Emerging Ireland Squad Update

Following Wednesday’s opening victory against The Pumas in Bloemfontein, Leinster’s Rob Russell (hand) will play no further part in the tour. Munster loosehead prop George Hadden will link up with the squad, ahead of the next game against Western Force on Sunday afternoon, as cover for Mark Donnelly (ankle).

Head Coach Simon Easterby was pleased with the opening match win and the manner in which the team came together in such a short space of time, “The Pumas had a Currie Cup campaign to prepare for this game and we’ve had six or seven days but I think, to a man, our guys stepped up to the challenge,” said Easterby afterwards.

“I think these tours are always going to be challenging, they’re always going to put us under pressure for the time, but we certainly wouldn’t look for any excuses in terms of our preparation.

“I thought, on the whole, we were outstanding and everyone showed up really well. We got good minutes out of those guys that started, and we got a really good hit out of the guys who came off the bench and they added as well.”

Next up is Sunday’s match against the Western Force (1pm local time/12 Irish time). The match will be live on the new IRFU streaming platform irishrugby+ you can sign up for free here and watch emerging Ireland and #EnergiaAIL matches.