Ireland XV v England A
Thomond Park (7.15pm, Premier Sports, Friday)
“I honestly think it’s as important to us as any of these Six Nations games, because the lads have to know that they can handle what we’ve just been talking about [big match opportunity and responsibility] and then put in a performance.
“Stepping up and performing against that type of calibre of team that England will bring will be a huge game for us all going forward, certainly over the next 18 months.”
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Those words belong to Ireland head coach Andy Farrell and were delivered in response to a question about where Friday night’s game fits into his plans. There is no ambiguity: this game matters for those players seeking to progress their national team ambitions. It’s a benchmarking moment in time.
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Some of the Irish senior coaching group are expected to step off the flight from Paris to Dublin after Thursday’s opening Six Nations match and head straight to Thomond Park, Limerick, to watch the game.
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There’s plenty to unpack in the team. Wings Joshua Kenny and Zac Ward are enjoying superb seasons and there will be a frisson of excitement if they get possession in a meaningful way going forward. There is another player in the three-quarter-line, Munster’s summer signing Dan Kelly (24), whose performance will be scrutinised closely.
A quick recap on his backstory. Born in Rochdale, near Manchester, he studied at Loughborough University before being picked as an 18-year-old for the Ireland team in the 2020 under-20 Six Nations. His dad’s father hailed from Dublin’s Liberties.
Kelly played outside centre alongside future senior internationals Tom Stewart, Thomas Clarkson, Tom Ahern, Joe McCarthy, Cian Prendergast, Ben Murphy and Jack Crowley in an Irish 20s side that won all three matches and a Triple Crown before the tournament was abandoned due to the Covid pandemic.
A decision to pursue his studies at Loughborough and the difference between a reputed academy contract offer in Ireland and a senior one from Leicester Tigers persuaded him to plump for the latter, which included a proviso that he declared for England, for whom he won a senior cap against Canada in the summer of 2021.
Having accepted Munster’s offer and requalified for Ireland after a three-year stand down from Test rugby, he played for the Irish XV in the victory over Spain. Kelly can play both centre positions and, as he demonstrated with a brilliant individual try against Glasgow recently, possesses serious pace.
Jude Postlethwaite, his midfield partner against Spain, is with the senior squad in Paris. Kelly can see the route and the game against England A is another staging post on the journey. He’s a better player now than when he wore the green jersey as an age-grade player.
“What I’ve loved about the transfer coming over from Leicester to Munster is the ambition of Irish rugby and going back to my 20s when I was under Noel McNamara, how much he wanted the team to play,” he said.
“I almost forgot what it was like to have the shackles off. There is structure, but you can do what you want with [it].” Pointing to how the Tigers were very structured in how they played during his time there, and were focused on good set piece and defence, he’s relishing the increased creative freedom, saying his skill set and particularly his passing has come on appreciably since moving to Munster.
Kelly is one of many with an incentive to step up at Thomond Park: from loosehead prop Billy Bohan (20), flanker Bryn Ward (21), tighthead prop Scott Wilson (23), secondrow Charlie Irvine (23) and number eight Brian Gleeson (22) to the other side of the experience spectrum in Ciarán Frawley, who celebrates a return to his favoured position of outhalf.
Gus McCarthy (22) is a poster boy for the “good enough, old enough” adage. There’s plenty to come from the bench too: Cathal Forde and Sean Jansen are two in-form Connacht players.
England A are backboned by Harlequins and Leicester Tigers and have plenty of pace and power at their disposal.
This will be a proper test for Ireland in every respect. There’s plenty at stake individually and collectively and if the weather would only play ball it’s a matchup chock-full of interesting subplots that will arguably matter more than the final score.
IRELAND XV: Shane Daly (Munster); Joshua Kenny (Leinster), James Hume (Ulster), Dan Kelly (Munster), Zac Ward (Ulster); Ciarán Frawley (Leinster), Fintan Gunne (Leinster); Billy Bohan (Connacht), Gus McCarthy (Leinster), Scott Wilson (Ulster); Charlie Irvine (Ulster), Fineen Wycherley (Munster); Max Deegan (Leinster, capt), Bryn Ward (Ulster), Brian Gleeson (Munster).
Replacements: Diarmuid Barron (Munster), Sam Crean (Ulster), Jack Aungier (Connacht), Harry Sheridan (Ulster), Paul Boyle (Connacht), Matthew Devine (Connacht), Cathal Forde (Connacht), Sean Jansen (Connacht).
ENGLAND A: Joe Carpenter (Sale); Cadan Murley (Harlequins), Luke Northmore (Harlequins), Orlando Bailey (Leicester), Ollie Hassell-Collins (Leicester); Billy Searle (Leicester), Harry Randall (Bristol); Tarek Haffar (Leicester), Jamie Blamire (Leicester), George Kloska (Bristol); Ben Bamber (Sale), Joe Batley (Bristol); Ethan Roots (Exeter, capt), Jack Kenningham (Harlequins), Alex Dombrandt (Harlequins).
Replacements: Kepueli Tuipulotu (Bath), Archie van der Flier (Leicester), Afolabi Fasogbon (Gloucester), Hugh Tizard (Saracens), Fitz Harding (Bristol), Raffi Quirke (Sale), Charlie Atkinson (Gloucester), George Hendy (Northampton).
