Mick O’Driscoll, selected as captain for his Barbarians debut, will line out against a number of his Munster and Ireland team-mates in tonight’s non-cap encounter at Kingsholm. You can keep up-to-date with the game via our O2 MatchDay Live service right here on IrishRugby.ie.
O2 MatchDay Live – Click Here – Barbarians v Ireland XV (7.45pm)
This is the fifth ever match between Ireland and the Barbarians, who first met at Lansdowne Road back in 1996 when the Baa Baas secured a 70-38 victory.
The tourists only had a point to spare in the 2000 fixture at Lansdowne Road – 31-30 – and Ireland opened their win account in the series in 2008 with a 39-14 success at Gloucester’s home ground Kingsholm, the venue for tonight’s tie.
Two years ago at Thomond Park, Declan Kidney’s men went down 29-23 to a Barbarians side that included the retiring Malcolm O’Kelly.
Fellow second row Mick O’Driscoll, who announced his retirement last month, will wear the iconic black and white hooped shirt when he captains the Barbarians for their second game of their summer tour.
Coached by New Zealand legend John Kirwan, the 2012 Baa Baas suffered a 57-26 loss to England at Twickenham on Sunday. There are only four survivors from that team – backs Paul Sackey, Mike Tindall and Rory Lawson along with Ulster prop John Afoa.
The Ireland starting line-up for the non-cap tie includes five players without Test experience, with wingers Craig Gilroy and Simon Zebo and front rowers Brett Wilkinson, Mike Sherry and Declan Fitzpatrick all hoping to impress.
The uncapped Ronan Loughney, James Coughlan, Paul Marshall and Nevin Spence are also standing by to feature off the replacements bench.
With the final spots in the summer tour squad being confirmed tomorrow, there is plenty to play for and captain Ronan O’Gara, with a record 121 Irish caps to his name, will want to guide his side to an encouraging win ahead of the trip to New Zealand.
We will have live text commentary direct from Kingsholm – there is no television coverage – as Ireland take on an array of club and international stars, with Isa Nacewa and his former Leinster colleague Felipe Contepomi also part of the Barbarians squad.
Plug in your laptop or turn on the PC and enjoy a flavour of tonight’s match live on IrishRugby.ie. There will be full live text and score updates throughout the coverage, with the game kicking off at 7.45pm.
Look out for the MatchDay Live button in the Ireland section or simply click on the link below:
Support Ireland on www.irishrugby.ie/facebook or search #BaaBaasIrl on www.twitter.com/irfurugby.
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