Northern Edition
Select Edition
Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

Sheehan on bench as Ireland name team for Springboks

Bundee Aki of Ireland breaks with the ball during Rugby World Cup France 2023

Head Coach Andy Farrell has named his Ireland Match Day Squad for Saturday’s Rugby World Cup showdown against South Africa at the Stade de France.

ADVERTISEMENT

Following successful victories over Romania and Tonga in their opening matches, Ireland now gear up for a challenging clash in Pool B with the reigning champions, under the lights in Paris.

Bundee Aki is set to win his 50th Test cap for Ireland as he partners Garry Ringrose in midfield for the third consecutive match. Aki made his Ireland debut against South Africa in November 2017.

In the back three Hugo Keenan, Mack Hansen and James Lowe continue, with captain Jonathan Sexton and Jamison Gibson-Park named at out-half and scrum-half respectively.

The pack is unchanged from last weekend, with Andrew Porter, Ronan Kelleher and Tadhg Furlong in the front row and Tadhg Beirne and James Ryan in the second row. Peter O’Mahony, Josh van der Flier and Caelan Doris are the loose forward combination.

Fit again Dan Sheehan returns on the bench alongside forwards David Kilcoyne, Finlay Bealham, Iain Henderson and Ryan Baird, while Conor Murray, Jack Crowley and Robbie Henshaw are cover for the backs.

Fixture
Rugby World Cup
South Africa
8 - 13
Full-time
Ireland
All Stats and Data

IRELAND TEAM TO FACE SOUTH AFRICA ON SATURDAY, 23 SEPTEMBER

15. Hugo Keenan
14. Mack Hansen
13. Garry Ringrose
12. Bundee Aki
11. James Lowe
10. Johnny Sexton
9. Jamison Gibson-Park

ADVERTISEMENT

1. Andrew Porter
2. Ronan Kelleher
3. Tadhg Furlong
4. Tadhg Beirne
5. James Ryan
6. Peter O’Mahony
7. Josh van der Flier
8. Caelan Doris

Replacements:

16. Dan Sheehan
17. David Kilcoyne
18. Finlay Bealham
19. Iain Henderson
20. Ryan Baird
21. Conor Murray
22. Jack Crowley
23. Robbie Henshaw

Related

ADVERTISEMENT

KOKO Show | July 22nd | Full Throttle with Brisbane Test Review and Melbourne Preview

New Zealand v South Africa | World Rugby U20 Championship | Extended Highlights

USA vs England | Men's International | Full Match Replay

France v Argentina | World Rugby U20 Championship | Extended Highlights

Lions Share | Episode 4

Zimbabwe vs Namibia | Rugby Africa Cup Final | Full Match Replay

USA vs Fiji | Women's International | Full Match Replay

Tattoos & Rugby: Why are tattoos so popular with sportspeople? | Amber Schonert | Rugby Rising Locker Room Season 2

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

3 Comments
j
j 671 days ago

Now that both squads have been announced, herewith a summary of the weights of each team (Springboks/Ireland in Kg). All weights derived from the official Rugby World Cup website apart from Sexton for whom they provided no info and whose weight comes from Wikipedia.


Pack 112/112

Backline 86/92

Bench 105/104


Pack and bench weights practically identical, Irish backline much heavier. Irish team also 4cm taller on average - 185 vs 189 cm.


If we are to believe the official data, Ireland have the physically bigger team.

D
David 2 671 days ago

I’m not sure anyone believes the official stats. I stood behind Sean O’Brien at a coffee counter a couple of years ago and despite his stats saying he’s 6’2” at the time he was not a lot taller than me, and I’m just about 5’10”. He was also about a foot wider than me at the shoulders, but I had the edge at the waist.

P
Poe 671 days ago

Juicy. Luck to the Irish. As if they need it.

Load More Comments

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

N
NH 1 hour ago
'The Wallabies need to convert much better - or Melbourne could be much worse'

Nice one as always Brett. I think the stats hide a bit of the dominance the lions had, and they would look alot worse in that first half when the game was more in the balance. You mention it here but I think it hasn’t been talked about enough was the lineout. The few times the wallabies managed to exit their half and get an opportunity to attack in the 1st half, the lineout was lost. This was huge in terms of lions keeping momentum and getting another chance to attack, rather than the wallabies getting their chance and to properly ‘exit’ their half. The other one you touch on re “the will jordan bounce of the ball” - is kick chase/receipt. I thought that the wallabies kicked relatively well (although were beaten in this area - Tom L rubbish penalty kicks for touch!), but our kick receipt and chase wasn’t good enough jorgenson try aside. In the 1st half there was a moment where russell kicked for a 50:22 and potter fumbled it into touch after been caught out of position, lynagh makes a similar kick off 1st phase soon after and keenan is good enough to predict the kick, catch it at his bootlaces and put a kick in. That kick happened to go out on the full but it was a demonstration on the difference in positioning etc. This meant that almost every contested kick that was spilled went the way of the lions, thats no accident, that is a better chase, more urgency, more players in the area. Wallabies need to be better in who fields their kicks getting maxy and wright under most of them and Lynagh under less, and the chase needs to be the responsibility of not just one winger but a whole group of players who pressure not just the catch but the tackle, ruck and following phase.

17 Go to comments
J
JW 1 hour ago
Competing interests and rotated squads: What the 'player welfare summer' is really telling us

Thanks for the further background to player welfare metrics Nick.


Back on the last article I noted that WR is now dedicating a whole section in their six-point business plan to this topic. It also noted that studies indicated 85-90% of workload falls outside of playing. So in respect to your point on the classification of ‘involvements’ included even subs with a low volume of minutes, it actually goes further, to the wider group of players that train as if they’re going to be required to start on the weekend, even if they’re outside the 23. That makes even the 30-35 game borderline pale into insignificance.


No doubt it is won of the main reasons why France has a quota on the number of one clubs players in their International camps, and rotate in other clubs players through the week. The number of ‘invisible’ games against a player suggests the FFRs 25 game limit as more appropriate?


So if we take it at face value that Galthie and the FFR have got it right, only a dozen players from the last 60 international caps should have gone on this tour. More players from the ‘Scotland 23’ than the more recent 23.


The only real pertinent question is what do players prefer more, health or money? There are lots of ethical decisions, like for instance whether France could make a market like Australia’s where their biggest rugby codes have yearly broadcast deals of 360 and 225 million euros. They do it by having a 7/8 month season.

68 Go to comments
LONG READ
LONG READ Competing interests and rotated squads: What the 'player welfare summer' is really telling us Competing interests and rotated squads: What the 'player welfare summer' is really telling us