Northern Edition

Select Edition

Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

Just one XV change for Ireland, but two rookies named on the bench

Ireland players huddle during last Friday's Autumn Nations Series loss to New Zealand (Photo by Seb Daly/Sportsfile via Getty Images)

Andy Farrell has unveiled an Ireland team that has just one alteration from the XV that lost 13-23 to New Zealand last Friday, Robbie Henshaw replacing Bundee Aki at inside centre.

ADVERTISEMENT

The Irish were off the pace in their Autumn Nations Series opener, the 10-point defeat seeing them relinquish the World Rugby No1 ranking, but their reaction has been to keep faith with 14 of those same 15 starters.

Their selection gets more interesting on the much-changed bench, however, with uncapped Leinster pair, tighthead Thomas Clarkson and out-half Sam Prendergast, named at the expense of the injured Tom O’Toole and the out-of-sorts Ciaran Frawley.

Video Spacer

Rassie Erasmus on facing England at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday.

The Springboks will be bracing themselves for a huge showdown against an England team desperate to right the wrongs after suffering back-to-back home defeats.

Video Spacer

Rassie Erasmus on facing England at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday.

The Springboks will be bracing themselves for a huge showdown against an England team desperate to right the wrongs after suffering back-to-back home defeats.

There are also two other bench changes with Ryan Baird and Craig Casey respectively included as sub second row and sub scrum-half in place of Iain Henderson and Conor Murray.

Sub loosehead Cian Healy has been retained, though, lining him up to join Brian O’Driscoll as Ireland most capped Test player.

Team Form

Last 5 Games

2
Wins
3
1
Streak
1
9
Tries Scored
22
-13
Points Difference
31
3/5
First Try
2/5
3/5
First Points
3/5
4/5
Race To 10 Points
2/5

Farrell said: “There has been a sharp focus in training this week and the squad are determined to get back to winning ways in front of a vocal home crowd. Friday will be a special night at Aviva Stadium for more reasons than one.

“For Cian, on the other end of the career spectrum, it will be an incredible moment for him, his family and friends to reach Brian O’Driscoll’s 133-cap landmark.

ADVERTISEMENT

“We will pay tribute to Cian again, but he is a legend of the game in Ireland and his influence amongst his teammates, past and present, transcends his many successes on the field. It promises to be a special night.”

Ireland (vs Argentina, Friday)
15. Hugo Keenan (UCD/Leinster) (40)
14. Mack Hansen (Corinthians/Connacht) (22)
13. Garry Ringrose (UCD/Leinster) (61)
12. Robbie Henshaw (Buccaneers/Leinster) (74)
11. James Lowe (Leinster) (34)
10. Jack Crowley (Cork Constitution/Munster) (17)
9. Jamison Gibson-Park (Leinster) (36)
1. Andrew Porter (UCD/Leinster) (67)
2. Ronan Kelleher (Lansdowne/Leinster) (34)
3. Finlay Bealham (Corinthians/Connacht) (43)
4. Joe McCarthy (Dublin University/Leinster) (13)
5. James Ryan (UCD/Leinster)(65)
6. Tadhg Beirne (Lansdowne/Munster) (53)
7. Josh van der Flier (UCD/Leinster) (65)
8. Caelan Doris (St Mary’s College/Leinster) (44) (captain)

Replacements:
16. Rob Herring (Ballynahinch/Ulster) (41)
17. Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster) (132)
18. Thomas Clarkson (Dublin University/Leinster) (0)
19. Ryan Baird (Dublin University/Leinster) (22)
20. Peter O’Mahony (Cork Constitution/Munster) (108)
21. Craig Casey (Shannon/Munster) (15)
22. Sam Prendergast (Lansdowne/Leinster) (0)
23. Jamie Osborne (Naas/Leinster) (3)

Related

Women’s Rugby World Cup England 2025 tickets application phase is now open! Apply now.

ADVERTISEMENT

LIVE

{{item.title}}

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

3 Comments
S
SK 4 hours ago

No need to panic for Ireland. Should nail these inconsistent pumas however they need to beware the bite and flair of the Argies. Irelands defensive system is sound but Argie have picked apart every side they played against this year. Even against the much vaunted Bok defence they scored 4 tries on their home turf in quick succession and completely blitzed the Aussies.

J
Jacque 4 hours ago

I personally think this Ireland team peaked the last 2 years & it ended in the RWC QF against NZ

L
LRB 19 hours ago

Well this Puma side is the real deal, they've played some incredible rugby recently (& not so recently) with South American flare you could say. I wouldn't be surprised at all if they win this clash.


Ireland's woes to continue.?

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

B
Bull Shark 28 minutes ago
England and their Chief problem

It’s full of hogs, homophobes, redneck asshats and appears to be governed by Trump’s Taliban.

An absurd statement! Outrageous! The people of Missouri must surely revolt!


All he has to do is hustle over to Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, sit down over a cold Michelob with the Chiefs’ Head Coach, Andy Reid, and ask him one question: namely, how does his team manage to haul their butts out of the bonfire every other week when the flames are licking around their pants?

To be fair, Steve could achieve the same thing if he hustled down to his local bowls club. Or his local school cricket team. I don't think he needs to go so far out of town to get advice - because he's getting the basics wrong!


Are we comparing like with like here? In fairness, we’re probably not. The Chiefs are the back-to-back Superbowl champions and boast a roster of players and coaches who can all finish each other’s sentences.

This rugby website must please stop feeding our trough with NFL stuff. It makes me nauseaous.


The chiefs can go smoke a bong for all I care. All Borthwick needs to do (without code hopping) would be to look at the Boks who are filled with players and coaches who can finish each others sentences. Oh, and all he'd really need to do to get some useful insights would be to talk to Felix Jones - you know, who was actually part of the bok team.


‘We don’t have any contact with Felix,’ he said. ‘I’m not sure if the coaches do or not.’ Let’s be very polite here: this is something of a head-scratcher.


Bloody ridiculous...


Which, in turn, begs the question why haven’t England been a yard in front in their last two games? Because, defensively right now, they’re a jumble.


Getting warmer....


We know not why, although, supposedly, he’s still working for the team ‘remotely’. If you know what this means or how it works, I’m all ears. Certainly, England have no idea.

We know why. Felix said the environment was sh1t. Looks at Borthwick.


The bottom line is this:


- The management of this team is broken;

- You can't be great if your team culture and management is broken (The basics);

- Borthwick is the chief architect of this;

- Just as they looked to get their defence right during the 6 Nations - Felix is out the picture;

- They are at sqaure one - and their defence last week was hopeless. Not fixable in a week;

- The English looked unfit - and that can't be fixed in a week either.


The problems and the solution are so obvious. But anyway - let's wait until after the 6 Nations to fix the problem. England is in a slow burn - and after England ships 10 - 44 points against the Boks on Saturday I expect the sh1t will truly hit the fan.


Reckon England Rugby Team will get debated in parliament even.


Sir Clive is definitely going to poo his pants.


The Springboks are going in to this game preparing as if they are playing in a World Cup Semi-Final. England are toast.


I'll even predict that England will take an early lead. Score two tries, quick out the gates. Cunningham-Smith will be going bonkers. Downing a beer in the stands with the fans.


60 minutes later... Toast.

3 Go to comments
LONG READ
LONG READ Why Australia won't see the best of Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii at centre Why Australia won't see the best of Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii at centre
Search