A Finals Weekend In London Will Be Great With Irish Fans There – McCarthy
South Africa are the 'biggest challenge' right now says Ireland second row Joe McCarthy. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
The first ever Nations Championship Finals weekend promises to be an exciting three day festival of international rugby with the best of the Northern and Southern Hemisphere going head to head. Ireland secon row Joe McCarthy feels it is tailor made for Irish fans who ‘always travel well’.
Before then of course there’s the not so small matter of six matches against the cream of Southern Hemisphere rugby, kicking off against Australia in Sydney in 100 days.
Nations Championship Finals Weekend – Tickets On Sale Now
McCarthy is relishing the prospect, “Australia is such a cool country it’s so sports-mad, highly competitive. All the sports facilities and everything around that is good and it’s always such a challenge playing the Wallabies, especially at home so really relish going down there.”
Ireland follow that up with mactches against Japan and New Zealand in July and then the Northern Series in November with South Africa, Fiji and Argentina coming to Aviva Stadium.
McCarthy says that the Springboks are, “The biggest challenge these days. They’re top team in the world so you really get to test yourself, see where you’re at.”
He doesn’t discount any team though and thinks that the Finals Weekend could through up some incredible matches, “Ireland will be there, thereabouts. And I’m going to say Argentina. They’ve played some good rugby so they get in there as well. They just play a class brand of rugby, good coach in Felipe Contepomi so I think they’ll be in the mix.”
The Nations Championship: Where Hemispheres Collide is all set to build on classic rugby rivalries and excite a new generation of fans adn the innovative Finals Weekend provides the perfect platform according to the Leinster and Ireland second row,
“It’s unbelievable, probably allows maybe some people who are just getting into rugby or don’t go to every single game the opportunity to get tickets so that’s exciting. A lot of new fans and hopefully new eyes onto the game which is always good for it.
“As players we love seeing the big buzz around it, a lot of fans in all the jerseys, different teams, building a really good buzz. That makes the players feel real good and real excited to play and I know even I have mates and family who absolutely love those trips and exciting times. So it’s great for the players and the fans get a lot of enjoyment out of it as well so it’s an exciting prospect.”
Ireland’s Nations Championship Fixtures
Southern Series
Australia v Ireland, Saturday, July 4, Allianz Stadium, Sydney
Japan v Ireland, Saturday, July 11, TBC
New Zealand v Ireland, Saturday, July 18, Eden Park, Auckland
Northern Series
Kick off times and ticket details will be confirmed in due course.
Ireland v Argentina, Friday, November 6, Aviva Stadium
Ireland v Fiji, Saturday, November 14, Aviva Stadium
Ireland v South Africa, Saturday, November 21, Aviva Stadium
Finals Weekend
Friday 27, Saturday 28 Sunday 29, Allianz Stadium, London – Tickets On Sale Now