International
Wallabies squad confirmed for Bledisloe Cup Tests
Wallabies coach Dave Rennie has confirmed the 36-man squad for the upcoming eToro Rugby Championship and Bledisloe Cup fixtures against New Zealand.
95-Test back Kurtley Beale has been selected in his first squad since the 2021 Spring Tour, after recovering from a significant hamstring injury sustained in France earlier this year.
Cadeyrn Neville is the only other new inclusion from the group that played South Africa, the Brumbies lock recovering from a knee injury sustained in the side’s second Test against England in July.
He replaces Japan-bound Rory Arnold who is unavailable for the matches due to the impending birth of his first child.
The rest of the squad remains unchanged with winger Marika Koroibete in line to play his 50th Test in Melbourne, a city he represented on the Super Rugby stage on 69 occasions.
Queensland Reds fullback Jock Campbell and NSW Waratahs backrower Langi Gleeson are the only two uncapped players in the group.
The first Test will be held at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne next Thursday, the first Bledisloe Cup match in Victoria since 2010, before a return clash at Auckland’s Eden Park on September 24.
The side will assemble tomorrow and currently sits second on the eToro Rugby Championship ladder with just two rounds remaining.
Wallabies coach Dave Rennie said: “It’s great to be able to keep the core of our group together and welcome Cadeyrn back to the mob, while we wish Rory all the best for what’s an incredibly exciting time for him and his family.”
“Kurtley is a welcome return to the squad after recovering from a long-term injury and will bring his passion for the jersey along with his wealth of experience at Test level.
“We know how important these next two Tests are with silverware on the line and we’ll be expecting a response after the disappointment of last weekend’s loss.”
Tickets to The eToro Rugby Championship are available for purchase at wallabies.rugby/tickets.
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Squad summary
Total Test caps: 956
Average Test caps: 27
Average age: 26
Uncapped players: 2 (Jock Campbell, Langi Gleeson)
Most capped: James Slipper (121 Tests)
Youngest member: Langi Gleeson, 21
Oldest member: Cadeyrn Neville, 33
Breakdown: Brumbies 14, Queensland Reds 8, NSW Waratahs 7, Melbourne Rebels 5, Overseas clubs 2
Wallabies squad for New Zealand Tests (age, team, Tests played)
Allan Alaalatoa (28, ACT Brumbies, 58 Tests)
Kurtley Beale (31, NSW Waratahs, 95 Tests)
Angus Bell (21, NSW Waratahs, 19 Tests)
Jock Campbell (27, Queensland Reds, uncapped)
Pone Fa’amausili (25, Melbourne Rebels, 1 Test)
Folau Fainga’a (27, ACT Brumbies, 31 Tests)
Lalakai Foketi (27, NSW Waratahs, 2 Tests)
Bernard Foley (32, Kubota Spears, 71 Tests)
Nick Frost (22, ACT Brumbies, 4 Tests)
Langi Gleeson (21, NSW Waratahs, uncapped)
Jake Gordon (29, NSW Waratahs, 14 Tests)
Reece Hodge (28, Melbourne Rebels, 59 Tests)
Jed Holloway (29, NSW Waratahs, 4 Tests)
Len Ikitau (23, ACT Brumbies, 19 Tests)
Andrew Kellaway (26, Melbourne Rebels, 16 Tests)
Marika Koroibete (30, Saitama Wild Knights, 49 Tests)
Rob Leota (25, Melbourne Rebels, 12 Tests)
Noah Lolesio (22, ACT Brumbies, 14 Tests)
Lachlan Lonergan (22, ACT Brumbies, 6 Tests)
Tate McDermott (23, Queensland Reds, 18 Tests)
Fraser McReight (23, Queensland Reds, 6 Tests)
Cadeyrn Neville (33, ACT Brumbies, 2 Tests)
Hunter Paisami (24, Queensland Reds, 20 Tests)
Jordan Petaia (22, Queensland Reds, 20 Tests)
Matt Philip (28, Melbourne Rebels, 26 Tests)
David Porecki (29, NSW Waratahs, 5 Tests)
Pete Samu (30, ACT Brumbies, 26 Tests)
Scott Sio (30, ACT Brumbies, 73 Tests)
James Slipper (33, ACT Brumbies, 121 Tests)
Darcy Swain (25, ACT Brumbies, 15 Tests)
Taniela Tupou (26, Queensland Reds, 43 Tests)
Rob Valetini (24, ACT Brumbies, 25 Tests)
Suliasi Vunivalu (26, Queensland Reds, 1 Test)
Nic White (32, ACT Brumbies, 54 Tests)
Harry Wilson (22, Queensland Reds, 11 Tests)
Tom Wright (25, ACT Brumbies, 16 Tests)
2022 eToro Rugby Championship and Bledisloe Cup Fixtures
Wallabies 41 defeated Argentina 26, Sunday 7 August at Estadio Malvinas, Mendoza
Wallabies 17 defeated by Argentina 48, Sunday 13 August at Estadio del Bicentenario, San Juan
Wallabies 25 defeated South Africa 17, Saturday 27 August at Adelaide Oval, Adelaide
Wallabies 8 defeated by South Africa 24, Saturday 3 September at Allianz Stadium, Sydney
Wallabies v New Zealand, Thursday 15 September, 7:45pm AEST at Marvel Stadium, Melbourne
Wallabies v New Zealand, Saturday 24 September, 5:05pm AEST at Eden Park, Auckland
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