Irish Rugby

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Leinster's Max Deegan will captain Ireland 'A' against England 'A' at Ashton Gate in Bristol on 23 February (13:00 GMT).

Back row Deegan is one of six players - alongside forwards Fineen Wycherley, Oli Jager, Tom O'Toole and backs Harry Byrne and Shane Daly - to have been capped at Test level by Ireland.

The squad also includes 12 players who were part of the Emerging Ireland tour to South Africa in September, including Ulster's Zac Ward and Jude Postlethwaite.

The 29-man panel is made up of 11 Leinster players, eight from Munster, seven from Connacht and three from Ulster.

"I am hugely excited to work with such a talented group of players and coaches and we're all looking forward to the opportunity to represent our country in Bristol this weekend," said Ireland 'A' head coach Mike Prendergast.

"It is an experienced group with a number of capped senior internationals named alongside players who have featured for Emerging Ireland and for their provinces in recent months."

Munster coach Prendergast added: "The standard, whenever you pull on an Ireland jersey, is to perform to the best of your ability and we believe that we have a good blend of talented players who will look to take this opportunity to impress the national and provincial coaches.

"Sunday's game presents a huge opportunity against what will be a well-drilled England side who boast a lot of Premiership experience in their ranks. It is a task that we will approach with a positive frame of mind."

Ireland 'A' squad

(Club/province/Test caps)

Forwards (16): Jack Aungier (Clontarf FC/Connacht), Diarmuid Barron (Garryowen/Munster), James Culhane (UCD RFC/Leinster), Max Deegan (Lansdowne/Leinster) (captain) (2), Brian Gleeson (Garryowen FC/Munster), Oli Jager (Munster) (1), Sean Jansen (Connacht), Alex Kendellen (UCC RFC/Munster), Paddy McCarthy (Dublin University FC/Leinster), Darragh Murray (Buccaneers RFC/Connacht), Evan O'Connell (UL Bohemian RFC/Munster), Conor O'Tighearnaigh (UCD RFC/Leinster), Tom O'Toole (Ballynahinch/Ulster) (16), Stephen Smyth (Old Wesley RFC/Leinster), Alex Soroka (Clontarf FC/Leinster), Fineen Wycherley (Young Munster/Munster) (1).

Backs (13): Shayne Bolton (Connacht), Harry Byrne (UCD/Leinster) (4), Hugh Cooney (Clontarf/Leinster), Shane Daly (Cork Constitution/Munster) (2), Cathal Forde (Corinthians/Connacht), Hugh Gavin (Galwegians RFC/Connacht), Fintan Gunne (Terenure College RFC/Leinster), Ben Murphy (Clontarf/Connacht), Ben O'Connor (UCC RFC/Munster), Tommy O'Brien (UCD RFC/Leinster), Andrew Osborne (Naas RFC/Leinster), Jude Postlethwaite (City of Armagh RFC/Ulster), Zac Ward (Ballynahinch RFC/Ulster).

Ireland 'A' management team

Mike Prendergast (head coach/attack coach), Jimmy Duffy (forwards), Sean O'Brien (defence), Mark Sexton (backs/assistant attack coach), Colm Tucker (scrum/breakdown).

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Ulster head coach Richie Murphy said his side are "struggling to get over the line" after their 34-19 loss to Benetton.

The province have lost seven of their 11 games in the United Rugby Championship (URC) this season and have fallen to 14th in the standings.

Their latest defeat came after they were leading 19-17 at half-time but failed to score a single point after the restart.

Central to their struggles in the second half were yellow cards for David McCann, Nick Timoney and Stewart Moore, while they had a try chalked off late on for an illegal clear-out by Tom O'Toole.

"The game got away from us in the second half and our own ill discipline cost us," said Murphy.

"Yellow cards and a try chalked off have a big bearing on the game.

"We came under a lot of pressure and unfortunately we don't have the answers at the moment."

Murphy had no complaints about his side's disallowed try, although he thought a penalty rather than yellow card would have sufficed for Timoney's high tackle.

In the final stages of the game, the head coach felt his side "became a bit individual" as they tried to turn the tide.

"Where we are at the moment, lacking in ability to get over the line, when the pressure comes on it's important we stick together and play as a team," he added.

"We went away from that and became a bit individual, trying to solve problems on our own, and ultimately that cost us the game."

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Garry Ringrose says Simon Easterby remains 'dead focused' on his role as Ireland's interim head coach amid reports he could be the next Wales boss.

The 49-year-old has guided the side to two bonus-point wins to start their Six Nations campaign with usual head coach Andy Farrell on secondment with the British and Irish Lions.

He has, however, been linked to the Wales job following confirmation of Warren Gatland's departure on Wednesday.

The former back row was a player and head coach with Scarlets and still lives in Wales, who Ireland play in Cardiff on 22 February.

"I only heard it off one of the lads but, sure, it's not a thing at all," said Ringrose of the reported interest.

"Simon is dead focused on trying to prepare as best we can and that's aligned with what the players are driving to."

Ireland's head of athletic performance Aled Walters, who worked at Scarlets when Easterby was a player, feels such "speculation" was inevitable.

"He's that good a coach that there's always going to be speculation in professional sport, that's human nature," said Walters.

"There's been a change with Wales, and the fact that he lives there, he was always going to be linked.

"That's the quality of the man. Credit to him and credit to the group, nothing has been said about it. 

"We just carry on preparing for Wales as we would normally."

Walters, who joined the Irish staff last year, has been impressed by how Easterby has taken to the head coach's role having been an assistant on the ticket for more than a decade.

"He's really brought his own flavour to things. It's been great to see," he added.

"Even in the autumn, he's a leader. It's not like he's been sat back in the shadows and all of a sudden thrust into the limelight.

"It hasn't felt that different. He's been there the whole time."

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Ulster back row David McCann believes victory over Benetton on Saturday would be 'massive' for the side heading into a crucial period of their season.

After a home defeat by Zebre last month, the province have fallen to ninth in the United Rugby Championship (URC) and have ground to make up over the final eight games of the season if they are to secure a place in the play-offs.

Benetton are two places below Richie Murphy's men in the table, although the sides are level on 23 points.

"I think we have the potential to go there and get a result that can turn around our season and give us that momentum going into the next few weeks," said McCann.

"It is massive for us. We've had a few weeks of training under our belt so it's implementing all the things we've been working on and we should get the result if we do that accurately."

Ulster have won just one of their past five league games and the loss to Zebre on 26 January was their first ever at home to the Italian side.

"We are definitely still using it as motivation for ways we have get better and not forgetting about that result on our home pitch," added McCann.

"It is good for motivation, but we have definitely taken the learnings and moved on.

"We were compounding mistakes and I think we could sense we were doing that. We should have reacted better and identified that during the game, we tried to, but we had a lot of mistakes.

"With an inexperienced team, it is about taking those learnings and being concise about changing that."

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Munster forward Tadhg Beirne and Leinster centre Garry Ringrose have signed contract extensions with the Irish Rugby Football Union [IRFU].

Beirne has penned a two-year extension until 2027 while Ringrose has signed a new deal until 2028.

Beirne made his Test debut in 2018 and has earned 58 caps, playing a key role in Ireland's back-to-back Six Nations title wins in 2023 and 2024.

The 33-year-old played every minute of the autumn Tests in November and started Ireland's opening Six Nations wins over England and Scotland this year.

Beirne was one of four Ireland players named in the World Rugby men's XVs dream team of the year for 2024 and was named Munster captain before the start of the season.

"It is a source of great pride to represent Ireland and Munster and I am delighted to continue to do so for the foreseeable future," said Beirne, who can play in the second or back rows.

"Playing in Ireland is a dream come true and I believe that Irish rugby is in a strong place with competitive environments across all of the provinces continuing to drive the highest levels of competition at national team level.

"I am hugely excited about the future and will do my best to hopefully deliver for our amazing supporters over the coming seasons."

Ringrose, 30, has won 65 Tests caps since making his debut in November 2016.

He has won two Grand Slams with Ireland and a Champions Cup with Leinster.

"I am delighted to extend my stay in Ireland with Leinster and I'm hugely excited about the future of Irish Rugby," said Ringrose.

"Since making my debut I have relished the opportunity to play for my home club and it was an easy decision to commit for the next three years.

"With some huge Tests coming down the line at club and international level, I believe that there are bright days to come and I look forward to playing my part as we drive forward towards hopefully even more success."

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Ireland wing Calvin Nash believes competition for places has been key to the side's strong start to the Six Nations.

Simon Easterby's side are top of the table with 10 points from 10 available after bonus-point wins over England and Scotland.

The Munster man scored his third Test try in Murrayfield as Ireland secured a 32-18 victory on Sunday.

He had sat out the win over England in round one of this year's competition, but came into the starting side to play Scotland after Mack Hansen was ruled out through injury.

The 27-year-old started every game of the championship last season, as well as both summer Tests in South Africa, but did not play a minute of four games in November.

"Being out of the squad is tough, especially when you're close and training the whole time with them," he said.

"Probably the start of the Six Nations as well, I wanted to put my best foot forward and try to get in and obviously there's a bit more disappointment not getting selected.

"But I think with this team, as long as the competition is pushing everyone forward and the team is going in the right direction, I can slot in or anyone can slot in. It's probably a good sign of the squad."

Nash scored twice in his province's Investec Champions Cup win before the Six Nations and was "confident" he could make an impact against Scotland despite only learning he would start late in the week.

"It's not my first game with the lads and the only thing you have to be over, really, is the moves. Other than that it's just about playing rugby in the system, you just slot in," he added.

"We all know the moves and that's your job. At the end of the day I knew I was travelling and if there was one injury I could have been in, so it's my job to just know everything and slot in.

"I've been confident in my ability being on the pitch, and I suppose the lead up to this camp has given me massive confidence as well. I've just been backing myself a bit more."

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Willie Faloon and Mark Sexton will join the Ulster Rugby coaching staff for the 2025-26 campaign.

Both men previously worked with head coach Richie Murphy during his spell with the Ireland Under-20s.

Sexton, brother of former Ireland fly-half Johnny, has worked as Connacht's attack coach for the past two seasons, and was skills and assistant attack coach to Murphy for back-to-back underage Six Nations Grand Slams.

Faloon, the former flanker who made 67 appearances for the province as a player, has already been assisting Murphy with the defence after the mid-season departure of Jonny Bell having previously coached the Irish Under-20s and in the Ulster academy.

It had previously been confirmed that assistant coach Dan Soper will have a new title of development and transition coach next season, and Jimmy Duffy will continue to serve as forwards coach.

"Knowing Mark from our time together in the Irish under-20 setup, I could see first-hand that he is a talented young coach who knows how to drive an attack," said Murphy.

"He has built up a great reputation at Connacht and we are getting a hungry coach who is excited to work with the talent we have here.

"Willie Faloon is also a very talented coach with a growing reputation in the game. He's a good example of someone coming up through the Ulster coaching pathway and we look forward to seeing what impact he can make on the team."

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Ireland prop Finlay Bealham has predicted Wales will "be coming out firing" when the sides meet in round three of the Six Nations at the Principality Stadium on 22 February.

The hosts are bottom of the table with only one losing bonus point to show for defeats by France and Italy, and on Tuesday replaced head coach Warren Gatland with Cardiff's Matt Sherratt for the remainder of the championship.

Ireland are chasing a third consecutive Six Nations crown and, having already beaten England and Scotland, would secure the Triple Crown with victory in Cardiff.

"It's another away game in a really prestigious stadium," said Bealham before news of Gatland's departure.

"It's Wales' first game at home as well, so they'll be well up for it, backs against the wall. I've no doubt they'll be coming out firing.

"We'll go in with the utmost respect and do our thing."

Ireland could become the first side to win three outright Six Nations titles in a row and are targeting what would be their fifth Grand Slam.

Bealham said Ireland cannot focus on the prospect of making history.

"It's there in the background but I suppose we just stay pretty consistent in our process, take it day by day," he added.

"We've three more games and it would be silly to look too far in the future. We take it just one game at a time and try to put our best foot forward."

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Ireland say that Tadhg Furlong, Mack Hansen and Joe McCarthy "continue to make good progress" in their returns from injury.

Forwards Furlong and McCarthy have not featured in the 2025 Six Nations, missing the wins over England and Scotland with calf and head injuries respectively.

Wing Hansen started against England, and was originally named to play against Scotland, but was replaced by Calvin Nash for the 32-18 win in Murrayfield.

Ireland are top of the Six Nations table with a maximum 10 points from their two games and are next in action against Wales on 22 February.

An Irish Rugby Football Union [IRFU] statement said the side are "optimistic" the trio will be involved in the Principality Stadium.

Ireland reported no fresh injury concerns after their win in Edinburgh with some of those not involved set to be released to their provinces for United Rugby Championship [URC] action this weekend.

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Ireland co-captain Sam Monaghan will miss the Women's Six Nations through injury.

The Gloucester-Hartpury lock missed Ireland's victory over Australia and the WXV1 competition in the autumn after sustaining a serious knee injury when playing for her club in June.

She had previously been co-captain, with Edel McMahon, during the Six Nations campaign, but it was announced by the IRFU on Tuesday that she will be absent for this year's tournament.

Ireland head coach Scott Bemand will bring together 40 players for a training camp next week to prepare for their Six Nations campaign which begins against France in Belfast on 22 March.

There are eight uncapped players included in the group.

Sophie Barrett, Jane Neill, Beth Buttimer and Jane Clohessy graduate from the under-20s set-up, while Alma Atagamen caught the eye playing for the under-18s and is also selected.

Amy Larn and Katie Heffernan will be seeking debuts for the side having previously represented Ireland in sevens.

Caitriona Finn is again included in the wider squad having travelled to Vancouver for WXV1 last year without taking the field.

Ireland finished third in the 2024 Six Nations to qualify for this year's World Cup.

They will be in a pool with Japan, Spain and New Zealand at the tournament in England which starts in August.

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Ireland prop Tom O'Toole is available for Ulster's United Rugby Championship (URC) trip to Benetton on Saturday after serving a six-game suspension.

O'Toole, 26, was sent off for a dangerous clearout on Alex Nankivell during his province's 22-19 defeat by Munster in December and missed four Ulster fixtures, as well as the opening two rounds of Ireland's Six Nations campaign.

"He's been brilliant, he's been making some real progress this season," said Ulster's forwards coach Jimmy Duffy.

"He's asserting himself as a real leader in the group. It's brilliant to have him back, he'd been in a great space prior to getting the little lay-off."

Fellow Irish internationals Jacob Stockdale, Stuart McCloskey and James Hume all came through their returns from injury in last week's 38-31 friendly defeat to Queensland Reds and bolster head coach Richie Murphy's options for the visit to the Stadio Monigo.

Andrew Warwick and Eric O'Sullivan both picked up knocks last week however, leaving Ulster potentially short of options at loose-head prop.

Hooker Tom Stewart is also a doubt with a hamstring issue.

Duffy said the side are awaiting scan results on a number of injuries, as well as news of whether Irish internationals Iain Henderson, Cormac Izuchukwu and Rob Herring will be released from Ireland's Six Nations squad to feature.

Ulster are ninth in the URC and will be in action for the first time since losing to Zebre at home last month.

"We know the journey we're on. It's probably not nice if you're a fan waiting for this stuff to come to fruition but the lads are working really hard," Duffy said.

"It is a young group, which we've said numerous times. That will take time.

"They've shown in some big games that they're capable of it but consistency is what we're chasing at the moment. We've shown big performances but it's backing it up week to week."

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Peter O'Mahony says being booed by Scottish fans was "one of the biggest compliments of my career" after he helped Ireland to a resounding Six Nations win at Murrayfield on Sunday.

Having been left out of the squad for Ireland's win over England, the Munster flanker returned to the Irish pack for a dominant victory in Edinburgh that keeps Simon Easterby's side on track for a third straight title.

And the 35-year-old was wholly unperturbed by the boos that greeted him as he exited the field while being replaced early in the second half.

"I don't know what it is," he told reporters on Sunday when asked why he relishes facing Scotland.

"It's competitive. Look, we've had the Glasgow thing [with Munster] for a long time. Every time it's a battle.

"I think someone said I got a fairly savage boo when I came off, potentially one of the biggest compliments of my career, in 111 Test matches, so thanks Murrayfield, I appreciate it."

When asked if he heard the boos at the time, O'Mahony - who also thanked Scottish fans in an Instagram post on Monday - added: "No, I didn't, but I'll take it."

O'Mahony has been one of the chief protagonists in Ireland and Scotland's rivalry in recent years and was at the centre of a fiery World Cup encounter in Paris in 2023.

He did not start any of Ireland's autumn Tests in November and said he "loved" his return to the team on Sunday as the Six Nations holders secured an 11th straight win over Scotland.

"I'm a broken record saying it's a huge honour to be picked for Ireland, but I loved that today I have to say, loved it," said the former Ireland captain.

"I thought we had a really good first half, first 10-15 minutes we spoke about our start. After the second half we felt like we were all over them so I enjoyed that."

A battle-hardened Test centurion with five Six Nations titles to his name, O'Mahony also knew better than to big up Ireland's chances with three games still remaining.

After visiting Wales on 22 February, Ireland host pre-tournament favourites France in Dublin on 8 March before finishing the campaign away to Italy a week later.

"Of course we know what's at stake," he said.

"As I spoke about [earlier], you get ahead of things and something goes wrong.

"We'll have an evening off and a few days off, then back in the camp and we've a big lead into another big game against Wales."