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Extra.ie
02-07-2025
- Sport
- Extra.ie
Ireland v Georgia: What you need to know ahead of huge test for Ireland's prop idols
When you think of scrums, the Georgians immediately spring to mind. When it comes to the dark arts of the set piece, the Lelos are the masters. Many Tier One forward units have packed down against Georgia and still bear the scars – both mental and physical – from the experience. The nation that straddles Europe and Asia has always produced giant forwards and hardy props who love to scrum. A 2018 training session between England and Georgia on a school training pitch in West London still lives in infamy. Then England head coach Eddie Jones felt his forwards could do with a scrummaging session against the Georgians, and it proved a sobering afternoon for the hosts. 27 February 2016; Stuart McCloskey, Ireland, is tackled by Dylan Hartley, England. Pic: Stephen McCarthy / SPORTSFILE 'We got a hiding that day,' former England captain Dylan Hartley recalled years later. Joe Marler got through a gruelling shift on the loosehead side of the scrum and remembers that referee Wayne Barnes, who was bussed in to bring a bit of order to all the chaos, began to fear for the well-being of the English pack. 'We had a five metre scrum and it was under the sticks near one of the posts, and he said, 'wait, hang on a minute' and he moved the scrum 10 metres away from the posts because he was worried we were going to go back so fast that there would be an injury going into this post.' This is what a young Irish pack will be facing this weekend. This rising rugby nation has long been banging on the door for further exposure. Pleas to be included in the Six Nations or at least a shot at gaining a seat at the championship table through a promotion bid have fallen on deaf ears for years, despite Georgia claiming recent wins against Wales and Italy. Caelan Doris. Pic: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile On Saturday, they will look to make a big statement against a Six Nations heavyweight. Ireland arrives in Tbilisi this week for a match at Mikheil Meskhi Stadium. The visitors are without 16 frontliners, who are on Lions duty in Australia, while key players such as Caelan Doris and Robbie Henshaw have been ruled out through injury. Cian Healy, Peter O'Mahony and Conor Murray have all called it a day. So, this is a depleted Irish squad which, lest we forget, is shorn of head coach Andy Farrell and a host of assistant coaches and key backroom members. But it would still be a huge scalp for the Georgians. They will be fired up for this meeting. Their home stadium will be packed to the rafters, and, despite the 9 pm local kick-off time, it is expected to be a sweltering night in their capital city. Pic: Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images) This young and experimental Irish team is going to feel the heat all evening, especially at scrum time. It almost feels like this fixture was engineered to stress test the next generation of Irish props. Much has been made about the depth, or lack thereof, in the Irish front-row departments of late. This is not a new development. John Hayes and his successor Mike Ross effectively propped up Irish scrums for the best part of two decades between them. It was only when Andrew Porter emerged on the scene to back up Tadhg Furlong that Ireland seemed to have genuine depth at tighthead. Porter was subsequently shifted over to the loosehead side. The situation was so bad last year that the newly-appointed IRFU performance director, David Humphreys, announced that the provinces would need to adhere to a recruitment freeze on overseas front-rowers the following season. Humphreys has rowed back on that stance. Thomas Clarkson. Pic: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile The emergence of Jack Boyle and Thomas Clarkson in the Leinster system was seen as a positive development, while Michael Milne and Lee Barron moving to Munster was another encouraging move. And Ireland's next generation of young front-rowers are set to be put to the test this weekend. Furlong, Finlay Bealham and Porter are on Lions duty, while Healy has hung up his boots. The Leinster stalwart was still going strong at 37 last season, but the fact that his province and country were still leaning so heavily on him as a back-up to Porter said everything about the lack of trust in the younger candidates. Now, interim head coach Paul O'Connell is set to pit a front row of greenhorns against one of the fiercest scrummaging packs in the world. An all-Leinster front row of Boyle (23), Gus McCarthy (21) and Clarkson (25) are primed to start in Tbilisi. This could be a massive weekend in the burgeoning careers of three front-rowers with a combined total of 12 caps between them. McCarthy was a breakout star of the autumn internationals series when the academy hooker was handed a Test debut against Fiji at Aviva Stadium. Now that Dan Sheehan and Ronan Kelleher are on Lions special ops, he has another brilliant opportunity to move further up the pecking order. Boyle and Clarkson have both made massive strides in the past 12 months. The former made two impressive late cameos from the bench against Wales and Italy in the Six Nations. Clarkson's one and only Ireland start came against the Welsh in Cardiff. The Leinster tighthead had a tough afternoon, but he has clearly learned from the experience. Clarkson has always been a mobile prop who gets through plenty of work around the park. His scrummaging has notably improved as well, however. The URC final felt like a big day in his career. A giant Bulls pack – featuring monstrous Springbok tighthead Wilco Louw – was widely tipped to do a demolition job on a Leinster pack that was without the services of the injured Furlong. But head coach Leo Cullen made a big show of faith in Clarkson, keeping renowned French tighthead Rabah Slimani in reserve and backing the young tighthead to lock out the Leinster scrum. And Clarkson excelled as the South Africans were put to the sword in Croke Park. Another big shift against the Georgians and Clarkson can look forward to more exposure, with Leinster and Ireland, in the coming years. The same goes for Boyle. Because the Georgians are the ultimate test in this area. No better time to see if Ireland's fledgling props have the right stuff.
The Age
13-06-2025
- Sport
- The Age
‘Another Aussie': Even Schmidt can't ignore elephant in Lions room
There is certainly precedence for picking players who originate from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa – former Crusaders winger Sean Maitland, Dylan Hartley and Matt Stevens, a Junior Springbok, all made the initial selection. There has been a long history of players from the SANZAAR countries finding their way into the Home Nations' Test teams: in that sense this Lions tour is nothing different, and the 'nothing to see here' argument put forward in some quarters in the northern hemisphere holds water. There is no doubt, either, that all the SANZAAR Lions have displayed a level of personal commitment and passion for their adopted countries. But this is really a numbers game, and the volume of SANZAAR players in this year's squad is atypical. In fact, it might never be repeated because World Rugby changed the eligibility laws at the end of 2020 to extend the residential qualification period from three years to five years. It was a significant rule change advertised at the time to uphold the 'integrity and sanctity' of the international game, but it came too late to affect this Lions squad. The second question of whether it matters is an emotive one. Lions icon Willie McBride raised his head above the parapet a few months ago and said he was 'bothered' by the presence of eight players who were not born in either Britain or Ireland. McBride was subsequently labelled by some as an old man shouting at the clouds, but not so fast. This week, recently retired England halfback Danny Care voiced the same sentiment. 'Whatever I say here, you're going to get stick. You open yourself up to it,' he told the BBC Rugby Union Weekly podcast. 'It doesn't sit that well with me that some of these… both your starting wingers are going to be lads that never, ever once in their childhood or even their mid-20s ever dreamt of wearing a red Lions jersey.' Loading In other words, it does matter, and it matters to British and Irish players – this is not simply a topic being beaten up by the venomous Australian media to unsettle the tourists. Schmidt, of course, has to be careful on the subject. As Ireland coach he benefited from the services of both Bundee Aki, a New Zealander of Samoan heritage, and CJ Stander, a South African, in a famous win against the All Blacks in 2018. And, as he said earlier in the week, he coached Bealham as well. It would be hypocritical of him to use the SANZAAR players as a stick to beat the Lions with. But for the rest of us, there is the nagging question of why the Lions have been permitted to turn SANZAAR players against the Wallabies in a series that is ultimately designed to test the quality of the rugby that is being played within the respective borders of the Australia and the British and Irish Isles?
Sydney Morning Herald
13-06-2025
- Sport
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘Another Aussie': Even Schmidt can't ignore elephant in Lions room
There is certainly precedence for picking players who originate from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa – former Crusaders winger Sean Maitland, Dylan Hartley and Matt Stevens, a Junior Springbok, all made the initial selection. There has been a long history of players from the SANZAAR countries finding their way into the Home Nations' Test teams: in that sense this Lions tour is nothing different, and the 'nothing to see here' argument put forward in some quarters in the northern hemisphere holds water. There is no doubt, either, that all the SANZAAR Lions have displayed a level of personal commitment and passion for their adopted countries. But this is really a numbers game, and the volume of SANZAAR players in this year's squad is atypical. In fact, it might never be repeated because World Rugby changed the eligibility laws at the end of 2020 to extend the residential qualification period from three years to five years. It was a significant rule change advertised at the time to uphold the 'integrity and sanctity' of the international game, but it came too late to affect this Lions squad. The second question of whether it matters is an emotive one. Lions icon Willie McBride raised his head above the parapet a few months ago and said he was 'bothered' by the presence of eight players who were not born in either Britain or Ireland. McBride was subsequently labelled by some as an old man shouting at the clouds, but not so fast. This week, recently retired England halfback Danny Care voiced the same sentiment. 'Whatever I say here, you're going to get stick. You open yourself up to it,' he told the BBC Rugby Union Weekly podcast. 'It doesn't sit that well with me that some of these… both your starting wingers are going to be lads that never, ever once in their childhood or even their mid-20s ever dreamt of wearing a red Lions jersey.' Loading In other words, it does matter, and it matters to British and Irish players – this is not simply a topic being beaten up by the venomous Australian media to unsettle the tourists. Schmidt, of course, has to be careful on the subject. As Ireland coach he benefited from the services of both Bundee Aki, a New Zealander of Samoan heritage, and CJ Stander, a South African, in a famous win against the All Blacks in 2018. And, as he said earlier in the week, he coached Bealham as well. It would be hypocritical of him to use the SANZAAR players as a stick to beat the Lions with. But for the rest of us, there is the nagging question of why the Lions have been permitted to turn SANZAAR players against the Wallabies in a series that is ultimately designed to test the quality of the rugby that is being played within the respective borders of the Australia and the British and Irish Isles?
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Will Steve Borthwick give untested England youth a chance in Argentina?
When Warren Gatland named his British & Irish Lions squad to tour New Zealand in 2017 he included 16 England players. Stalwarts such as Dylan Hartley, Chris Robshaw, Joe Launchbury and George Ford were still notable absentees but England had won the previous two Six Nations titles, 17 of Eddie Jones's first 18 matches and, accordingly, their contingent was substantial. The very next day Jones named his England squad for a tour of Argentina. He refused to engage in the merits of the selected Lions touring party but at the time you sensed Jones did not particularly like Gatland hogging the spotlight. England might have lost their most recent match, against Ireland in Dublin, denying them another grand slam, but the Australian was still basking in an extended honeymoon period and all eyes were on his old adversary. Jones proceeded to make a statement with his squad selection and it did not feel like coincidence that he was doing so 24 hours after Gatland. Advertisement Related: English second tier gets Champ Rugby rebrand in new 14-club league He cast aside a raft of fringe players, those who might have presumed to step up in the absence of so many Lions, and picked from the next tier down. Joe Cokanasiga was plucked from the Championship, Piers Francis from the Blues in Auckland and a pair of teenage flankers from Sale. 'We have focused particularly on youth because we want to find players who are going to be better than the 16 players going on the Lions tour,' said Jones and, to give him his dues, one of those young Sharks, Tom Curry, was starring in a World Cup semi-final two years later. In hindsight this was the first evidence of Jones's scattergun selection. Of casting his net far and wide, picking youngsters when they were palpably not ready for the international stage and dispensing with them just as quickly. For the success story of Curry, read the plight of Jack Maunder, the Exeter scrum-half who made a three-minute debut against Argentina, aged 20, but was never capped again. Four years later, with 12 players away with the Lions, Jones handed debuts to Marcus Smith and Freddie Steward in the summer series against the USA and Canada and proclaimed the birth of a 'new England'. He also condemned Lewis Ludlow to quiz-question obscurity by naming him captain for his two and only England caps. And when news of Smith's secondment to the Lions tour filtered through while he was still on the pitch against Canada, it was easy to imagine Gatland having a chuckle to himself at expense of his old sparring partner. Thunder stolen again. Advertisement All of which brings us to Steve Borthwick's England and their first return to Argentina since 2017. He knows all about that tour because, while he too was away with the Lions as an assistant, he was still having to review England matches while in New Zealand as Jones's forwards coach. He will know, then, that Jones's side won two thrilling contests against the Pumas, he will know that four years ago they also beat the USA – not particularly convincingly – and thumped a dreadful Canada side and he will know the opportunities and the pitfalls that come with selecting an inexperienced squad. The mistakes that Jones made, the shrewd moves too, show how challenging the season after a Lions tour can be. For while England had 100% records in the 2017 and 2021 autumn campaigns, they nose-dived in the 2018 and 2022 Six Nations tournaments, winning only two matches in each and on both the subsequent summer tours Jones barely survived the sack. Early next week Borthwick names his first squad of the summer. He will host a mini-training camp but will be without the 13 Lions and players from Bath and Northampton given their involvement in European finals while Ollie Lawrence and George Martin are notable injury absentees. Chief among his priorities is to select a captain for the two Tests against Argentina and the one against the USA because Maro Itoje is fulfilling that role with the Lions. The obvious candidate is Jamie George, though returning to a player stripped of the honour four months previously requires a certain amount of diplomacy, closely followed by Ford. Advertisement Borthwick will also have to factor in the likelihood of players being whistled up to the Lions. They are already looking thin in certain positions for their warm-up match against Argentina in Dublin, which is the day before England kick off their summer against a France XV. Borthwick is, however, selecting from a position of strength. The upward trajectory is pronounced after the record victory in Cardiff to round off a positive Six Nations campaign. He was no doubt planning on giving Henry Pollock his first Test start – that honour may now fall to Andy Farrell – but Borthwick has already cautioned against picking youth for the sake of it. 'It has to be someone right in contention to be starting and get lots of game time,' he said. 'Coming into the senior squad just to be on the fringe is not what we want to do.' He is also smart enough to know the positions in which he lacks depth and to take full advantage of the opportunity presented this summer. As such, while the back-three contingent is likely to have a familiar feel with George Furbank, Tom Roebuck, Manny Feyi-Waboso and Steward all expected to be available, he would be wise to reintegrate Henry Arundell at the first possible opportunity. He has had a torrid season at Racing 92 but is joining Bath next season and possesses raw attributes that cannot be overlooked. Borthwick would also do well to deploy Oscar Beard, Max Ojomoh or Seb Atkinson alongside Fraser Dingwall in the centres where the talent pool is shallow. Advertisement In the front row it is time to give Asher Opoku-Fordjour and Afo Fasogbon their first Test starts, perhaps either side of the experienced George. Lock – particularly those with heft – is an area of chief concern for Borthwick so while he may persist with Chandler Cunningham-South's conversion to the second row, Bath's Ewan Richards may find himself involved in Argentina. Junior Kpoku has been linked with a move back to the Premiership but until the ink is dry he remains unavailable. The back-row options are stacked but Ben Curry, if fit, should be the mainstay of any Test trio with Bath's Guy Pepper – this season compared to Richie McCaw by his head coach, Johan van Graan – precisely the sort of player Borthwick should be blooding. Jones's tenure demonstrated that using these tours to give youngsters their shot is a double-edged sword but England have a challenging autumn ahead and Borthwick must be prepared for a post-Lions hangover next season.
The Guardian
17-05-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Will Steve Borthwick give untested England youth a chance in Argentina?
When Warren Gatland named his British & Irish Lions squad to tour New Zealand in 2017 he included 16 England players. Stalwarts such as Dylan Hartley, Chris Robshaw, Joe Launchbury and George Ford were still notable absentees but England had won the previous two Six Nations titles, 17 of Eddie Jones's first 18 matches and, accordingly, their contingent was substantial. The very next day Jones named his England squad for a tour of Argentina. He refused to engage in the merits of the selected Lions touring party but at the time you sensed Jones did not particularly like Gatland hogging the spotlight. England might have lost their most recent match, against Ireland in Dublin, denying them another grand slam, but the Australian was still basking in an extended honeymoon period and all eyes were on his old adversary. Jones proceeded to make a statement with his squad selection and it did not feel like coincidence that he was doing so 24 hours after Gatland. He cast aside a raft of fringe players, those who might have presumed to step up in the absence of so many Lions, and picked from the next tier down. Joe Cokanasiga was plucked from the Championship, Piers Francis from the Blues in Auckland and a pair of teenage flankers from Sale. 'We have focused particularly on youth because we want to find players who are going to be better than the 16 players going on the Lions tour,' said Jones and, to give him his dues, one of those young Sharks, Tom Curry, was starring in a World Cup semi-final two years later. In hindsight this was the first evidence of Jones's scattergun selection. Of casting his net far and wide, picking youngsters when they were palpably not ready for the international stage and dispensing with them just as quickly. For the success story of Curry, read the plight of Jack Maunder, the Exeter scrum-half who made a three-minute debut against Argentina, aged 20, but was never capped again. Four years later, with 12 players away with the Lions, Jones handed debuts to Marcus Smith and Freddie Steward in the summer series against the USA and Canada and proclaimed the birth of a 'new England'. He also condemned Lewis Ludlow to quiz-question obscurity by naming him captain for his two and only England caps. And when news of Smith's secondment to the Lions tour filtered through while he was still on the pitch against Canada, it was easy to imagine Gatland having a chuckle to himself at expense of his old sparring partner. Thunder stolen again. All of which brings us to Steve Borthwick's England and their first return to Argentina since 2017. He knows all about that tour because, while he too was away with the Lions as an assistant, he was still having to review England matches while in New Zealand as Jones's forwards coach. He will know, then, that Jones's side won two thrilling contests against the Pumas, he will know that four years ago they also beat the USA – not particularly convincingly – and thumped a dreadful Canada side and he will know the opportunities and the pitfalls that come with selecting an inexperienced squad. The mistakes that Jones made, the shrewd moves too, show how challenging the season after a Lions tour can be. For while England had 100% records in the 2017 and 2021 autumn campaigns, they nose-dived in the 2018 and 2022 Six Nations tournaments, winning only two matches in each and on both the subsequent summer tours Jones barely survived the sack. Early next week Borthwick names his first squad of the summer. He will host a mini-training camp but will be without the 13 Lions and players from Bath and Northampton given their involvement in European finals while Ollie Lawrence and George Martin are notable injury absentees. Chief among his priorities is to select a captain for the two Tests against Argentina and the one against the USA because Maro Itoje is fulfilling that role with the Lions. The obvious candidate is Jamie George, though returning to a player stripped of the honour four months previously requires a certain amount of diplomacy, closely followed by Ford. Borthwick will also have to factor in the likelihood of players being whistled up to the Lions. They are already looking thin in certain positions for their warm-up match against Argentina in Dublin, which is the day before England kick off their summer against a France XV. Borthwick is, however, selecting from a position of strength. The upward trajectory is pronounced after the record victory in Cardiff to round off a positive Six Nations campaign. He was no doubt planning on giving Henry Pollock his first Test start – that honour may now fall to Andy Farrell – but Borthwick has already cautioned against picking youth for the sake of it. 'It has to be someone right in contention to be starting and get lots of game time,' he said. 'Coming into the senior squad just to be on the fringe is not what we want to do.' Sign up to The Breakdown The latest rugby union news and analysis, plus all the week's action reviewed after newsletter promotion He is also smart enough to know the positions in which he lacks depth and to take full advantage of the opportunity presented this summer. As such, while the back-three contingent is likely to have a familiar feel with George Furbank, Tom Roebuck, Manny Feyi-Waboso and Steward all expected to be available, he would be wise to reintegrate Henry Arundell at the first possible opportunity. He has had a torrid season at Racing 92 but is joining Bath next season and possesses raw attributes that cannot be overlooked. Borthwick would also do well to deploy Oscar Beard, Max Ojomoh or Seb Atkinson alongside Fraser Dingwall in the centres where the talent pool is shallow. In the front row it is time to give Asher Opoku-Fordjour and Afo Fasogbon their first Test starts, perhaps either side of the experienced George. Lock – particularly those with heft – is an area of chief concern for Borthwick so while he may persist with Chandler Cunningham-South's conversion to the second row, Bath's Ewan Richards may find himself involved in Argentina. Junior Kpoku has been linked with a move back to the Premiership but until the ink is dry he remains unavailable. The back-row options are stacked but Ben Curry, if fit, should be the mainstay of any Test trio with Bath's Guy Pepper – this season compared to Richie McCaw by his head coach, Johan van Graan – precisely the sort of player Borthwick should be blooding. Jones's tenure demonstrated that using these tours to give youngsters their shot is a double-edged sword but England have a challenging autumn ahead and Borthwick must be prepared for a post-Lions hangover next season.
