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Rugby World Cup

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.

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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

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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

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Comments

3 Comments
j
j 748 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 2 748 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 748 days ago

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

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Comments on RugbyPass

S
SB 1 hour ago
10 Wallabies and SVNS star named in Australia A squad to play Japan XV

Interesting that Pete Samu is in this squad.

1 Go to comments
C
CO 1 hour ago
Have the All Blacks stumbled across the perfect midfield partnership?

They need to build depth but yes he's been a puzzling ghost squad member

13 Go to comments
O
Over the sideline 2 hours ago
Have the All Blacks stumbled across the perfect midfield partnership?

ALB can't buy game time. Apparently he is becoming less effective the less he plays. Players can’t show their ability off the field.

13 Go to comments
C
CO 2 hours ago
Have the All Blacks stumbled across the perfect midfield partnership?

Proctor offers zero off the bench as a specialist centre. He's to me a backup given his average, lack of any x factor performances. ALB hits a lot harder and not as lateral

13 Go to comments
C
CO 2 hours ago
Have the All Blacks stumbled across the perfect midfield partnership?

Leicester I like, similar directness to Quinn but Quinn has more pace.Midfield depth is getting there with Rieko and ALB. Proctor had plenty of opportunity and ran laterally and defensive lapses. Still a work on though and discard Timoci.

13 Go to comments
C
CO 3 hours ago
Have the All Blacks stumbled across the perfect midfield partnership?

How would it bite the Boks a third world cup win in a row? Is that you Rassie 😆

13 Go to comments
J
JB 3 hours ago
Flavour of the month selections for the All Blacks are not viable long-term

BB hasn’t run in 5 years in Super or International Rugby. That can only be BB’s failing. Even from 15 his default was to kick. Occasionally he would be involved in a catch and pass and the media fan club would rave.

87 Go to comments
F
Flankly 3 hours ago
'Tonyball, ageing warriors and worrying growth' - What the Springboks learned from the Rugby Championship

Makes sense.

The Du Preez thing feels uncomforltably half-pregnant. Either Rassie needs to rack up the caps for Dan/JL, or move on from them. A player needs 10 or 15 caps to even be a reliable emergency call up in the RWC.



...

6 Go to comments
B
B 3 hours ago
Have the All Blacks stumbled across the perfect midfield partnership?

It's obvious that they'll both get selected for the AB”s November Tour…

If they're both physically and mentally fit, healthy and injury free, Jordie #12 and Quinn #13 to start vs Ireland with Proctor off the bench…



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13 Go to comments
O
Over the sideline 3 hours ago
Flavour of the month selections for the All Blacks are not viable long-term

Its deliberate. He is keeping the spot open. Not that the 10s are an issue. You don’t need a Dan Carter for the backline to function. More a decent plan. I look at the Wallabies backline. It’s going very well, yet no one would select Edmed above BB or DM.

He HAS to bring in Jacomb and Reihana for the tour tho… we’ll hopefully.



...

87 Go to comments
O
Over the sideline 3 hours ago
Flavour of the month selections for the All Blacks are not viable long-term

He didn’t bring those guys in this year tgo did he. Tupara is a test player from Foster's era who had a injury, lakau played last year… more injury…leister is a yest player from Foster's era and just back.

Carter and Parker are the newbies. Parker probably the only one he really wanted. Carter was injury cover and wouldn’t be near a jumper if Clarke, Narawa and Reece wernt out for periods.



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87 Go to comments
C
Carlos 4 hours ago
'If the Boks' beauty doesn't get you, its Bomb Squad beast certainly will'

Right now, my primary aerobic activity is cycling, so I’m quite familiar with their actions. You cannot imagine the carbohydrate intake per hour of activity. They train their GI systems to absorb carbohydrates faster! Ridiculous!

I do mean it that they could learn fueling from these guys.



...

173 Go to comments
G
GodOfFriedChicken 4 hours ago
Flavour of the month selections for the All Blacks are not viable long-term

Yeah I’d have less of an issue with it if it was working but that’s not the case. With rugby being a sport where coaches don’t get to talk to the team until halftime, you’d want to see the team coming out of the gates with at the very least renewed focus, even better with some tactical adjustments based on what’s been going on. If the assistants aren’t doing that, the head coach should at least be more capable of it. It’s like a basketball coach getting the team on a run right after a timeout. It can be purely motivational or tactical but ideally it’s a bit of both.

After the Crusaders beat the Blues in the 2022 final where they’d seemingly studied the lineout to the point where they seemed to know what every call was, I thought that was his tactical knowhow, not his assistants. Instead our setpiece has been inconsistent this year and the gameplans don’t seem to make sense. Instead it just feels like he had the benefit of all the talent on the Crusaders and the All Blacks don’t quite have that advantage in the international arena with the lack of development of the last few years.



...

87 Go to comments
P
PMcD 4 hours ago
Are Wallabies still on upward trajectory after TRC or has progress flatlined?

Exeter were always pretty good about releasing Nic White. Baxter knows players want to represent their country and is usually pretty balanced about it. He’s usually pretty good about finding a sensible solution to these things.

42 Go to comments
P
PMcD 4 hours ago
'If the Boks' beauty doesn't get you, its Bomb Squad beast certainly will'

Those guys are more like “The Terminator in Lycra” rather than the skinny guys. They have to be the most precision managed athletes in sport, they even pre-determine their fuel stops related to the course profile.

When I first saw Will Stuart after the 2023 RWC, my first comment was “who did he eat” from the size he added during that tournament. he came back so much bigger.



...

173 Go to comments
R
RC 4 hours ago
Have the All Blacks stumbled across the perfect midfield partnership?

Poor take. This rotation will come back to bite the boks in the ass. They aren't as good as everyone says they are lol

13 Go to comments
G
GodOfFriedChicken 4 hours ago
Flavour of the month selections for the All Blacks are not viable long-term

Oh I’m hoping he does, Mealamu and Hore were great in their later years too. I just wouldn’t want to put all our money on it. We need to have an insurance plan if it doesn’t work out. Moananu and Oudenryn were looking promising this year though.

87 Go to comments
G
GodOfFriedChicken 4 hours ago
Flavour of the month selections for the All Blacks are not viable long-term

Agree, he should’ve been given more of a run in the World Cup too, but Foster was in his safe selection mode by then. This is why I was a fan of Henry/Hansen/Smith’s rotation policy other than in important games, we got a better idea of who’s good and have successors ready early. At this point, I’d want every player on the Autumn squad getting some meaningful game time if we’re serious about building depth.

87 Go to comments
C
Carlos 4 hours ago
'If the Boks' beauty doesn't get you, its Bomb Squad beast certainly will'

Argie back five forwards are actually quite good comparatively. The back row in particular, has performed at a very high levels as a unit.

173 Go to comments
P
PMcD 4 hours ago
Flavour of the month selections for the All Blacks are not viable long-term

I thought Leicester was outstanding at the weekend. He’s an absolute wrecking ball type of player that just plays human skittles with the opposition and should be in the centres to carry the ball into contact.

He’s so powerful it takes 2 defenders to bring him down, which creates more space for others and personally I would try him at 12, as I think he has the ability of Esterheizen in the carry and then you can exploit out wide, although he also probably deserves a chance at 13, which is where he played last year (for Toulon). He’s definately part of the solution and you just need to find who is the best partner for him from Jordi or Quinn.



...

87 Go to comments