Ireland find themselves up against another in-form team in the USA as the curtain comes down on the 2018 GUINNESS Series. The final Test of the calendar year sees Joe Schmidt hand the captaincy reins to Rhys Ruddock and give a first start to John Cooney and a potential debut to Sam Arnold.
2018 GUINNESS SERIES MATCH: Saturday, November 24
IRELAND v USA, Aviva Stadium, 6.30pm (live RTE Two/www.rte.ie/live (ROI only)/Channel 4/RTE Radio 1/BBC Radio Ulster MW/IRFU Live Blog)
Want to watch Ireland around the world? Here’s a list of the match broadcasters – please make sure you check local listings to see what time the game is shown and if it is screened live.
Ireland – RTE
Northern Ireland – Channel 4
UK – Channel 4
Argentina – ESPN SUR (covering all of South America)
New Zealand – Sky
USA – ESPN
Canada – DAZN
Australia – beIN Sports
France – beIN Sports
Germany, Austria, Switzerland – DAZN
Scandinavia – Viasat
Balkans – Arena
Japan – DAZN
Middle East & Africa – beIN Sports
South Africa & Sub-Saharan Africa – SuperSport
Asia – Rugby Pass (online)
Caribbean – ESPN
Team News: Centre Garry Ringrose is the only player retained in the Ireland team to play the USA in their GUINNESS Series finale at the Aviva Stadium. The new-look squad is captained by Rhys Ruddock and includes one uncapped player in Sam Arnold.
Ringrose is joined in midfield by Ulster’s Stuart McCloskey who wins his third cap and first since the Fiji match last November, while Joey Carbery, Iain Henderson, Jordi Murphy, Cian Healy, Josh van der Flier and Luke McGrath, who all played against New Zealand, are also included in the matchday 23.
Carbery is partnered at half-back by John Cooney, one of five Ulster players in the starting XV. It will be Cooney’s first start and home debut, while Will Addison gets the nod at full-back for his third cap this month – he came off the bench against Italy and started against Argentina, deputising as a late replacement for Robbie Henshaw.
Andrew Conway and Darren Sweetnam complete the back-three, with the Corkman coming in for his first international appearance since touching down against Fiji a year ago. Likewise, Sweetnam’s Munster colleague Dave Kilcoyne will be looking to impress at loosehead prop, a full three years on from his most recent start in the green jersey.
It is a first start in two years for Connacht’s in-form tighthead Finlay Bealham, who slots in beside hooker Niall Scannell, and a second start and home debut for Kildare man Tadhg Beirne. The scorer of two tries against Italy, he links up with Iain Henderson in an athletic back row pairing.
Ruddock, who captains his country for the sixth time, is joined in the back row by the aforementioned Murphy and number 8 Jack Conan, whose most recent start was in Chicago three weeks ago. Ruddock has a 100% winning record as skipper thanks to victories over the USA, Japan (2), Fiji and Italy.
Munster centre Arnold, who came through the Exiles pathway which is now the IQ Rugby programme, is set to win his first cap off the bench. The selected replacements also includes Rob Herring, Healy, John Ryan, Quinn Roux, van der Flier, McGrath and Ross Byrne, who is poised for his second cap and home debut.
Meanwhile, USA head coach Gary Gold, who is assisted by Dubliner Greg McWilliams, has made three changes to the team that defeated Romania 31-5 as the Eagles wrap up their autumn tour against Ireland.
The starting XV selected by South African Gold includes eight UK-based players, led by captain Blaine Scully from Cardiff Blues, and a couple of strong-running centres in Bryce Campbell and Paul Lasike, with the latter tipping the scales at almost 18 stone.
Shaun Davies has completed his return-to-play protocols to rejoin his Glendale Raptors club-mate Will Magie at half-back. Former Connacht out-half AJ MacGinty, who now plays with Sale Sharks, is a notable absentee following his recent shoulder surgery.
There are a couple of familiar faces in the matchday squad for Saturday’s Test with Corkman John Quill stationed at blindside flanker and set to line up against two of his former Dolphin team-mates, Ireland’s Scannell and Sweetnam. Scannell’s former Munster underage colleague, Inishmore-born prop Paul Mullen, also features in the visitors’ front row.
Quill, second row Nick Civetta and replacement Ryan Matyas all scored tries in the US Eagles’ 55-19 defeat to Ireland in New Jersey in June of last year. This will be the Americans’ first match in Dublin since the 2004 encounter at the old Lansdowne Road when a certain Tommy Bowe made a try-scoring debut.
The other changes see Hanco Germishuys replace the injured Tony Lamborn at openside flanker and Will Hooley returns to full-back having been pulled from the line-up against Romania as a precaution. Western Force’s Marcel Brache shifts to the left wing.
The Eagles have added Cardiff’s Samu Manoa and uncapped prop Chance Wenglewski to the bench, and reserve front rowers also include Dylan Fawsitt who won the Leinster Schools Senior Cup with Blackrock College in 2009 and played club rugby with Greystones and St. Mary’s College before moving Stateside in 2014.
With his team claiming the scalps of Scotland and Samoa in recent months, moving to a best ever world ranking of 13th in the process, Gold said: “We know this weekend will present our greatest challenge yet with the Ireland side still buzzing from their historic victory over the All Blacks.
“Ireland will be relentless as ever this weekend and our guys have spent the last week ensuring that they approach Saturday’s game with the level of intensity that will put us in the best position to meet the fight.”
IRELAND: Will Addison (Enniskillen/Ulster); Andrew Conway (Garryowen/Munster), Garry Ringrose (UCD/Leinster), Stuart McCloskey (Bangor/Ulster), Darren Sweetnam (Cork Constitution/Munster); Joey Carbery (Clontarf/Munster), John Cooney (Terenure College/Ulster); Dave Kilcoyne (UL Bohemians/Munster), Niall Scannell (Dolphin/Munster), Finlay Bealham (Buccaneers/Connacht), Tadhg Beirne (Munster), Iain Henderson (Queen’s University/Ulster), Rhys Ruddock (St. Mary’s College/Leinster) (capt), Jordi Murphy (Lansdowne/Ulster), Jack Conan (Old Belvedere/Leinster).
Replacements: Rob Herring (Ballynahinch/Ulster), Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster), John Ryan (Cork Constitution/Munster), Quinn Roux (Galwegians/Connacht), Josh van der Flier (UCD/Leinster), Luke McGrath (UCD/Leinster), Ross Byrne (UCD/Leinster), Sam Arnold (Garryowen/Munster).
USA: Will Hooley (Bedford Blues); Blaine Scully (Cardiff Blues) (capt), Bryce Campbell (London Irish), Paul Lasike (Harlequins), Marcel Brache (Perth/Western Force); Will Magie (Glendale Raptors), Shaun Davies (Glendale Raptors); Titi Lamositele (Saracens), Joe Taufete’e (Worcester Warriors), Paul Mullen (Unattached), Greg Peterson (Glasgow Warriors), Nick Civetta (Doncaster Knights), John Quill (Glendale Raptors), Hanco Germishuys (Unattached), Cam Dolan (NOLA Gold).
Replacements: Dylan Fawsitt (Old Blue New York/Rugby United New York), Chance Wenglewski (Lindenwood University), Dino Waldren (London Scottish), Samu Manoa (Cardiff Blues), David Tameilau (Glasgow Warriors), Ruben de Haas (Free State Cheetahs), Gannon Moore (North Harbour Rugby), Ryan Matyas (San Diego Legion).
Referee: Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand)
Assistant Referees: Nic Berry (Australia), Marius Mitrea (Italy)
Television Match Official: Ian Davies (Wales)
Match Odds (Paddy Power): Ireland to win: 1/100; Draw: 100/1; USA to win: 40/1
Pre-Match Quotes: Joe Schmidt (Ireland) – “I wanted Stu (McCloskey) to get in between a couple of ball players (in Joey and Garry), but challenge him to be a ball player as well. I think we know he’s a ball carrier, we know how strong he is.
“(Paul) Lasike is one of the few men in world rugby that is actually bigger than Stu in his face-to-face kind of positional challenge. Stu’s ball-carrying will be challenged but also his ability to link and I think his ability to stay connected defensively and make some really good defensive decisions.
“I thought Garry was outstanding last week. Not just in the tackle delivery but in linking with Bundee (Aki) and making sure that we closed down what is an incredibly difficult team to close down through that middle of the pitch.
“So, those are the challenges for Stu, but at the same time we’re looking forward to seeing him deliver his strengths but challenging him on those things that we’ve seen him prove through his performances in Ulster. There’s not too much referencing of last week, it’s mostly been around what we want to do, and then about making sure we’re conscious of just how good the American team is.
“Putting it into context, their win against Scotland in the summer…if you’re not absolutely on the money, then there’s a big risk for us. It certainly helps focus the mind, focus the training and allows you to leave behind last week, special as it was for us. I did give the players an extra half-a-day off as a result of that, which is pretty huge!
“John (Cooney) has had to be pretty patient. For the last few trainings, he’s had more of a portion of the time with the shadow 15. That gives him a little bit more rhythm. His kicking game is strong. He has a very sharp pass, and I’m hoping we’re going to see the benefit of both of those skills.
“On the other side of the ball, he’s a resolute defender, he’s a smart defender, covering the space behind as well as filling in the front-line. Sammy (Arnold) is a player who has some raw talent. We’re just continually trying to hone and probably fine-tune that raw talent.
“One of the things that impresses me most about Sammy is just how hard he works off the pitch so he can deliver on it. What he’s committed to the team and preparation last week and in the other preparation windows that he’s been involved in, he’s really rolled his sleeves up and earned this opportunity to get off the bench and get his first cap.”
John Quill (USA) – “Looking forward to it. Definitely a big occasion for me. I kinda had this one marked in my calendar a while out there. It’s a good opportunity for us as a team to take another step. There’s definitely a few faces I’ll recognise this weekend. I played against them (Ireland) the summer before last in New Jersey. Niall was playing that day.
“The result last weekend was an epic result for them. They have that squad where it doesn’t matter who they’re putting out this weekend. It’s still going to be a massive ask for us. A challenge we’re looking forward to. We always do look forward to these challenges against the big tier one nations.
“We got the result we were looking for against Samoa (winning 30-29) even if we probably didn’t perform the way we wanted to. That’s the problem when you’re looking for cohesion and you only have a week after all the guys came back in.
“We kicked on last weekend against Romania (with a 31-5 victory). We don’t miss being in Romania, that’s for sure. It’s not easy and they don’t make it easy for you! We got the result and we’re moving in the direction we want to go.”
Pre-Match Links –
Irish Rugby TV: Rhys Ruddock – Ireland v USA Captain’s Run Preview
Irish Rugby TV: Ireland Team Announcement Press Conference
In Pics: Ireland Training At Carton House
Sexton And Molloy Selected As Irish Rugby Writers’ Players Of The Year
Recent Meetings –
2011: Rugby World Cup Pool C: Ireland 22 USA 10, Yarrow Stadium, New Plymouth
2013: Summer Tour Test: USA 12 Ireland 15, BBVA Compass Stadium, Houston
2017: Summer Tour: USA 19 Ireland 55, Red Bull Arena, Harrison, New Jersey
Support Ireland on www.irishrugby.ie/facebook or search #IREvUSA, #TeamOfUs and #ShouldertoShoulder on www.twitter.com/irishrugby.
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