Lions 2025: Send in your questions for Gerry Thornley
Lions tour
is in full swing and rugby correspondent Gerry Thornley is in Australia following all the action.
We'd like to hear from readers if you've any questions about the Lions, this tour, the matches or anything else that comes to mind.
Gerry will answer a selection of them in the coming weeks.
Submit your questions using the form below. Please limit your submissions to 400 words or less. Please include a phone number for verification purposes only. If you would prefer to remain anonymous, please indicate this in your submission – we will keep your name and contact details confidential.
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Irish Times
5 hours ago
- Irish Times
Aoife Wafer ruled out of Ireland's Rugby World Cup opener against Japan
Aoife Wafer has been ruled out of Ireland's World Cup opener against Japan this coming Sunday. The backrow forward, named player of the tournament during the last Six Nations, has not joined the squad in England yet as she recovers from knee surgery. After arriving in Northampton on Friday, Ireland began their build-up for their opener on Tuesday without a full complement at training. Wafer will link up with the group this weekend with a view to returning to training next week ahead of the clash with Spain. 'Thirty-one players have come through training,' said Ireland assistant coach Larissa Muldoon. 'Aoife Wafer stayed at home just to work on a few bits of rehab. She will join us next week in preparation looking into Spain.' READ MORE World Rugby rules for tournament participants state that if a player travels to the host nation, they must be replaced should they leave the country without being replaced in the squad. This is to avoid handing nations closer to the hosts an advantage over those with more onerous travel. With this in mind, Wafer has been left in Dublin until she can take part in training. During the 2023 men's World Cup, Stuart McCloskey returned home from France for the birth of his child, only to rejoin the group with special dispensation from World Rugby. Ireland's co-captain Edel McMahon, who is another injury doubt with a knee issue, took part in training in Northampton this week. 'She's a massive personality back in the group, amazing leader,' said Muldoon. 'The girls just stride around her. It's fantastic to have her back in the environment and the standards she sets.' With Wafer out and McMahon's status still up in the air, Ireland's backrow depth is set to be tested on Sunday against a Japanese outfit renowned for their ability at the breakdown. Muldoon pointed to her confidence in Ireland's potential replacements for these key players. 'People forget the like of Claire Boles have come back in,' said the former Ireland scrumhalf. 'Ivana Kiripati has come through the Under-20s pathway. [There are] amazing players coming through and giving us that element of competition in our training environment and identity, which is all a part of this green wave. 'Japan are ... a very ball-focused team. They have some key personnel that love to target ball. Their kick to create something, fantastic opportunities there across the park. We've done our homework but it's all about us.'
Extra.ie
6 hours ago
- Extra.ie
Brian O'Driscoll: ‘Ambitious' Aoife Wafer boosts Ireland's World Cup hopes
The Rugby World Cup is here and now and one of the major talking points for Ireland ahead of their pool stage is the fitness of Aoife Wafer and Edel McMahon. The pair have had a less than ideal preparation for the World Cup as they've been injured and missed out on both warm-up games. Both have been absent due to knee issues but were still selected by Scott Bemand for the World Cup squad earlier this month. Aoife Wafer of Ireland, left, celebrates with teammates Edel McMahon and Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe after scoring her side's second try during the Women's Rugby International match between Ireland and Australia at the Kingspan Stadium in Belfast. Pic: Oliver McVeigh/Sportsfile It's unlikely that either will start against Japan in Ireland's opening match but they'll be brought in mid-tournament. That could become an issue for some teams, not just for the fact that neither have prepped as desired but also squad cohesion, a player could've been working hard for the past 12 weeks to earn a spot in a matchday squad and they lose it straight away for someone returning from injury. That can be the case but for players as good as McMahon and especially Aoife Wafer, Brian O'Driscoll believe that their quality is enough for them to bring straight in. Brian O'Driscoll and Lynne Cantwell have teamed up to celebrate Defender as Principal Partner for the Women's Rugby World Cup 2025. Pic: Photocall Ireland Speaking at the Defender Event for the launch of the Women's Rugby World Cup, the Irish legend spoke about how bringing in players like Wafer and McMahon should boost the squad. 'The two [Wafer and McMahon] coming in, particularly Aoife Wafer with what she's done under the course of the last year, 18 months. Like, if she's fit and she's playing, you know, 80, 90% fit, she's going to add massive value to the team. 'She's going to improve the team and that's the reality of sport, where there's certain players, when they come in, they elevate everyone else's game, they make everyone feel as though they have a greater fighting chance and so I don't think he can ever look at it from a negative point of view when one of your stars returns to the team after injury.' Aoife Wafer of Ireland makes a pass during the Ireland V England, Women's Six Nations Rugby match at Virgin Media Park on April 12th, 2025, in Cork, Ireland. (Photo by Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images) There's pressure on this Irish team to perform after their results in the last year, especially for Wafer. Sometimes you forget how young she is as the 22-year old has quickly become Ireland's most important player and one of the best back rowers in Europe. O'Driscoll said that even at her age, she seemingly has the mindset to carry the expectation. 'Just listening to her she sounds like she's incredibly ambitious and has self belief and that's half the battle around genuinely backing yourself, around believing that you can be a world class operator and then putting yourself in a position to be able to deliver it.' 'Sometimes it's a bit frustrating when, maybe in the back of her head, she isn't in the perfect position to deliver what we have seen over the last 18 months, but I guess we'll see in the coming weeks what level she's at with her injury, but you want to perform on the biggest stage.' Brian O'Driscoll and Lynne Cantwell have teamed up to celebrate Defender as Principal Partner for the Women's Rugby World Cup 2025. Pic: Photocall Ireland O'Driscoll spoke about how despite his decorated career that he probably only has one good World Cup performance to show for it. He explains how a player like Wafer will want the team overall to perform and get the best result they can. 'I was lucky to play in a few World Cups and played well and one of them, probably, 2003 albeit, got beaten out the gate in a quarterfinals. So you put any personal satisfaction to one side because of the team disappointment. So I'm sure she'll just want to get the opportunity to pull on the jersey and to play really well, not just for her, but for for the progress of the team to bring them forward and elevate the overall, and kind of team outcome.' It all gets underway for Ireland this Sunday August 22 as they play Japan in Northampton at Franklin Gardens, with kick-off at 12pm live on RTÉ2. Defender partners with The Women's Rugby World Cup 2025, which runs from 22 August to 27 September in eight cities across England, kicking off with England vs USA at the Stadium of Light in Sunderland.
The 42
a day ago
- The 42
South Africa ring the changes after Australia defeat in Rugby Championship
SOUTH AFRICA HAVE made 10 changes to their starting team for their second Rugby Championship match against Australia at the Cape Town Stadium on Saturday. Head coach Rassie Erasmus announced the new-look team on Tuesday and said the Springboks were determined to 'get things right' after their shock 38-22 defeat against the same opponents in Johannesburg last weekend. Four of the changes were because of injuries to captain Siya Kolisi as well as wings Kurt-Lee Arendse and Edwill van der Merwe and flank Pieter-Steph du Toit. Centre Jesse Kriel, one of five survivors from the Johannesburg defeat, will captain the team for the second time in his career. Prop Ox Nche, who also played last Saturday, will be vice-captain for the first time. Advertisement 'We lost four players to injury, which obviously had an impact on a few of our selections but we also know where we went wrong against Australia last week,' said Erasmus. The Springboks opted for experience with Willie le Roux at full-back and Handre Pollard at fly-half, while Damian de Allende has recovered from injury and will reunite with Kriel in one of South Africa's most successful centre pairings. Le Roux, Pollard and De Allende have a total of 271 caps between them. There is also a return to a 6-2 forwards-backs split on the bench with Erasmus able to call on a powerful back-up tight five which includes lock Eben Etzebeth, South Africa's most-capped player. Erasmus said he was expecting another physical battle against the Wallabies, who recovered from being 22-0 down after 20 minutes to secure a six-tries-to-three victory last week. 'We are still hurting from that result and the coaches and players are extremely disappointed with the way we played last week,' said Erasmus. 'We know we didn't play according to our standards in the second half and we must rectify that.' South Africa (v Australia) (15-9) Willie le Roux; Canan Moodie, Jesse Kriel (captain), Damian de Allende, Cheslin Kolbe; Handre Pollard, Grant Williams; (1-8) Ox Nche, Malcolm Marx, Thomas du Toit; RG Snyman, Ruan Nortje; Marco van Staden, Franco Mostert, Jean-Luc du Preez. Replacements: Marnus van der Merwe, Boan Venter, Wilco Louw, Eben Etzebeth, Lood de Jager, Kwagga Smith, Cobus Reinach, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu. – © AFP 2025
