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Irish Times
07-07-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
Ireland's six debutants against Georgia: What they said and what song they sang
Ireland 's six debutants were presented with their caps in the dressingroom where Ireland's interim head coach Paul O'Connell did the honours before IRFU president Declan Madden repeated the gesture in the more formal setting of the post-match dinner with the Georgia team looked on as the players had to sing. Tommy O'Brien 'It was a crazy good start. I have to thank Sammy [Prendergast] for them [the two tries], he helped me out. Listen, when it comes like that you just grab it with both hands. I was actually okay. I played a good few big games recently for Leinster, so the nerves were okay. 'I was a bit emotional listening to the anthem now all right. I guess I was just thinking back to the people at home that were watching, probably seeing me up on the screen and stuff. I was just delighted to give them a great day out.' Song: Firework (Katie Perry) READ MORE Darragh Murray Ireland's Darragh Murray after the game with his first cap. Photograph: Ben Brady/Inpho 'It was unbelievable, the lads made it such a special week for us. We had full licence to go out there and be ourselves. Calling the lineout, it was a bit of added pressure, but all the lads got behind me. Paulie made it very easy for us on options, and it was such an enjoyable week. 'The highlight is just getting out and wearing a green jersey. It was so special. I tried to take it in and not get ahead of myself, which is something that can happen. A lineout steal is always an added plus, to disrupt them and their set piece. 'We knew that the Georgian team are a big, physical side. That's what we wanted to bring especially in our tackling, get off the line. The most nerve racking ... the singing, that's what I was most worried about, not the game.' Song: Country Roads (John Denver). Jack Aungier Ireland's Jack Aungier after the game with his first cap. Photograph: Ben Brady/Inpho 'That first scrum is something I won't forget, when I got up and saw that we had won a penalty. I think it was all Michael Milne, but we won't give him that credit. It was a frontrow effort. It was great. Set piece was solid, I was happy enough with the way it went. It was a proud day. 'I am very easy going and I tried to keep it as normal as possible until Friday night when Craig [Casey] sat down and said it's not normal to play for Ireland. It is an incredible privilege to wear an international jersey; not many people get to do it. My [nerves] kicked in when he said that, when you think about it in that way. 'I saw the lads [Michael Milne and Tom Stewart] go on at 56 or 57 minutes and I knew it would be soon after that. It's actually a bit nerve racking watching, when you get on it's the same as any other game to be honest, a bit more physical and faster. Song: Piano Man (Billy Joel) Michael Milne Ireland's Michael Milne after the game with his first cap. Photograph: Ben Brady/Inpho 'I think before the match the highlight when I got a bit of time to reflect a little was to be the first international from Birr rugby club. It means an awful lot to me and my family. It is a club that has done an awful lot for me, and I am proud to represent them. 'On the pitch it was the first scrum and winning the penalty. Me and Jack Aungier just got up and looked at each other. We smiled and gave each other a nod. It was a great moment. 'I suppose it is something that you dream of as a kid but when you are playing Under-10s and 11s for Birr you never think that you are going to play for Ireland. When you get to represent your country at the highest level it's an unbelievable feeling. It's everything.' Song: Sweet Caroline (Neil Diamond). Tom Ahern Ireland's Tom Ahern after the game with his first cap. Photograph: Ben Brady/Inpho 'It feels amazing, a dream come true. It's something I have wanted for a long time, so it's a very special feeling. 'No, I wasn't too nervous. There was a lot of excitement to be honest. I was just absolutely buzzing to get an opportunity to play for this team. It's a special group of players and I'm delighted to get a chance to play with them. 'Yeah, my parents, Anthony and Jessie came over, so that made it a lot more special. They sacrificed a lot for me when I was younger, so to have them over here means the world to me. Obviously, there's not too much rugby played down in Waterford, so they were driving me all across the province for training sessions and matches. I owe a lot to them and to have them here is absolutely brilliant. 'Growing up, I was looking up to Jack O'Donoghue. He got the opportunity to do it as well, so it was always something that I saw and I strived for.' Song: The Gambler Ben Murphy Ireland's Ben Murphy after the game with his first cap. Photograph: Ben Brady/Inpho 'It was challenging playing in a game with so much emotion on it, trying to keep them in check and focus on the game. I was pretty calm this week, we had a nice presentation on Thursday, and it was good to let a couple of emotions out. 'I got a video from home from my parents, my brother and my dog, which was very nice and a video of highlights throughout the years from school all the way up. It was emotional seeing all the journey back, but it made me hungrier. 'We haven't been together very long, but we got around each other over the last few weeks. It was a big challenge set to us when we came into camp whether we could do this. We answered a lot of questions tonight. I think we can grow again next weekend. Song: Angels (Robbie Williams)
Irish Times
05-07-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
New Irish blood primed for more than a battle in Georgia
Georgia v Ireland, Mikheil Meskhi Stadium, Tbilisi, Saturday, 6pm Irish time – Live on Virgin Media One Results matter, but it's not a deflection to suggest there is far more at stake than the outcome when Ireland take on Georgia on Saturday night in Tbilisi. At its very heart is individual jeopardy, the chance for players to step up or tumble back into a pursuing pack of peers eager to wrestle away a jersey. Fitting in takes them so far on the training ground, learning by rote and repetition, but the Test match environment is different. It requires some free thinking and freestyling, an ability to interpret, adapt and adjust in a nanosecond when struggling to breathe, never mind think. That's when reputations are burnished or burned. It can be very unforgiving. Six Ireland players in Saturday's squad, as yet uncapped, will be put through a rigorous initiation process. They know what's coming but can they cope or, even better, flourish? Two of them, right wing Tommy O'Brien and secondrow Darragh Murray, who will call the lineout, won't have to sit on their nerves in the stands. Pedigree-wise they are excellent prospects. Ireland's interim head coach Paul O'Connell endorsed their readiness. READ MORE 'Tommy has just had a real bad run with injuries over the last number of years but it's very interesting, sometimes a player will come close to the squad, or they come in and train but the players from that province will say, 'he's really good by the way, he does this really well'. 'You know he's a good player when the players are talking about a player and saying as soon as he's injury-free or as soon as he gets a run at games, he's going to be excellent. A lot of the Leinster guys have always said that about Tommy O'Brien. 'Johnny Sexton, in particular, is really complimentary of him. But he's everything you'd want as a player. He's fast, he's creative, he's brave, he's not afraid to try things. He's really, really tough as well. He just gets on with it in training. He's a fantastic player. We're very excited to give him an opportunity. 'Darragh is a big man, 120 kilos, but he's a lovely, calm presence in the lineout, calm presence around the field. You don't have to explain things much to Darragh, he just gets them straight away. When he comes in with us, like when we had him on the Emerging Tour, he just gets it very quickly and gets going very quickly. So, it's exciting for the two of them.' They're far from alone. Everyone has something to prove. A cohort of frontline Ireland players are a hemisphere away and, in their absence, opportunity beckons. In a macro sense there's no doubting the importance of this Test match as a marker en route to the 2027 World Cup in Australia, just shy of the two-year klaxon. It would take a small forest to itemise everything that's at stake for individual Irish players but in a broader context, how the halfbacks fare and manage the game, Craig Casey's captaincy, the Ireland scrum, breakdown and attacking fluency are some of the headings that will interest supporters. There was a time when discussing Georgia started and finished with their love of a scrum and a collision but that would do the current side a huge disservice. Richard Cockerill has given them a framework, assisted by Templeogue's finest, Conor McPhillips, Roddy Grant and Australian Julian Salvi. You don't have all that rugby IQ and not benefit. Cockerill smiled during the week when asked if rain might make for a more attritional contest. It was on his wish list, but the forecast is for a dry night. It's not as if Georgia are one-dimensional in orientation, as they have one of the best backs in world rugby in La Rochelle-bound fullback Davit Niniashvili. Right wing Akaki Tabutsadze has scored 50 tries in 51 Tests, centre Giorgi Kveseladze made a huge impression during his time at Gloucester, while replacement outhalf Tedo Abzhandadze spent a season playing with the Terenure under-20s. There's the usual cast of quality forwards, with a healthy tranche of the team playing their club rugby in France. Asking locally about the likely atmosphere the word 'bear pit' came up more than once. For those that like a lesser spotted statistic, something's got to give as neither Georgia nor Ireland has lost when refereed by an Italian. Andrea Piardi, who will referee the first Test between Australia and the British and Irish Lions, has the whistle in Tbilisi. It promises to be a belter. GEORGIA: D Niniashvili (La Rochelle); A Tabutsadze (Black Lion), D Tapladze (Black Lion), G Kveseladze (Grenoble), S Todua (Black Lion); L Matkava (Oyonnax), V Lobzhanidze (Oyonnax); G Akhaladze (Clermont), V Karkadze (Oyonnax), I Aptsiauri (Lyon); M Babunashvili (Black Lion), L Chachanidze (Stade Montois); L Ivanishvili (Black Lion), B Saghinadze (Lyon, capt), T Jalagonia (Provence). Replacements: I Kvatadze (Black Lion), G Tetrashvili (USA Perpignan), B Gigashvili (RC Toulon), G Javakhia (FC Grenoble), I Spanderashvili (Valence-Romans), M Alania (RC Vannes), T Abzhandadze (Stade Aurillacois), Tornike Kakhoidze (Black Lion). IRELAND : Jimmy O'Brien (Leinster); Tommy O'Brien (Leinster); Jamie Osborne (Leinster), Stuart McCloskey (Ulster), Jacob Stockdale (Ulster); Sam Prendergast (Leinster), Craig Casey (Munster, capt); Jack Boyle (Leinster), Gus McCarthy (Leinster), Thomas Clarkson (Leinster); Cormac Izuchukwu (Ulster), Darragh Murray (Connacht); Ryan Baird (Leinster), Nick Timoney (Ulster), Gavin Coombes (Munster). Replacements : Tom Stewart (Ulster), Michael Milne (Munster), Jack Aungier (Connacht), Tom Ahern (Munster), Cian Prendergast (Connacht), Ben Murphy (Connacht), Jack Crowley (Munster), Calvin Nash (Munster). Referee: A Piardi (Italy).
BBC News
03-07-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Ireland performance in Georgia 'won't be perfect'
Interim head coach Paul O'Connell says a youthful Ireland's performance in Georgia on Saturday "won't be perfect".O'Connell has handed debuts to second row Darragh Murray and wing Tommy O'Brien, while four more players could make their first Ireland appearance off the bench. Ireland are without the 16 players who are in Australia with the British and Irish Lions, and captain Caelan Doris and Robbie Henshaw are missing through former Ireland lock O'Connell says preparations have "been good", he says learning from mistakes will be part of the process in Tbilisi."We're aware of that even when we play with the most experienced internationals," O'Connell said."We're trying to make the players aware of that as well is really important and we just have to crack on."Jacob Stockdale is the most-capped player with 39 caps, while Stuart McCloskey is the only player over the age of 30. Eleven of the starting 15 have fewer than 10 caps, something that also applies to all but one of the replacements, and O'Connell admits there will likely be some nerves in his players."That's part of it, you almost have to experience that to learn how to figure it out," he said."That's why we wanted them in that two-week prep window as that's what international rugby is all about. "They experience how to come in and learn quickly and how to get aligned quickly."Ultimately until you are in the middle of it and you make a mistake, it's only by getting on the field and experiencing it that you really learn."O'Connell added that facing Georgia, who defeated Japan and Tonga last year and narrowly lost to Italy, will be a "real challenge" for his players. "It's not a Test match of small significance, it's a match where they have to perform."They are going to learn a lot, we are going to learn a lot."
The 42
03-07-2025
- Sport
- The 42
Two debutants feature in Ireland team to face Georgia
TWO DEBUTANTS have been included to start Ireland's opening game of the two-Test Summer series against Georgia on Saturday evening in Mikheil Meskhi Stadium, Tbilisi (kick off: 6pm Irish time, live on Virgin Media). Leinster winger Tommy O'Brien and Connacht lock Darragh Murray feature in the team, with several big names missing due to their British and Irish Lions commitments. Ireland interim head coach Paul O'Connell has also selected four uncapped players on the bench — Munster duo Michael Milne and Tom Ahern, as well as Connacht pair Jack Aungier and Ben Murphy. Advertisement Meanwhile, Craig Casey captains Ireland for the first time. The Munster star becomes the 112th Ireland Test captain since 1875 and the third scrum-half to do so in the professional era after Niall Hogan (three times) and Eoin Reddan (once). Ireland team to play Georgia: 15: Jimmy O'Brien (Naas/Leinster)(8) 14: Tommy O'Brien (UCD/Leinster)* 13: Jamie Osborne (Naas/Leinster)(7) 12: Stuart McCloskey (Bangor/Ulster)(19) 11: Jacob Stockdale (Lurgan/Ulster)(38) 10: Sam Prendergast (Lansdowne/Leinster)(8) 9: Craig Casey (Shannon/Munster)(captain)(18) 1: Jack Boyle (UCD/Leinster)(2) 2: Gus McCarthy (UCD/Leinster)(4) 3: Thomas Clarkson (Dublin University/Leinster)(6) 4: Cormac Izuchukwu (Ballynahinch/Ulster)(1) 5: Darragh Murray (Buccaneers/Connacht)* 6: Ryan Baird (Dublin University/Leinster)(27) 7: Nick Timoney (Banbridge/Ulster)(3) 8: Gavin Coombes (Young Munster/Munster)(2) Replacements: 16: Tom Stewart (Ballynahinch/Ulster)(2) 17: Michael Milne (UCD/Munster)* 18: Jack Aungier (Clontarf/Connacht)* 19: Tom Ahern (Shannon/Munster)* 20: Cian Prendergast (UCD/Connacht)(4) 21: Ben Murphy (Clontarf/Connacht)* 22: Jack Crowley (Cork Constitution/Munster)(24) 23: Calvin Nash (Young Munster/Munster)(10) *denotes uncapped
The Star
03-07-2025
- Sport
- The Star
Rugby-Depleted Ireland name much-changed side for Georgia test
(Reuters) -Wing Tommy O'Brien and lock Darragh Murray will make their debuts for Ireland after interim coach Paul O'Connell named his side to face Georgia in Tbilisi on Saturday, a selection without 16 players on British and Irish Lions duty in Australia. O'Brien forms a back three with wing Jacob Stockdale and full-back Jimmy O'Brien, with Stuart McCloskey and Jamie Osborne chosen as the centre pairing. Sam Prendergast is at flyhalf and scrumhalf Craig Casey will captain the side for the first time. Gus McCarthy packs down at hooker with props Jack Boyle and Thomas Clarkson either side of him, while Cormac Izuchukwu and Murray are in the second row and number eight Gavin Coombes forms a loose-forward trio with Ryan Baird and Nick Timoney. There are a further four uncapped players on the bench in props Michael Milne and Jack Aungier, lock Tom Ahern and scrumhalf Ben Murphy. "Saturday's game presents an exciting opportunity for this group of players," O'Connell said. "Craig has taken to captaincy impressively. He's going to relish leading his country and I know how keen he is to make his mark alongside the rest of the players. "Though light in terms of international caps in some areas, there's also a nice blend of experience in the squad." Ireland have won all five previous tests they have played against Georgia. Ireland team: 15–Jimmy O'Brien, 14–Tommy O'Brien, 13–Jamie Osborne, 12–Stuart McCloskey, 11–Jacob Stockdale, 10–Sam Prendergast, 9–Craig Casey (captain), 8–Gavin Coombes, 7–Nick Timoney, 6–Ryan Baird, 5–Darragh Murray, 4–Cormac Izuchukwu, 3–Thomas Clarkson, 2–Gus McCarthy, 1–Jack Boyle. Replacements: 16–Tom Stewart, 17–Michael Milne, 18–Jack Aungier, 19–Tom Ahern, 20–Cian Prendergast, 21–Ben Murphy, 22–Jack Crowley, 23–Calvin Nash. (Reporting by Nick Said; Editing by Alex Richardson)
