International
Telea double helps the All Blacks home at Murrayfield
Scotland, for 54 minutes through the middle stages at Murrayfield, sniffed their long-awaited first win over New Zealand, but a fourth quarter All Blacks recovery saw debut wing Mark Telea score the match-winning try for a 31–23 win.
It took the introduction of the All Blacks’ bench to shake off the malaise that kept Scottish hopes alive.
Undeterred by the All Blacks two-try blitz in the first five minutes, Scotland stormed to a 17-14 lead at halftime and while nudging ahead through penalty goals in the second half, they could score no more tries.
After a Jordie Barrett penalty goal reduced the margin to six points after 62 minutes, and the momentum burst from the All Blacks’ bench, they took control of the game and came home stronger.
A barrage of quick possession and movement carried them to the Scottish line where replacement Jack Dempsey was sin-binned for a deliberate knock down of the ball.
New Zealand had the scrum from five metres out. No.8 Ardie Savea, who was again powerful, made the first burst at the line but it was lock Scott Barrett who scored with 15 minutes left.
Powerful breaks by left-wing Duhan van der Merwe throughout the third quarter, usually from All Blacks kicks not finding touch, kept the Scots momentum flowing.
Mistakes from the All Blacks compounded, and with penalties mounting, Scotland were able to nudge their way ahead through the trusty boot of first five-eighths Finn Russell.
The penalties eventually evened up at 13 apiece and the All Blacks’ had reward for their efforts to move the ball, making 487m to 385 for Scotland and forcing them to make 151 tackles to 112 of their own.
By the end, the solidity of the introduced players, headed by halfback TJ Perenara, who made his 57th appearance off the bench – an All Blacks record, allowed them to secure the faster ball they needed to stretch Scotland out wide. Centre Rieko Ioane gave Telea the pass for the vital last try while hooker Codie Taylor was powerful on the break.
Props George Bower and Fletcher Newell had an immediate impact at the scrum where the penalties started to flow New Zealand’s way while flanker Shannon Frizell was dominant with ball in hand.
Savea and Dalton Papali’i managed 13 turnovers to Scotland’s eight and were still having an impact in the 80th minute.
Telea had a dream start to his Test career. His first touch came after having to turn back to gather a kick-pass, but he still managed to beat his challenger and take play to the Scottish 22m where a penalty resulted. After the kick to the corner hooker Samisoni Taukei’aho scored after two minutes 20 seconds.
Scotland roared onto attack from the restart but Papali’i secured ball at the breakdown. Clearing their 22m they set up left-wing wing Caleb Clarke for a powerful charge from a kick through down the flank. And another cross-kick to the goal-line where Telea had a try at his second touch.
But after 15 minutes Scotland roared back into the game after a break into the line from fullback Stu Hogg, who chipped ahead to the in-goal was impeded by centre Anton Lienert-Brown in the chase for the ball. After a TMO check, referee Frank Murphy ruled a penalty try and time in the sin-bin for Lienert-Brown.
Papali’i secured another turnover but in attempting to space on the left, second five-eighths David Havili attempted to run first five-eighths Beauden Barrett into the open but his pace was straight to wing Darcy Graham who beat Clarke and Jordie Barrett before scoring to level the scores after 13 minutes.
Scotland maintained their momentum, aided by a string of All Blacks infringements, with Russell kicking a penalty goal after 30 minutes.
The half finished with Scotland throwing everything at the All Blacks line until another turnover, this time by No8 Ardie Savea resulted in a penalty for the kick to touch and halftime.
More All Blacks gained big game exposure in the northern hemisphere, but their greatest lesson was in the response from the experience injected into the game from the bench.
Scotland 23 (Penalty try; Darcy Graham tries; Finn Russell con, 3 pen) New Zealand 31 (Samisoni Taukei’aho, Mark Telea 2, Scott Barrett tries; Jordie Barrett 4 con, pen). HT: 17-14
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
Squad Update | Munster Prepare For All Blacks XV At Thomond
