Sam Warburton says Ireland match ideal preparation for World Cup

Wales captain Sam Warburton says Saturday’s warm-up game against Ireland is the perfect preparation for next month’s World Cup.

Wales are in a tough group along with England, Australia, Fiji and Uruguay, and this weekend's encounter in Dublin is the last match to impress the selectors before they name their 31-man squad.

"It's the perfect game for us because going to say Twickenham for example playing England, it's a pretty similar marker as going to Dublin and beating a quality side like Ireland," Warburton told Sky Sports News HQ.

"Even so, whatever happens in that game, good or bad, there's still another month to try and keep on working on things which go well, and things that are going not so well."

Wales made the World Cup semi-finals four years ago before going out to France 9-8, when Warburton was sent off midway through the first half, and forward Adam Jones was injured.

But the semi-finals appear to be a minimum requirement for the back-rower this time around, as he said: "We definitely want to go one step further.

"All the players get asked questions about the last World Cup, and it's always the 'what if' question. No one really knows what would have happened. It's impossible to say.

"In a World Cup, you have got to string six or seven games together to be able to make sure you can win it. It's about that consistency of performance week in, week out."

Warburton is sure there will be some surprises when the squad is announced before Wales' final warm-up game against Italy.

"In every squad there are going to be surprises." he added. "There are such close calls and some big players are going to miss out. You know what coaches are like, there's always going to be something you don't expect, you can never predict these things so I'm as excited as everyone else." 

Wales play their first World Cup match against Uruguay on September 20.