with, you can listen to the full podcast right here.

Holland: "I think 19/14 [19 forwards, 14 backs] for the moment is the way I'd be thinking, but with France being very close, I don't think it’s going to be a turning point.

"Three of each (hooker, tighthead and loosehead), yeah. That's an attritional position, I do think that’s something I’d be more comfortable with as a coach, having cover in those positions. Especially for training, having people banged up, you have to have full squads going against each other."

At tighthead all three opted for Tadhg Furlong (above), Finlay Bealham and Tom O'Toole, before Fiona Coghlan ran through the selections at loosehead and hooker.

Coghlan: "We won’t know the injury until Thursday how bad it is [Sheehan's injury], but even if he gets back for the Scotland game, that’s seven weeks post the injury.

"You would hope he could make it back for that – even a quarter-final – the way he plays when he’s on form.

"It’s a big call to