New-look Ireland team look to seize their chance in Georgia
Summer 'development' Tests tend to balance youth with experience, with the scales tipping more toward the latter in a Lions year. Yet never has an Ireland squad been so heavily impacted by a Lions tour, with Andy Farrell bringing 16 Irish tourists to Australia, along with a handful of his coaching staff.
As a result, interim head coach Paul O'Connell has been left with a very different group to work with. Ulster's Jacob Stockdale, capped three times in the last two years, is by a distance the most experienced Test player in the squad. The 29-year-old wins his 39th cap this evening. Next best is Ryan Baird on 27 caps, with Jack Crowley (24 caps) the only other player in the 33-man squad with 20-plus caps to his name.
Even as the more experienced members of the group, those players will hope to make a statement across this game and next Saturday's clash with Portugal in Lisbon. With Peter O'Mahony now retired, Baird, 25, must be looking to make himself a mainstay in the starting team. Three of his four Six Nations appearances this season came off the bench, but on his best days he's suggested he can hold a more central role.
Crowley has seen the 10 shirt whipped from his hands by Sam Prendergast, and while the Leinster player starts here, the Munster out-half ended the season in stronger form. Prendergast has been Farrell's preferred option but Crowley needs to keep the heat on in that battle.
Jack Crowley during Friday's Captain's Run. Ben Brady / INPHO Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO
Looking at the fresher faces, there are points of interest right across the team. Tommy O'Brien and Darragh Murray are the two starting debutants in a matchday 23 which contains six uncapped players – Munster pair Michael Milne and Tom Ahern and Connacht duo Jack Aungier and Ben Murphy are set to debut off the bench.
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Leinster winger O'Brien was outstanding across the province's run to URC success, while 24-year-old Murray is an athletic presence at lock. The Connacht player will be just the second Roscommon man to represent Ireland at Test level, joining his provincial teammate Jack Carty.
Jamie Osborne wins his eighth cap and his first start at centre, the position which may well prove to be his long-term home. Munster's Craig Casey held Lions ambitions but will recognise the opportunity to captain his country as a real show of faith from the Ireland coaches.
An all-Leinster front row of Jack Boyle, Gus McCarthy and Thomas Clarkson will be tested against a powerful Georgian pack, but all three will take confidence from the significant steps they have taken over the past 12 months.
Cormac Izuchukwu starts in the second row. Ben Brady / INPHO Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO
In the second row Ulster's Cormac Izuchukwu will look to showcase his rich athletic talents by getting his hands on the ball, but prioritising the dirty work needs to be first and foremost on his mind.
Back-rowers Nick Timoney and Gavin Coombes have both been frustrated with selections over the years so need to use this tour to show what they can offer the squad. Timoney is a powerful ball-carrier while Coombes has grown into an increasingly important player for Munster, and his ability to power through and score tries from close range might be just what Ireland need at the 27,000-capacity Mikheil Meskhi Stadium.
With heavy rain battering Tbilisi this week and more showers anticipated today, this has the potential to be a scrappy encounter where the much-anticipated battle up front proves decisive.
Paul O'Connell has highlighted the quality of forwards like Mikheil Babunashvili and Luka Ivanishvili, two of seven Black Lion players in the Georgia 23. The Tbilisi-based club are in the same Challenge Cup pool as Connacht next season.
Fullback Davit Niniashvili, a Challenge Cup winner with Lyon in 2022, is a standout talent who will join Ronan O'Gara at La Rochelle next season. Former Connacht scrum-half Conor McPhillips is part of Richard Cockerill's backroom team.
Lyon's Davit Niniashvili. Dan Sheridan / INPHO Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
Georgia see this game as a chance to show what they can offer on the Test stage. The hosts are currently ranked 11th in the world, one place ahead of Wales and one short of Italy. Georgia believe they are now at the stage where they should be getting the same opportunities as their rankings neighbours.
Even with so many changes, Ireland's job today is to avoid giving the hosts a scalp to celebrate. That said, a win alone won't be enough to satisfy Farrell, who has had a say in selection and will be keeping a close eye from Australia. He wants to see a win, but he'll be just as keen to see a performance. It's a tough ask for a new-look group who have only been together for two weeks, but such are the demands of Test rugby. The challenge for this new-look group is to show they belong here.
GEORGIA: Davit Niniashvili; Aka Tabutsadze, Demur Tapladze, Giorgi Kveseladze, Sandro Todua; Luka Matkava, Vasil Lobzhanidze; Giorgi Akhaladze, Vano Karkadze, Irakli Aptsiauri; Mikheil Babunashvili, Lado Chachanidze; Luka Ivanishvili, Beka Saginadze, Tornike Jalagonia.
Replacements: Irakli Kvatadze, Giorgi Tetrashvili, Beka Gigashvili, Giorgi Javakhia, Ilia Spanderashvili, Mikheil Alania, Tedo Abzhandadze, Tornike Kakhoidze.
IRELAND: Jimmy O'Brien; Tommy O'Brien, Jamie Osborne, Stuart McCloskey, Jacob Stockdale; Sam Prendergast, Craig Casey; Jack Boyle, Gus McCarthy, Thomas Clarkson; Cormac Izuchukwu, Darragh Murray; Ryan Baird, Nick Timoney, Gavin Coombes.
Replacements: Tom Stewart, Michael Milne, Jack Aungier, Tom Ahern, Cian Prendergast, Ben Murphy, Jack Crowley, Calvin Nash.
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Extra.ie
37 minutes ago
- Extra.ie
Lions fans in disbelief with ref's call on Hansen Incident
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Irish Times
43 minutes ago
- Irish Times
Lions attack does not quite click in unconvincing victory over Waratahs
Waratahs 10 Lions 21 The bar having been set in the last two outings, perhaps partly as a consequence this Lions' remodelled concoction did not ultimately subdue and put away a Waratahs side that, admittedly, played much better than had been anticipated. Even so, this was some way short of past meetings with New South Wales' finest and the Lions. The match will still have served a useful purpose, in both negative and positive ways. The set-piece was strong, especially the scrum, which was a bountiful supply of penalties to the corner which led to the Lions' three tries, but this comes with the rider that this Waratahs pack, with an inexperienced 21-year-old loosehead off the bench for the last 10 minutes, was some way off what the Wallabies will provide a fortnight hence in the First Test in Brisbane. There was also much to admire in the line speed and tackling execution of the Lions in defence but although there was again a pleasing shape and plenty of ambition to the Lions' attack, despite a strong showing from the Sione Tuipulotu-Huw Jones partnership, with the latter's first-half brace a product of his X-factor. READ MORE Alex Mitchell's running threat, along with one 50-22, also became more pronounced as the match wore on. His club and Test halfback partner Fin Smith also had some nice touches but was perhaps culpable of pulling the trigger too quickly. Huwipulotu combines for the Lions! 🤝💥 — Sky Sports Rugby Union (@SkySportsRugby) The attack came close to clicking without quite doing so, and needed more go-forward before looking to hit the edges, and three tries from 16 visits to the opposition 22 was an anticlimactic return. The Waratahs defended spiritedly and openside Charlie Gamble typified their repeated threat at the breakdown, which was another issue for the tourists. Josh van der Flier had another productive outing but it was a more frustrating night for Tadhg Beirne and Hugo Keenan, while in the pack Scott Cummings redeemed himself with his workrate and Ben Earl had a good all-round outing. In a familiar refrain from these opening jousts, despite clever manipulation of the home defence and nice attacking shape, the timing was slightly off among relatively new or untried combinations, thus leading to dropped passes instead of clean breaks. The tone was set by Hugo Keenan slightly overrunning and dropping a pass from Sone Tuipulotu when the fullback was in line to break clear. Soon after, Mack Hansen picked a good line and offloaded for Ben Earl, but the number eight was slightly off balance and fell in attempting to gather. The ensuing break in play offered the opportunity for the big screen to pan on to the newly arrived Owen Farrell, promoting boos from the home crowd. Farrell laughed them off, all the more so when squad mates good-naturedly joined in the booing. Hansen did locate Earl on the edge with a long looped pass, but the Waratahs brought huge speed and energy to their defending, as epitomised by Miles Amatosero's monster hit on Pierre Schoeman which drew an approving 'oooh' from the 'Tahs supporters. Hugo Keenan of the British and Irish Lions is tackled during the tour match. Photograph: Darrian Traynor/Getty One area of significant strength was the scrum, and although the catch-and-drive from a penalty to the corner was held up, Sione Tuipulotu took the ball to the gain line and shaped to pull the ball back for Blair Kinghorn only for Huw Jones to time his in-and-out run on to the no-look flat pass from his Glasgow and Scotland midfield team-mate perfectly to scamper clear and score. 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But a two-on-two was beaten on the edge when Fin Smith was drawn in for Leota's pass to send Darby Lancaster clear and he bounced up from Hugo Keenan's strong hit but incomplete tackle to finish well. All that said and done, on video review somehow referee Paul Williams deemed that Fergus Lee-Warner made a legitimate attempt at a clean-out on Hansen and thus not guilty of foul play when it looked a dangerous hit to the head with a tucked arm, and from the side at that. In any event, on the resumption Tadhg Beirne was pinged for pursuing a Mitchell box kick from an offside position and from the ensuing penalty to the corner and catch-and-drive, Ethan Dobbins plunged over. Only two conversions now separated the sides on the scoreline. The Lions turned to their bench, with five replacements up front and Duhan van der Merwe, a late call-up after Scott Cummings had replaced the withdrawn Henry Pollock, and this had a swift if short-lived impact. After a good break by Mitchell, van der Flier worked hard to work around Blair Kinghorn but was denied a try by the fine corner flagging tackle of loosehead Tom Lambert. Despite the PA announcer doing his best to encourage the home crowd among the 40,568 crowd – 'Okay Tahs fans, this defence has been resolute ... on your feet' – yet another scrum penalty was also the source of their Lions' tours. Working off the ensuing maul, Mitchell first dummied to the openside, then swivelled to the blindside and with his Northampton and England halfback partner Fin Smith working around outside him, the scrumhalf dummied again to score untouched. But that was as good as it got, the Lions' breakdown issues continuing as Gamble won another turnover penalty from a Beirne carry as Luke Cowan-Dickie and Tadhg Furlong failed to effect the clearout. 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Sunday World
an hour ago
- Sunday World
Irish stars fail to shine as Lions stagger to unconvincing win
Owen Farrell watched from the stands as the British and Irish Lions laboured to a 21-10 victory over New South Wales Waratahs in what was comfortably their worst performance since arriving in Australia. A fortnight out from the first Test against the Wallabies and the Lions struggled to put away a side that finished eighth in the Super Rugby table and had lost five of their last six matches. Even the arrival of a heavyweight bench could not provide the lift Andy Farrell's men needed at Allianz Stadium and a dismal second-half made for grim viewing with Alex Mitchell's 55th-minute try at least providing some breathing space. Henry Pollock was withdrawn from the back row shortly before kick-off because of a tight calf and it was a good match for the rising star of English rugby to miss with a number of Lions playing their way out of Test match contention. Only Scotland centres Sione Tuipulotu and Huw Jones and props Pierre Schoeman and Finlay Bealham distinguished themselves with the impressive Jones finishing with two tries, lifting his total for the tour to three. Owen Farrell arrived into camp on Friday after being called-up as a replacement for the injured Elliot Daly and witnessed a display that fell well short of previous outings against Western Force and Queensland Reds. The former England captain smiled as he was booed and cheered when shown on the big screen, with team-mate Will Stuart comically joining the jeering coming from home fans. The Waratahs fought their hearts out even though they were missing several key players such as Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii and Angus Bell to Australia duty against Fiji on Sunday. Taniela Tupou, dubbed the 'Tongan Thor', had at least been released back to the franchise in the hope he would find some form ahead of the Tests but instead he struggled as the Lions mined three scrum penalties in the opening quarter. The tourists were dominating the set-piece, but it was the understanding of centres Tuipulotu and Jones that led to an opening try that was forged in Scotland. Jones crossed after being sent through a gap with a short pass from his Scotland centre colleague and then powered over for a second having also made the initial carry that drove the hosts backwards. Waratahs openside Charlie Gamble had seen a try chalked off for offside at the line-out but his team eventually succeeded in the 35th minute when Darby Lancaster capitalised on hesitant defending on the Lions' right wing. Hugo Keenan was enduring a nightmare debut after making error after error but he was far from alone as the familiar theme of dropped passes and poor handling continued to haunt Farrell's men. They led just 14-5 at the interval and when Ethan Dobbin finished a maul try one minute into the second half they suddenly found themselves in a tight spot, playing poorly against a side that was scrapping for everything. Mitchell settled the nerves when he took advantage of an overlap to dummy his way over and the Lions were unable to break through again in a desperately scrappy final quarter.
