Irish Rugby

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Ireland back row Jack Conan says a hangover from the British and Irish Lions tour "is not on anyone's mind" before the Chicago rematch with New Zealand.

Andy Farrell's Lions' panel contained 18 Ireland players, but Leinster - who had a 14-strong contingent in Australia - have lost three out of four United Rugby Championship games this season.

Ireland will face New Zealand in Chicago on 1 November at Soldier Field, where the they famously defeated the All Blacks for the first time in 2016.

"I don't think it's a thing myself," said Conan when asked if he had any worries about a lingering hangover for Ireland from the Lions tour.

"I don't think anyone could say that Tadhg Beirne has had a Lions malaise or however you put it. Over the weekend [in Munster's 31-14 win over Leinster] he was fantastic.

"Obviously things didn't go right for the Leinster lads against Munster the other day but there was still some good performances in there.

"It's not something that is on anyone's mind. I think the lads will be fresh and ready to go. There will be no lack of motivation for next week or the coming weeks."

Conan missed the Munster defeat with a "niggle" but could make his first appearance of the season in Chicago against New Zealand.

As a large number of Ireland's internationals were away with the Lions in the summer, the last time a full-strength Irish side played together was in March's Six Nations finale in Italy.

In that time, New Zealand have played nine matches and narrowly missed out on winning the Rugby Championship - and Conan says Farrell's side will be ready to face the All Blacks despite the lack of international minutes.

"It's unacceptable in this environment to have any excuses for not performing well," Conan said.

"There's no excuses. It's great to be over here now to have the time to train together without the distraction of travel.

"We'll prep really well for next week. We've done it before and we'll do it again."

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Ulster hooker Tom Stewart will captain an Ireland XV against Spain in Leganes on Saturday, 8 November.

Stewart will lead a 28-strong panel which consists of test-capped Ireland players, in-form provincial players and emerging talent.

The 24-year-old is one of nine players who have appeared for Ireland's senior team alongside Tom O'Toole, Michael Milne, Darragh Murray, Robert Baloucoune, Shayne Bolton, Harry Byrne, Michael Lowry and Ben Murphy.

Scott Wilson, David McCann, Nathan Doak, Jack Murphy, Jude Postlehwaite and former Ireland sevens star Zac Ward join Stewart, O'Toole, Baloucoune and Lowry in a 10-strong Ulster contingent for the game against Spain, who came second in the Europe International Championship behind Georgia.

Cullie Tucker, who was part of Ireland's summer coaching team in Georgia and Portugal, will be head coach for the game in Spain, which takes place after Andy Farrell's senior team host Japan in Dublin at 12:30 GMT.

Ireland XV Squad

Forwards: Lee Barron (Munster), James Culhane (Leinster), Sam Illo (Connacht), Sean Jansen (Connacht), Diarmuid Mangan (Leinster), David McCann (Ulster), John McKee (Leinster), Michael Milne (Munster), Darragh Murray (Connacht), Evan O'Connell (Munster), Tom O'Toole (Ulster), Ruadhan Quinn (Munster), Alex Soroka (Leinster), Tom Stewart - captain (Ulster), Alex Usanov (Leinster), Scott Wilson (Ulster)

Backs: Robert Baloucoune (Ulster), Shayne Bolton (Connacht), Harry Byrne (Leinster), Nathan Doak (Ulster), Cathal Forde (Connacht), Fintan Gunne (Leinster), Dan Kelly (Munster), Michael Lowry (Ulster), Ben Murphy (Connacht), Jack Murphy (Ulster), Jude Postlethwaite (Ulster), Zac Ward (Ulster).

Matt Gault
BBC Sport NI senior journalist

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Harry Sheridan has two objectives this week: help Ulster beat the Lions and catch the Traitors.

In between the two legs of Ulster's South African tour, the squad have been playing their own version of the popular BBC gameshow.

"We're in the deep end now, there's two traitors left out of 14 people and I'm still in," said Sheridan.

Sheridan insists he is a Faithful and reckons fly-half Jack Murphy and centre Stewart Moore are "definitely sus (suspicious)" when asked about the remaining Traitors.

Come Saturday, Sheridan's newfound calling as a tenacious Traitor-hunter will take a backseat when Ulster step out at Ellis Park to face the Lions in the United Rugby Championship (12:45 BST).

In the early stages of what proved a torturous 2024-25 season, Ulster lost both games in South Africa, conceding a combined 82 points against the Lions and Bulls.

This season has so far been a smoother ride with three bonus-point wins from three games. Now, having sunk the Sharks in Durban, they have the chance to do a rare double on South African soil.

But Sheridan insists Ulster must overcome a multitude of factors to land a big victory in Johannesburg.

"I think with the Irish (international) lads away, a bit of rotation and then obviously the altitude and the fact that the Lions are such a great, dangerous team, especially at home, it's a completely different challenge," added the 24-year-old second row.

"I'd say it's certainly going to be one of the hardest games of the year. If we can front up there, it'll put us in a really good place."

Sheridan, who has played for the Ireland Under-20 and Emerging Ireland teams, played all 80 minutes in Ulster's wins over the Dragons and Sharks, with a late cameo off the bench in the victory over the Bulls.

After a trying campaign last year, he says he is benefitting from conducting more robust reviews of his own performances.

"It's definitely about having a review process. Last year, I maybe flew through things willy-nilly and didn't lock down why these things went wrong, I just dismissed them," he said.

"This year I've been very particular about going through my strengths and weaknesses and what I want to do after each game to review them."

Odhran Crumley
BBC Sport NI Journalist

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Tadhg Beirne believes that the current Ireland side can create their own "little bit of history" against New Zealand in Chicago next week.

Ireland will return to Soldier Field to take on the All Blacks on Saturday, 1 November in a repeat of the famous win in 2016.

That win in Chicago was the first time Ireland had defeated New Zealand in 29 attempts across 111 years and Beirne, who had just joined Welsh side Scarlets, has his own memories of the game fresh in his mind.

"I was sitting around watching the game with my mates and having a drink," Munster second row Beirne said.

"I was nowhere near this team back then, I just remember being a proper Irish fan that day and being really excited about the game and watching it, screaming at the TV and loving every minute of it."

British and Irish Lion Beirne won the first of his 61 Ireland caps two years after that win, and he is relishing the chance to beat the All Blacks on American soil.

"It's a very cool stadium and has very good memories for a lot of Irish people, so getting to be part of that would be pretty special," the Munster lock said.

"It is going to be an incredible occasion. It is not too often you get to go somewhere like America to play a rugby game, especially against a team like New Zealand so if we come away with a win it would be a special game."

Beirne believes that victory nine years ago helped future Irish sides by dispelling the air of invincibility around the All-Blacks. Ireland have since won four more games between the sides and the 32-year-old is convinced history will repeat itself next week.

"Ireland were knocking on the door for such a long time to try and beat the All Blacks," said Beirne.

"There was that perception that they are a little bit unbeatable and that put a little crack on it for future Irish teams going forward.

"I have been lucky enough to be involved in a few Irish teams that have beaten them, and I think we have confidence from over the last couple of years that we are more than capable of beating them, and it will be no different in Chicago."

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Tom Farrell has signed a two-year contract extension with Munster just two days after being added to the Ireland squad.

The 32-year-old centre was called up to the national team on Monday after playing a starring role in Munster's 31-14 United Rugby Championship win over Leinster at Croke Park on Saturday.

Farrell has been a hit with Munster fans since joining the province in 2024 after a seven-year spell at Connacht, winning the club's player of the year award as well as the URC playmaker of the year award after scoring 10 tries in 25 appearances.

The Dublin-born player, whose new deal keeps him at Munster until 2028, was previously called into the Ireland squad by Joe Schmidt for the 2019 Six Nations, but did not play because of injury.

Farrell was not selected for Ireland's summer to Georgia and Portugal, and while he was not initially named in the autumn panel, he was added on Monday and has travelled with the squad to Chicago ahead of next week's All Blacks game

Matt Gault
BBC Sport NI senior journalist

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Ulster defence coach Willie Faloon says beating the Lions in Saturday's United Rugby Championship game (12:45 BST) would be a "huge statement" after losing the squad's Ireland contingent.

The in-form Irish province, who have started the URC season with a hat-trick of bonus-point wins, go into this weekend's contest at Ellis Park without Jacob Stockdale, Stuart McCloskey, Iain Henderson and Nick Timoney, who have left for international duty before next week's Test against New Zealand in Chicago.

All four started Ulster's impressive 34-26 win over the Sharks in Durban last week and Faloon admits losing four players of their calibre in the middle of a South African tour has been less than ideal.

"A little bit disruptive," he said when asked about the departures following the Sharks game.

"We've had some players come out to bolster our numbers but we're probably down a couple and then you're losing four lads who have lots of IQ and are big leaders around the group as well, so it is disruptive, but I think the lads have been going well."

Faloon added: "It'd be a statement for our squad. To lose the four guys that we have, for our squad to step up and deliver a performance as good would be a huge statement."

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Ulster are also without flanker Sean Reffell and Ireland international Cormac Izuchukwu - who Faloon revealed has sustained a "small fracture" in his foot - but they remain hopeful that Juarno Augustus will feature on Saturday.

The South African number eight was withdrawn at half-time against the Sharks with an arm injury, but Faloon says he has not yet been ruled out.

"We're still monitoring him. He's played a little bit of a role in training this week. We're just going to see how he goes come Saturday," he said of the summer signing.

Having seen off a Sharks team loaded with Springboks last time out, Ulster must become acclimatised to the heat and altitude as they look to go two from two on their South African tour and sign off for the autumn break with a fourth straight win.

"It's a huge task. We're under no illusions there. We know what's going to face us in the Lions with the heat and altitude.

"It would be a brilliant return for us."

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Flanker Sean Reffell has been ruled out of Ulster's United Rugby Championship game against the Lions on Saturday (12:45 BST), while Juarno Augustus is a doubt.

Reffell was forced off with a shoulder injury after coming off the bench in Ulster's 34-26 victory over the Sharks in Durban last weekend and is now set for a spell on the sidelines.

Augustus, who was replaced at half-time by Reffell in the win, suffered an arm injury and "will be monitored through training this week," Ulster said in an update on Tuesday.

Ulster head coach Richie Murphy will also be without experienced quartet Iain Henderson, Jacob Stockdale, Nick Timoney and Stuart McCloskey for Saturday's game in Johannesburg as they have all left the squad to link up with Ireland for the November internationals.

Forward Cormac Izuchukwu is still out with a foot injury sustained against the Bulls earlier this month.

Marcus Rea, Ben Carson, Charlie Irvine and uncapped Bryn Ward have been added to the Ulster panel as Murphy's side look to extend their 100% winning start to the URC campaign.

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Leinster head coach Leo Cullen will await updates on his walking wounded as they prepare for Saturday's URC clash with Zebre Parma at the Aviva Stadium (17:30 BST).

Their weekend defeat by Munster at Croke Park came at an added cost with Paddy McCarthy and Jordan Larmour leaving the game with head injuries. They have entered the Graduated Return to Play Protocols and will be further assessed as the week continues.

Robbie Henshaw (groin) and RG Snyman (hip) also left the 31-14 defeat early and they will both be monitored throughout the week.

Cullen was forced into late changes for the Munster game with injuries to Tommy O'Brien (back) and Jack Conan (knee) with their availability for this week's game against the Italians to be determined.

There are no further updates on Cormac Foley, Joe McCarthy and Hugo Keenan, while all of the Leinster players named in last week's Ireland squad will travel with Andy Farrell's group as planned.

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Munster's Jack Crowley said Saturday's 31-14 United Rugby Championship win over rivals Leinster was "not about individual performances" after he starred in his side's win at Croke Park.

In a game widely viewed as a direct shootout between Crowley and Leinster's Sam Prendergast for Ireland's fly-half spot in next month's autumn Tests, the former shone and was named man of the match.

The 25-year-old, however, was not interested in individual plaudits as he praised his team-mates and coaches.

"It's always special playing in Croke Park with the tradition of the GAA and what it meant to Munster coming up here," Crowley told Premier Sports.

"It's not about individual performances. It's about the plan the coaches gave us and it's about the hard work that went in with the lads all week.

"That's what it's about; how you can come together as a collective and say you're going to deliver on a plan and then actually go out and do it. That's the most pleasing thing.

"[I'm] massively proud to be able to front up with these lads and get over the line.

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Saturday's win over Leinster was Munster's fourth in as many games under new boss Clayton McMillan, who was hugely pleased with his side's performance.

Munster recovered from conceding an early Ronan Kelleher try and hit back through Brian Gleeson, Tom Farrell and Ethan Coughlan before a penalty try wrapped up the bonus-point success.

"Our set-piece scrum got put under some real pressure but we found a way, managed to get the ball to the back quick enough and release and turn the pressure on them," said the New Zealander.

"There's always things to work on but I don't want to get too critical of the team who've put in a hell of a shift. We'll worry about what we need to work on on Monday."

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Ulster head coach Richie Murphy described his side's 34-26 victory over the Sharks in Durban as "a big statement win".

The impressive bonus-point win after an incident-packed game ensured the Irish province maintained their 100% start to their United Rugby Championship campaign by making it three wins out of three.

"We're delighted to come over here and win and pick up five points. It's a really big statement win for us, especially against the quality of the Sharks side that they had on the pitch," said Murphy.

"Our set-piece wasn't going to plan but we stayed in the fight and off turnover ball we were very dangerous.

"So really happy with the way we transitioned and caused the Sharks a lot of trouble."

Ulster's success follows on from wins at home to the Dragons and Bulls, with the Lions next up next Saturday before the international break.

"It feels like we're going in the right direction. We've played four games this season, including one pre-season, and won all four. We haven't done that in a very long time.

"I think you can see how much the players want to play for each other and the commitment they have to Ulster, which is huge.

"We'll keep pointing them in the right direction. There are loads of things from a coaching point of view that we feel we can still go after in order to get better, but very happy with how we're progressing at this stage."

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The Sharks welcomed five Springboks into their line-up but remain winless as their indiscipline proved costly, Vincent Koch and Mapimpi being yellow-carded for lifting tackles on Michael Lowry, with the latter upgraded to a 20-minute red card after a bunker review.

"When you see the names on the teamsheet you could easily give up then and maybe think about next week but that's not how we want to be, we want to play against the best teams.

"That challenge has really galvanised our team and from my point of view I think we've shown a new side of the team that we want to be - extremely committed, working hard for each other.

"We've a mix of a couple of older guys and some very young players and the experience for those guys today is going to be huge."

Lowry, Werner Kok, Tom Stewart and Callum Reid all crossed for the visitors, with Nathan Doak kicking 14 points.

"We're really pleased with the result, some of the performance really pleases us as well and how brave we are when we have the ball in our hand. Some of our defence I thought was excellent," reflected Murphy.

"But there's still plenty we can get better at and we're going to need to with the teams we're going to face over the rest of the season."

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Leinster have made two late changes to their starting team for their United Rugby Championship encounter with Irish interprovincial rivals Munster at Croke Park (15:15 BST).

Wing Tommy O'Brien and number eight Jack Conan - who were both named in Ireland's autumn squad earlier this week - were originally named in head coach Leo Cullen's starting line-up, but have failed fitness tests on back and knee injuries respectively.

Jordan Larmour comes in for O'Brien, with Max Deegan drafted in at number eight.

Jimmy O'Brien joins the replacements while Josh van der Flier assumes the role of captain in the absence of Conan after he also skippered the side in last week's 31-5 win over the Sharks.

Leinster: Jamie Osborne; Jordan Larmour, Garry Ringrose; Robbie Henshaw, James Lowe; Sam Prendergast, Jamison Gibson-Park; Paddy McCarthy, Ronan Kelleher, Tadhg Furlong; RG Snyman, James Ryan; Alex Soroka, Josh van der Flier (capt), Max Deegan.

Replacements: Dan Sheehan, Andrew Porter, Thomas Clarkson, Brian Deeny, Scott Penny, Fintan Gunne, Ciaran Frawley, Jimmy O'Brien.

Munster: Shane Daly; Andrew Smith, Tom Farrell, Dan Kelly, Thaakir Abrahams; Jack Crowley, Ethan Coughlan; Michael Milne, Diarmuid Barron, John Ryan; Edwin Edogbo, Fineen Wycherley; Tadhg Beirne (capt), Jack O'Donoghue, Brian Gleeson.

Replacements: Lee Barron, Jeremy Loughman, Ronan Foxe, Jean Kleyn, Gavin Coombes, Paddy Patterson, JJ Hanrahan, Alex Nankivell.