Ireland's Nathan White warns against Rugby World Cup complacency
Wednesday 16 September 2015 13:59, UK
Nathan White has warned against complacency after Ireland were praised by Canada coach Kieran Crowley ahead of the World Cup opener between the two sides.
Crowley has already tipped Joe Schmidt's side to top Pool D with Ireland expected to run out easy winners in Cardiff on Saturday.
Crowley believes a third-place finish in Pool D would prove a successful return for Canada - but Connacht tighthead White has warned against Ireland taking the clash lightly.
"They've got nothing to lose have they? We have to bring a very good game to the park," he said.
"The Ireland team over the last two years have developed habits that are all about the process, and things will take care of themselves off the back of that.
"We've got to go out there, do our jobs and do them well."
New Zealand-born front-rower White became Ireland's third oldest debutant of all time in the 28-22 warm-up Test victory over Scotland in Dublin last month.
The 34-year-old remains proud to have forged a Test career let alone forced his way into Ireland's World Cup squad.
"It was probably only halfway through this year that the World Cup first came into my mind," said White.
"Maybe the start of last season when I qualified to play for Ireland was the first time Test rugby came into my mind.
"So it's a huge honour to be able to represent Ireland now, there's a lot of expectation, I'll do my job the best I can and hopefully we can make people happy."
Canada flanker and Ospreys loose forward Tyler Ardron looks set to recover from a knee injury in time to face Ireland.
"We have just been monitoring his situation," said Crowley.
"We will make a final call tomorrow but he's progressing really well."
