'Ireland will treat Romania with the utmost respect' - Tadhg Furlong

Ireland prop Tadhg Furlong stated that they will be treating Romania with 'utmost respect' when the two teams meet each other in the World Cup opener on Saturday.

Romania will be heading into the tournament having endured 50-point defeats against Italy and Georgia but Furlong does want to take their opposition lightly.

“You treat any game on its merits don’t you and what the opposition brings,” says the Irish tighthead prop.

“We treat them with the utmost respect because they deserve it.

"It’s a huge game for them just as it’s a huge game for us. We’ve done our analysis and irrespective of what they do you always try and put your performance out there, then you can counteract their strengths.”

Having made his debut for Ireland in 2015, Furlong will now be playing in his third World Cup and is hoping to go the full distance this time despite not winning a knock out game previously in the showpiece event.

“I always find it hard when we get asked about what it’s like in your first World Cup, your second World Cup and compare and what’s the difference. The difference is time and the difference is the group and there is a new coaching staff in here.

“It’s very difficult to compare. We live in a little fishbowl and we are week-by-week, month-by-month a lot of the time. It’s very hard to reflect fully. What I would say about now is, it’s a settled enough group and everyone gets on very well.”