International
All Blacks XV bolster squad ahead of Northern Tour
The All Blacks XV have called in an additional six players to join the squad, ahead of their inaugural Northern Tour against Ireland A (4 November) and Barbarians (13 November).
Cortez Ratima, Pouri Rakete-Stones, Shaun Stevenson, Josh Ioane, Tevita Mafileo and Tyrone Thompson will join the All Blacks XV in Auckland tomorrow morning. Replacing injured players and covering those called in to join the All Blacks.
The updated 25-strong All Blacks XV squad is as follows (age, Super Rugby club, province):
Forwards:
Props
Finlay Brewis (22, Crusaders / Canterbury)
Pouri Rakete-Stones (27, Hurricanes / Hawke’s Bay)
Aidan Ross (26, Chiefs / Bay of Plenty)
Tamaiti Williams (22, Crusaders / Canterbury)
Tevita Mafileo (24, Hurricanes / Bay of Plenty)
Hookers
Brodie McAlister (25, Crusaders / Canterbury)
Tyrone Thompson (22, Chiefs / Hawke’s Bay)
Locks
Josh Dickson (27, Highlanders / Otago)
Zach Gallagher (21, Crusaders / Canterbury)
Loose Forwards
Dominic Gardiner (21, Crusaders / Canterbury)
Billy Harmon (27, Highlanders / Canterbury)
Luke Jacobson (25, Chiefs / Waikato)
Christian Lio-Willie (24, Crusaders / Otago)
Marino Mikaele-Tu’u (24, Highlanders / Hawke’s Bay)
Backs:
Halfbacks
TJ Perenara (30, Hurricanes / Wellington)
Cortez Ratima (21, Chiefs / Waikato)
Cam Roigard (21, Hurricanes / Counties Manukau)
First five-eighths
Josh Ioane (27, Chiefs / Otago)
Midfielders
Levi Aumua (28, Moana Pasifika / Tasman)
Bryce Heem (33, Blues / Auckland)
Alex Nankivell (26, Chiefs / Tasman)
Bailyn Sullivan (24, Hurricanes / Waikato)
Outside backs
AJ Lam (24, Blues / Auckland)
Ruben Love (21, Hurricanes / Wellington)
Shaun Stevenson (25, Chiefs / North Harbour)
Unavailable due to injury: George Bell, Bryn Gatland, Oli Jager and Angus Ta’avao
Asafo Aumua, Damian McKenzie, Mark Telea, Patrick Tuipulotu and Brad Weber have been called in from the All Blacks XV to join the All Blacks as a result of forced personnel changes. These players may re-join the All Blacks XV squad in Ireland, any updates to the squad will be worked through following All Blacks v Japan match this weekend.
About All Blacks XV:
The All Blacks XV was launched as New Zealand Rugby’s next senior national representative team after the All Blacks, as a critical high-performance pathway to the All Blacks. As the next senior national representative side, the All Blacks XV will have the same high expectations as the other Teams in Black.
The All Blacks XV follows in the footsteps of similar teams which have assembled throughout New Zealand rugby’s history, including the Junior All Blacks, New Zealand A and Emerging Players.
6 Nations
IRFU Announces Return Of ‘A’ Interprovincial Championship
The Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) is delighted to announce the return of the ‘A’ Interprovincial Men’s Championship which will kick off next month.
The times and dates of the opening three rounds of the Championship before Christmas have been confirmed, with a similar points-scoring system as used in the URC. A Championship winner will be declared after the final round of matches in May and the IRFU will be commissioning a legacy trophy to mark the 150th anniversary celebrations.
Welcoming the news, IRFU Performance Director David Humphreys commented:
“We’re delighted to kick-start the Men’s ‘A’ Interprovincial Championship which will provide a host of players with a further means of developing in a meaningful competition. With the success of the Emerging Ireland Tours, coupled with the return of an ‘A’ international against England next year, it is vital that we continue to provide players at provincial and Club levels with opportunities to impress outside of the traditional URC and EPCR fixture windows.
“Discussions have been ongoing for some time to provide players with meaningful games and all four provinces are unanimously supportive of this competition. It is also great to see provinces taking matches around their local Clubs.
“It is anticipated that as the competition progresses over the coming seasons these fixtures won’t clash with Energia All-Ireland League fixtures for the most part, thus potentially also offering players from the Club game with an opportunity to impress.
“This competition will form another important part of the representative pathway from Energia AIL to URC levels for Academy players upwards over the coming seasons.”
The dates for the post-Christmas fixtures will be confirmed in due course. Ticket details will be confirmed via the respective provinces.
IRFU 150 Interprovincial ‘A’ Championship Fixtures:
Saturday, 16th November:
Connacht Eagles v Leinster ‘A’ (Creggs RFC, 1pm)
Friday, 22nd November:
Ulster ‘A’ v Connacht Eagles (Ballymacaran Park, 3pm), Leinster ‘A’ v Munster ‘A’ (Lakelands, 5pm)
Friday, 29th November:
Munster ‘A’ v Ulster ‘A’ (New Ormond Park, 3pm)
Friday, 20th December:
Ulster ‘A’ v Munster ‘A’ (tbc, 3pm)
Saturday, 21st December:
Leinster ‘A’ v Connacht Eagles (Ollie Campbell Park, 2pm)
Weekend of 28/29 December:
Connacht Eagles v Ulster ‘A’ (tbc), Munster ‘A’ v Leinster ‘A’ (tbc)
Weekend of 9/10 May:
Connacht Eagles v Munster ‘A’ (tbc), Leinster ‘A’ v Ulster ‘A’ (tbc)
Weekend of 16/17 May:
Munster ‘A’ v Connacht Eagles (tbc), Ulster ‘A’ v Leinster ‘A’ (tbc)
Images & Content from Irish Rugby & Images © Inpho Photography
6 Nations
Emerging Ireland Team For Final Tour Clash Against The Cheetahs Named
The Emerging Ireland team to face the Cheetahs in the final game of the three-match series in Bloemfontein on Wednesday evening (kick off 6pm Irish time, 7pm local time) has been named.
Leinster’s James Culhane will lead the team and he forms a new back-row alongside Harry Sheridan and Sean Edogbo, who makes his first start of the tour having come on as a replacement in the 29-24 win over Western Force on Sunday afternoon. Former Ireland Under-20 captain Evan O’Connell locks down with Darragh Murray, who featured in the opening 36-24 victory over the Pumas, with Alex Usanov named in the front row alongside hooker Stephen Smyth and Jack Aungier.
In the backline, Sam Prendergast starts his third game of the tour at out-half and he will be partnered by Cormac Foley, who featured as a second half replacements against the Australian Super Rugby side last time out. Connacht’s Hugh Gavin forms a midfield partnership with Hugh Cooney, with Ulster’s Zac Ward named in an exciting back tree alongside the returning Ben O’Connor at full-back and Andrew Osborne who moves to the right wing.
Munster loosehead prop George Hadden, who was called up to the squad last weekend, is set to make his first appearance after being named on the bench alongside Conor O’Tighearnaigh and Alex Soroka who started Sunday’s win. Hadden’s provincial team-mate Danny Sheahan provides cover once more at hooker, while Scott Wilson and Charlie Tector are also named on the bench for the Toyota Stadium clash alongside out-half Jack Murphy.
Looking ahead to the game, Emerging Ireland Head Coach Simon Easterby said: “When we set out at the beginning of our pre-camp in Dublin, we knew about the challenge of facing three sides in a week and we knew that every player in the group would have the opportunity to play his part. To a man each player has given his all so far and we are aiming to finish off the series with another positive performance on Wednesday.
The Cheetahs are a fiercely proud and strong side and it should be a lively game with a vocal home support behind them. It has been a fruitful past few weeks to date and we have learned a lot. While our performances haven’t been perfect, the players have embraced the challenge and played some brilliant rugby at times. The action has come thick and fast and we know that we have to be clinical in our execution. We will need to go up another level on Wednesday to get the performance we want and hopefully finish the tour on a high.”
Wednesday’s game will be broadcast once more on IrishRugby+ – click here.
Emerging Ireland (v The Cheetahs, Wednesday, October 9, 7pm local time, 6pm Irish time)
15: Ben O’Connor (UCC RFC/Munster)
14: Andrew Osborne (Naas RFC/Leinster)
13: Hugh Cooney (Clontarf FC/Leinster)
12: Hugh Gavin (Galwegians RFC/Connacht)
11: Zac Ward (Ballynahinch RFC/Ulster/Ireland Sevens)
10: Sam Prendergast (Lansdowne FC/Leinster)
9: Cormac Foley (Lansdowne FC/Leinster)
1: Alex Usanov (Clontarf FC/Leinster)
2: Stephen Smyth (Old Wesley RFC/Leinster)
3: Jack Aungier (Clontarf FC/Connacht)
4: Evan O’Connell (Young Munster RFC/Munster)
5: Darragh Murray (Buccaneers RFC/Connacht)
6: Harry Sheridan (Dublin University FC/Ulster)
7: Sean Edogbo (UCC RFC/Munster)
8: James Culhane (UCD RFC/Leinster) (captain)
Replacements:
16: Danny Sheahan (Cork Constitution FC/Munster)
17: George Hadden (Garryowen FC/Munster)
18: Scott Wilson (Queen’s University Belfast RFC/Ulster)
19: Conor O’Tighearnaigh (UCD RFC/Leinster)
20: Alex Soroka (Clontarf FC/Leinster)
21: Matthew Devine (Corinthians RFC/Connacht)
22: Jack Murphy (Clontarf FC/Ulster)
23: Charlie Tector (Lansdowne FC/Leinster)
Images & Content from Irish Rugby & Images © Inpho Photography
6 Nations
Emerging Ireland Squad Update As Three Players Return To Provincial Action
Following Emerging Ireland’s 29-24 victory over Western Force in Bloemfontein on Sunday three players, Gus McCarthy (Leinster), Sean O’Brien (Munster) and Jude Postlethwaite (Ulster) will return to their provinces.
The trio will leave South Africa on Monday afternoon and will be available for selection for their respective URC fixtures this weekend.
The squad will visit Heidedal Township this afternoon and will conclude the three-match series on Wednesday evening against The Cheetahs (kick off 7pm local, 6pm Irish time). That match will be live on irishrugby+
Watch the full match back here on irishrugby+
Check out the highlights from the win against Western Force below.
Images & Content from Irish Rugby & Images © Inpho Photography