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Crowley to start vs All Blacks as Ireland change 5 from Bok slaying XV

Jack Crowley, right, and Jamison Gibson-Park of Ireland during the Guinness Six Nations Rugby Championship match between England and Ireland at Twickenham Stadium in London, England. (Photo By David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile via Getty Images)

Ireland head coach Andy Farrell has opted for Munster No 10 Jack Crowley to start on Friday against the All Blacks at the Aviva Stadium.

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There had been much debate as to who would start at fly-half following Ciaran Frawley’s heroics in July against South Africa, but Crowley has held on to the jersey.

The sides will meet for the first time since their World Cup quarter-final epic last year, where the All Blacks narrowly came out on top 28-24 winners.

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Since then, Ireland have won a Six Nations title, drawn a series with the world champions South Africa and climbed to number one in the world rankings.

The squad welcomes back a number of players who were unavailable for the most recent victory in South Africa, including Jamison Gibson-Park, Bundee Aki, Mack Hansen and Hugo Keenan, who was representing Ireland Sevens at the Olympics.

Fixture
Internationals
Ireland
14:10
8 Nov 24
New Zealand
All Stats and Data

Conversely, Tadhg Furlong, who was injured this week in training, is an absentee from the starting XV that triumphed over the Springboks. Finlay Bealham will start in his place at tighthead, with Tom O’Toole serving as back-up.

The second-row and back-row are the only units that remain unchanged from the victory in Durban, with former captain Peter O’Mahony proving his fitness last week for Munster against an All Blacks XV to make his way onto the bench.

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The 107-cap O’Mahony is part of a hugely experienced bench, with fellow centurions Cian Healy and Conor Murray joining him. Second-row replacement Iain Henderson will also provide 81 caps-worth of experience.

Farrell has chosen a 5-3 split on the bench, with Frawley and Jamie Osborne providing cover in the back line. With only eight caps between them, the pair lack experience compared to the rest of the bench.

Looking ahead to the match, Farrell said: “I am really pleased with the effort of the squad across the week’s training camp in Portugal. Since assembling at the IRFU High Performance Centre last week, the players have brought real application to training and it’s great to see a number of players back from injury, which is testament to their diligence and the superb work of the medical team.

“It’s a hugely exciting four weeks ahead in Aviva Stadium and we know we’ll need to perform at a high level to beat a top-class New Zealand side. The challenge doesn’t come much bigger or better than New Zealand at a packed Aviva Stadium on a Friday night under lights with a home crowd roaring us on.”

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Ireland XV
15. Hugo Keenan (UCD/Leinster)(39)
14. Mack Hansen (Corinthians/Connacht)(21)
13. Garry Ringrose (UCD/Leinster)(60)
12. Bundee Aki (Galwegians/Connacht)(57)
11. James Lowe (Leinster)(33)
10. Jack Crowley (Cork Constitution/Munster)(16)
9. Jamison Gibson-Park (Leinster)(35)
1. Andrew Porter (UCD/Leinster)(66)
2. Rónan Kelleher (Lansdowne/Leinster)(33)
3. Finlay Bealham (Buccaneers/Connacht)(42)
4. Joe McCarthy (Dublin University/Leinster)(12)
5. James Ryan (UCD/Leinster)(64)
6. Tadhg Beirne (Lansdowne/Munster)(52)
7. Josh van der Flier (UCD/Leinster)(64)
8. Caelan Doris (St Mary’s College/Leinster)(43)(captain)

Replacements
16. Rob Herring (Ballynahinch/Ulster)(40)
17. Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster)(131)
18. Tom O’Toole (Ballynahinch/Ulster)(13)
19. Iain Henderson (Academy/Ulster)(81)
20. Peter O’Mahony (Cork Constitution/Munster)(107)
21. Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster)(118)
22. Ciaran Frawley (UCD/Leinster)(6)
23. Jamie Osborne (Naas/Leinster)(2)

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Comments

2 Comments
f
fl 2 hours ago

pretty decent lineup

D
DV 2 hours ago

Ya .. good team

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H
Hellhound 1 hour ago
Cultural reason behind divisive England trait explained by ex-Bok coach

They can do what they want, but they put too much emotion into it. Using that emotions for every little thing means that you lift your spirits for the moment but when things go bad, that same emotions drop to the boots. Especially if they are scored against. To lift those spirits higher again, requires a lot of effort. Emotional play makes you miss things on the field. It will cost you in the end. Maybe even the game.


To use a perfect example... The Bulls from South Africa in the URC reached 2 finals, and in both semi finals they played Leinster(effectively the Irish team), not their 2nd team, but all stars, and they beat them both times, once away and once at home. Those games was the Bulls finals. In the actual finals, they lost to the Stormers of SA, and Glasgow Warriors of Scotland. They put everything into those Leinster matches, knowing what would be needed, but it cost them in the finals.


Putting too much energy in silly celebrations, instead of focusing on the task at hand until the final whistle blow is what will give the other team the edge. It's why teams like the Boks and the Irish play 80 min games, not 50-60 min games. It's why they regularly wins. It's why the AB's struggle, because they have the talent, but they don't have 80 min in them yet. When a player gets tired, that's when mistakes slips in and teams like the Boks will punish you for it, even if they play bad, because they are focused. They are saving that energy for when it really matters.


That last 20 minutes is where most games are won or lost and that's where you need to dig deep. Wasting energy on silly celebrations like tackles or a ref decision etc is detrimental. Celebrating tries or points or even penalties, that is understandable. Required even to hype yourself up for about a minute or two, but then it's time to refocus.

8 Go to comments
R
RedWarrior 1 hour ago
Three-way race to be number one in World Rugby men's rankings

The way it has always been is that the seeded position is initially occupied by the seeded team in the pool. The winner of the pool was scheduled to play a quarter final in a predetermined location.


In RWC 2023 and previous iterations the draw between seed placings was known in advance. So Wales knew that whoever won their group was playing the second placed team in England's group in Marseilles at a certain time and date.


Similarly South Africa and New Zealand knew if they won their groups they were playing the second team in each others groups. As it happenned Ireland and France won these groups so we ended up with the exact same fixtures pairings anyway!


I don't know for certain if the top4 is set in stone I am just surmizing that they will want to have the knock out fixtures mapped out in advance as in previous years, unlike soccer tournaments. I would be happy if the knock outs were doled out on merit as Ireland and France in 2023 would have got Fiji and Argentina and much improved prospects. But I don't know for 2027, I am guessing based on past tournaments that this is what they do.


The main issue with the 2023 arrangements was that the rankings between World Cups counted for nothing. The ranking was taken from tournament end in 2019 which meant that even though Wales were ranked #10 in 2023 their ranking was taken from the 2019 RWC which was #4 so they were a no 1 seed. That was majorly beneficial as both Wales and England (#3 seed) won their groups.


Poor Scotland were #4 in 2023 and #9 in 2019, so got pooled based on #9th with SA and Ireland, got spat out with their rankings decimated and are in a real fight to make it into top 6 again.


So it could be that the top pool team (wins all matches + tries scored, PD whatever) gets a good draw versus a 3rd place pool qualifier etc. But my hunch is they will not be so nuanced: the top 2 seeds going in will get the two 3rd placed teams and the top 4 going in won't meet until the semi should they win their groups and knock out matches.


I may send a letter in to ask, but World Rugby don't tend to respond.

11 Go to comments
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