‘A’ International Men’s Match Preview: Ireland XV v England ‘A’

A number of impressive performers for the provinces in recent weeks will get their chance in the green jersey tonight when the Ireland XV play England ‘A’ under the Thomond Park floodlights (kick-off 7.15pm – live on Premier Sports 1 & irishrugby+).

‘A’ INTERNATIONAL MEN’S MATCH:

Friday, February 6 –

IRELAND XV v ENGLAND ‘A’, Thomond Park, 7.15pm (live Premier Sports 1/irishrugby+)

Match tickets are available to buy here from Ticketmaster.ie

Team News: Leinster’s Max Deegan will captain an Ireland XV line-up that includes six senior-capped internationals, as head coach Cullie Tucker mixes some of the players involved in the 2025 summer tour with a batch of exciting emerging talent.

Tonight’s meeting with England ‘A’ – a year on from an injury-hit Irish team’s 28-12 defeat to the same opposition in Bristol – is another valuable opportunity for players of national interest to press their claims for senior selection.

“Andy (Farrell) has been quite clear in saying this is a very, very important game for Irish rugby,” said Tucker. “And he’s right because it challenges the players in different ways. You have such a short period of preparation to play a Test match five days later, so, you don’t have the synergy of your club.

“You have to really break down barriers very early, learn calls, etc. So, they’ll be watching it very keenly on Friday night. If we put in a good, connected performance, you’d hope lads are putting their hands up.”

Deegan, Ciarán Frawley, Gus McCarthy, Scott Wilson, and Jack Aungier were part of the senior group that won in Georgia and Portugal last July, with Frawley, fresh from Ireland’s pre-Six Nations camp, the most experienced member of this matchday 23 with nine caps.

The Skerries man will lead the back-line in Limerick alongside his Leinster team-mate Fintan Gunne, and filling the centre berths are Munster’s own Dan Kelly, the only starter retained from the Ireland XV’s November win over Spain, and James Hume.

Shane Daly brings Test experience to a back-three that features Joshua Kenny and Zac Ward out wide. The 22-year-old Kenny is enjoying a breakthrough year with Leinster, scoring eight tries in nine matches, while Ulster winger Ward has touched down five times so far this season.

Ward’s younger brother Bryn is also handed an opportunity to impress the national coaches following his training stint with the senior side in Portugal last week. The 21-year-old – Ulster’s player-of-the-match against both Munster and Stade Français Paris – will start at openside flanker.

Deegan and Brian Gleeson complete a dynamic back row, Ulster development lock Charlie Irvine joins Fineen Wycherley in the engine room, and the front row has Connacht Academy prop Billy Bohan, who was part of Ireland’s Six Nations preparations, and Wilson either side of McCarthy.

There is a six-two split on the bench as Aungier, Diarmuid Barron, Sam Crean, Harry Sheridan, Paul Boyle, and Sean Jansen provide the forward options, while Cathal Forde and Matthew Devine, who will move from Connacht to Ulster in the summer, are the two reserve backs.

Assisted this week by John Muldoon, Sean O’Brien, and Mark Sexton, Tucker added: “For us this week is about, you know, the team performing as a team and not as individuals, because that puts them in the best place to catch the eye of the senior coaches.

“So that’s been our focus this week, to really get out there on Friday night and put a performance as a team. It’s a brilliant challenge. You have to walk towards and embrace it in these weeks.

“It’s not far off what a senior team would have as well. You walk through on a Monday and you’re on the pitch, Tuesday, Wednesday, it’s a Friday night game. In these cases, you can look at them as obstacles or barriers. You’ve got to look at them as opportunities.”

The ‘A’ international game is live on Premier Sports 1 in the Republic of Ireland and United Kingdom, and available on irishrugby+ for supporters in Europe, Australia, and South Africa, among other territories. A full list is available here.

Meanwhile, Alex Dombrandt and Harry Randall, with 37 Test caps between them, are the senior figures in the England ‘A’ squad selected by Mark Mapletoft. Exeter Chiefs flanker Ethan Roots will captain the visitors from the back row.

Roots continues his leadership role after skippering England ‘A’ against the All Blacks XV in Bath in November. They lost out 31-14 that day, and also played Spain in Valladolid a week later, with Mapletoft’s young side earning a hard-fought 29-25 victory.

Leicester Tigers have five representatives in tonight’s starting XV, including Randall’s half-back partner, Billy Searle, and fellow backs Orlando Bailey and Ollie Hassell-Collins, a try scorer during last February’s victory over Ireland ‘A’ at Ashton Gate.

Harlequins duo Cadan Murley and Jack Kenningham were not part of the initially-announced squad, but have been brought in along with Archie van der Flier, a cousin of Leinster and Ireland star Josh, and Saracens second row Hugh Tizard.

Murley, a Test debutant against Ireland a year ago, and Kenningham were involved with England’s senior group for last week’s training block in Girona, ahead of their Six Nations opener against Wales.

Ten members of this England ‘A’ matchday 23 have senior caps and 17 progressed through England’s Under-18 or Under-20 pathways, making the group a strong reflection of the RFU’s national development programme.

Speaking ahead of the clash with the Ireland XV, head coach Mapletoft said: “We have high expectations for this group. Every player has the talent to perform at their best and we’re looking forward to the challenge on Friday.

“The mix of experience and emerging skill makes it a genuinely exciting team to work with. They will gel quickly, push each other, and learn from one another as we progress, which is exactly what we want from an England ‘A’ side.”

IRELAND XV: Shane Daly (Cork Constitution FC/Munster); Joshua Kenny (Terenure College RFC/Leinster), James Hume (Instonians RFC/Ulster), Dan Kelly (Munster), Zac Ward (Ballynahinch RFC/Ulster); Ciarán Frawley (UCD RFC/Leinster), Fintan Gunne (Terenure College RFC/Leinster); Billy Bohan (Galway Corinthians RFC/Connacht), Gus McCarthy (UCD RFC/Leinster), Scott Wilson (Queen’s University Belfast RFC/Ulster), Charlie Irvine (Queen’s University Belfast RFC/Ulster), Fineen Wycherley (Young Munster RFC/Munster), Max Deegan (Lansdowne FC/Leinster) (capt), Bryn Ward (Ballynahinch RFC/Ulster), Brian Gleeson (Garryowen FC/Munster).

Replacements: Diarmuid Barron (Garryowen FC/Munster), Sam Crean (Ulster), Jack Aungier (Clontarf FC/Connacht), Harry Sheridan (Dublin University FC/Ulster), Paul Boyle (Buccaneers RFC/Connacht), Matthew Devine (Galway Corinthians RFC/Connacht), Cathal Forde (Galway Corinthians RFC/Connacht), Sean Jansen (Connacht).

ENGLAND ‘A’: Joe Carpenter (Sale Sharks); Cadan Murley (Harlequins), Luke Northmore (Harlequins), Orlando Bailey (Leicester Tigers), Ollie Hassell-Collins (Leicester Tigers); Billy Searle (Leicester Tigers), Harry Randall (Bristol Bears); Tarek Haffar (Leicester Tigers), Jamie Blamire (Leicester Tigers), George Kloska (Bristol Bears), Ben Bamber (Sale Sharks), Joe Batley (Bristol Bears), Ethan Roots (Exeter Chiefs) (capt), Jack Kenningham (Harlequins), Alex Dombrandt (Harlequins).

Replacements: Kepueli Tuipulotu (Bath), Archie van der Flier (Leicester Tigers), Afolabi Fasogbon (Gloucester), Hugh Tizard (Saracens), Fitz Harding (Bristol Bears), Raffi Quirke (Sale Sharks), Charlie Atkinson (Gloucester), George Hendy (Northampton Saints).

Pre-Match Quotes: Dan Kelly (Ireland XV) – “It’s been a whirlwind of a year, coming to a new club (in Munster), to a new country, being involved in the system here. It’s been brilliant. I’ve just been trying to be a sponge to all the opportunities that have (come from) coaches and players.

“I felt like I’ve learned a lot. So throughout the week, that’s what I’m going to do, creating a bond, and then hopefully impose that on the pitch on Friday night in Thomond Park, which is a great experience.

“There’s way more in me, I feel. (Munster) started really well, and then there was sort of a blip in our attacking as a unit and we sometimes struggled there. There was a lot of defending there, turnovers, and giving the possession away very easily.

“But what I’ve loved with the transfer, coming over from Leicester to Munster, is the ambition of Irish rugby, and going back to my (Ireland) 20s when I was under Noel McNamara, how much he wanted the team to play. I almost forget in a way what it was like to have the shackles off.”

Cullie Tucker (Ireland XV) – “The players have to see the pictures that are coming at them. But looking at the (England ‘A’) squad, there’s a lot of powerful athletes in there and plenty of pace on the wings. They always have a good kicking game.

“Harry Randall at nine is a running threat so we just have to be aware of the individual threats there. But more important than anything, we can’t put a huge emphasis on them. We have to put our game on the pitch. That’s our focus, considering it is such a short week.

“They’re vital fixtures in that respect, in terms of even the Six Nations now. Some of them will have maybe more immediate eyes on it, but more so looking a little bit longer into the future for some of them.”