International
PREVIEW: All Blacks v Scotland (Edinburgh)
The All Blacks will look to continue their 31-match unbeaten run against Scotland when they clash at the iconic Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh on Monday morning (NZT).
Match details: All Blacks v Scotland, Monday 14 November, 3.15am NZT (Sunday 13 November, 2.15pm GMT), Murrayfield, Edinburgh, Scotland.
Played: 31
Won: All Blacks 29, Drawn: 2
Last time: All Blacks 22, Scotland 17 (18 November 2017)
Referee: Frank Murphy (IRFU)
Assistant Referee 1: Andrew Brace (IRFU)
Assistant Referee 2: Chris Busby (IRFU)
TMO: Tom Foley (RFU)
RE-JIGGED ALL BLACKS
While 16 All Blacks have been retained from the match day 23 that played in last week’s win against Wales, some different combinations are set to be used against Scotland. Halfback Finlay Christie will wear the number nine jersey for the third time. Outside him at first-five eighths, Beauden Barrett will mark his 56th Test in the number 10 jersey. Midfielders David Havili and Anton Lienert-Brown will feature in the run-on side after being used in tandem as reserves during the last two Tests. Their inclusion sees Jordie Barrett revert to fullback. Mark Telea will make his debut on the right wing. In the forward pack, Samisoni Taukei’aho will start at hooker, Nepo Laulala at tighthead prop and Akira Ioane at blindside flanker. The new faces in the reserves are loosehead prop George Bower, halfback TJ Perenara and utility Stephen Perofeta.
SCOTLAND CALL IN EXPERIENCE
Scotland have made three changes to the side that took out Fiji 28-12 last week. Hooker Fraser Brown, first five-eighth Finn Russell, and centre Sione Tuipulotu all come into the starting side which features seven players who faced the All Blacks back in 2017. The biggest talking point is the inclusion of the dynamic Russell in place of injured playmaker Adam Hastings. Russell was a key performer in Scotland’s last clash against the All Blacks in 2017 and will connect with halfback Ali Price as they did in 2017.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS FOR SCOTLAND
Memories of the heartbreaking 22-17 loss to the All Blacks at Murrayfield in 2017 still loom large for Scotland and their coach Gregor Townsend. Scotland remains the only top-tier rugby nation never to have beaten the All Blacks since they first met on the 1905-06 tour. The closest Scotland has got is a 0-0 draw in 1964 and a 25-25 draw in 1983. In 2017 it took a brilliant cover tackle by Beauden Barrett to prevent Scotland from scoring a potential match-winning try with time up on the clock. When asked if there was unfinished business against New Zealand, Townsend said: “There is 100 years of unfinished business.”
TERRIFIC TELEA
Winger Mark Telea has been selected to make his first Test appearance, four months after initially being called up as COVID cover during the Steinlager series. The 25-year-old was called in as injury cover for this campaign and is now in line to become All Black number 1207. Telea is coming off the back of a stellar season for North Harbour in the Bunnings NPC in 2022 where he was first in defenders beaten (68), third in most metres (1112), third in most carries (116) and fifth in clean breaks (13).
FOZZY’S WORD
All Blacks coach Ian Foster said Scotland would be a rugged opponent on their home track. “They are robust at the breakdown and play with quite a bit of adventure to their game. They challenge you in different areas with some different types of plays that some other teams challenge you up here. In the last couple of years, they’ve shown they can get up and play very well in big games. I guess they’re searching for consistency as well as a team but the upside is their top game is at a pretty high level,” Ian Foster said.
MAKE YOUR PREDICTIONS
Fans are invited to make their call on the All Blacks clash with Scotland for a chance to win a $500 All Blacks Shop voucher. Make your predictions HERE.
TEAMS (Test caps in brackets):
All Blacks
1. Ethan de Groot (11) 2. Samisoni Taukei’aho (19) 3. Nepo Laulala (43) 4. Samuel Whitelock (141 – Captain) 5. Scott Barrett (56) 6. Akira Ioane (20) 7. Dalton Papali’i (20) 8. Ardie Savea (68) 9. Finlay Christie (13) 10. Beauden Barrett (110) 11. Caleb Clarke (13) 12. David Havili (23) 13. Anton Lienert-Brown (58) 14. Mark Telea (*) 15. Jordie Barrett (46)
Reserves: 16. Codie Taylor (74) 17. George Bower (20) 18. Fletcher Newell (5) 19. Tupou Vaa’i (17) 20. Shannon Frizell (23) 21. TJ Perenara (78) 22. Stephen Perofeta (2) 23. Rieko Ioane (57)
Scotland
1. Pierre Schoeman (14) 2. Fraser Brown (55) 3. Zander Fagerson (52) 4. Richie Gray (68) 5. Grant Gilchrist (57) 6. Jamie Ritchie – Captain – (34) 7. Hamish Watson (53) 8. Matt Fagerson (26) 9. Ali Price (56) 10. Finn Russell (63) 11. Duhan van der Merwe (21) 12. Sione Tuipulotu (9) 13. Chris Harris (37) 14. Darcy Graham (31) 15. Stuart Hogg (94)
Reserves: 16. Ewan Ashman (5) 17. Rory Sutherland (21) 18. WP Nel (49) 19. Jonny Gray (70) 20. Jack Dempsey (2) 21. Ben White (7) 22. Blair Kinghorn (36) 23. Mark Bennett (28)
Content & Images from – New Zealand Rugby
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
IRFU Announces Return Of ‘A’ Interprovincial Championship
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