Ireland v Samoa: Anxiety before final squad selection 'stressful enough' - Iain Henderson

Iain Henderson resumes captaincy duties in the continued absence of Johnny Sexton

Iain Henderson says the Ireland squad can cope with lingering nerves ahead of the announcement on Sunday of the 33 players to travel to the World Cup.

Ireland face Samoa in Bayonne on Saturday in their final warm-up match, offering a final chance to impress.

"A lot of players have been here before in this scenario," said Henderson.

"That anxiety is obviously stressful enough for players but nothing players aren't used to in terms of stress in a professional rugby environment."

He added: "Selections for cup finals, tours, Six Nations - obviously this one carries a slightly different weight but we're a really tight-knit group, the guys who are feeling probably the worst about it are probably the best supported."

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Second row Henderson resumes captaincy duties having stepped in for the suspended Johnny Sexton for the win over Italy, before James Ryan skippered the side in the victory over England.

The announcement of the Ireland squad to compete at the World Cup has been brought forward from Monday to Sunday at 16:30 BST in Dublin, but the Ulster player says the focus is firmly on the game against Samoa.

"You can't control what will happen in a game in terms of injuries so players are concentrating on how to put their best foot forward for Faz [head coach Andy Farrell] to get a good glimpse of them.

"He knows each one of us pretty intimately at this stage and the final step the players can take is go out and show it again in the Test match this week.

"The guys look out for each other and there's a genuine care as to how each other is feeling. That runs throughout the whole squad.

"Everyone's looking after each other and ensuring whoever is left out will feel as little left out as possible."

Iain Henderson in discussion with Ireland head coach Andy Farrell

Despite donning the captain's armband in the absence of Sexton, Henderson explains that leadership in the squad is very much a collective effort.

"There's a huge emphasis from Faz for everyone to step up and be a leader," revealed the 31-year-old.

"I'm an incredibly small part of a group of players that are constantly driving standards, picking each other up, constantly correcting things so that this team is going to perform to the best of its ability.

"I've enjoyed it, but to say it's me driving it would be completely incorrect, it's a huge team effort."

Samoa 'pose huge threats'

Ireland's World Cup campaign starts against Romania on 9 September in Bordeaux.

Their weekend match with Samoa is the first meeting between the sides since the Irish won 47-5 at the 2019 tournament in Japan.

Samoa come into the encounter with Ireland having defeated Japan and Tonga in recent weeks, with a loss to Fiji sandwiched in between those two victories.

"Like us, this game represents their pre-World Cup campaign coming to a crescendo," reflected Henderson.

"It's an exciting time for them. They're looking to have a shot at us and we're looking to play the game we like, enjoy and want to play.

"They pose huge threats, including the whole way throughout their pack. They're a different animal to the last time we played them."

Samoa head coach Seilala Mapusua with Lima Sopoaga during Friday's captain's run in Bayonne

For his part, Samoa head coach Seilala Mapusua has said he is preparing to face "Leinster on steroids" in the match at Stade Jean Duger on Saturday.

Samoa will take on a tier one nation for only the second time since that reverse at the hands of Ireland four years ago and nine Leinster players are set to be involved.

Former London Irish centre Mapusua has inside knowledge of the Dublin-based province thanks to the presence of prop Michael Ala'alatoa and coach Andrew Goodman in his camp.

"Goody knows the players well from Leinster, as does Michael," said Mapusua. Those boys become a different beast when they enter into the Ireland camp.

"They have excellent coaches: Farrell, Mike Catt, Simon Easterby, Paul O'Connell and the rest, so I think it's Leinster on steroids.

"Their (world) ranking speaks for itself. They've become a really good team and I say that because they've got some awesome individuals across the park but in terms of their cohesion as a team, they're very much in sync with each other.

"They're a team that look like they love playing for each other and love playing for their country."

Ireland could lose their world number one ranking to New Zealand going into the World Cup on Friday night if the All Blacks beat South Africa by more than 15 points at Twickenham.

South Africa could also go top if they saw off New Zealand by a margin in excess of 15 points and Ireland failed to beat Samoa.