International
Ireland Hold Off Wales in Cardiff
Ireland withstood a Welsh fightback to secure a vital win in their World Cup warm-ups
Ireland held off a Welsh comeback to secure a 22-17 victory in the Principality Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Two Jacob Stockdale tries along with a penalty try saw the Irish build a 22-3 lead with 22 minutes left on the clock, but a Rhys Patchell led fight-back from Wales left got them back within touching distance late on.
Both teams had a decent start with Wales dominating possession however although they couldn’t make that count as Ireland got the scoreboard ticking with a Jack Carty penalty.
On 16 minutes they were all even as Jarrod Evans popped over a penalty from straight in front of the posts.
Two minutes on and the Irish were in for the first try of the game as a Carty offload allowed Andrew Conway to break through the Welsh defence. He raced all the way to the five-metre line before passing out left for Stockdale to touchdown.
Man of the match Carty struck the conversion beautifully from the touchline to make it 10-3 in the away side’s favour.
Evans had a chance to cut the lead but missed from a penalty on 26 minutes.
That proved costly as two minutes on and a poor offload from Aaron Shingler left the ball bouncing on the ground. Stockdale didn’t need a second invitation to pounce, kicking ahead, picking the ball up and racing over for his second try of the game.
Carty missed the resulting conversion along with a penalty from the Welsh ten metre line on the stoke of half-time to leave the score at 15-3 when the whistle blew.
Wales failed to make possession count in the first five minutes of the second half and for the next quarter of an hour Ireland camped inside the home side’s 22.
Ireland were dominant in the scrum and their pressure led to a yellow card for Wales’ substitute tighthead Leon Brown on 51 minutes.
With Wales down to 14 Ireland continued to pressurise them and with 58 minutes on the clock Roman Poite awarded a penalty try as the lead was pushed out to 19 points.
After then Wales dominated, hitting back with a try six minutes later through Owen Lane, who showed great feet to finish in the right corner. Patchell converted and suddenly it looked like a comeback could be on.
It was Patchell who set up a nervy finish to the game by closing a few minutes of Welsh pressure in the Irish 22 by stepping inside Garry Ringrose and diving over for a try just left of the posts.
His conversion made it a five-point game with four minutes on the clock. However, Ireland managed to weather the storm and see out the game 22-17.
It was the first time Ireland have defeated Wales on home soil since August four years ago, again in the lead up to the World Cup and will leave the squad much happier following their demolition at the hands of England last weekend while Wales will be disappointed not to have won in Warren Gatland’s final home game.
The two teams meet again next weekend in the Aviva Stadium, by which time both will have named their 31-man squads to travel to the World Cup in Japan next month, and it is expected the pair will name full strength teams in their final warm-up games ahead of the tournament.
Player Ratings:
Wales:
Hallam Amos (6), Owen Lane (7), Scott Williams (5), Owen Watkin (5), Steff Evans (6), Jarrod Evans (5), Aled Davies(7); Rhys Carre (6) , Ryan Elias (6), Samson Lee (7), Adam Beard (6), Bradley Davies (6), Aaron Shingler (5), James Davies (6), Josh Navidi (7)
Replacements (7)
Ireland:
Will Addison (6), Andrew Conway (8), Chris Farrell (6), Bundee Aki (8), Jacob Stockdale (8), Jack Carty (9), Kieran Marmion (7); Dave Kilcoyne (7), Niall Scannell (7), John Ryan (6), Iain Henderson (7), James Ryan (7), Tadhg Beirne (6), Peter O’Mahony (7), Jack Conan (6)
Replacements (7)
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
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.
Darragh Murray of Emerging Ireland scores his sides second try – Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/Steve Haag Sports/Darren Stewart
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
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
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IRFU Announces Return Of ‘A’ Interprovincial Championship
