Irish Rugby

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Ireland will take on Scotland and Canada in Tests in early August as part of their preparations for the Women's World Cup which will begin later that month.

Scott Bemand's Ireland side will face Scotland in the opening World Cup warm-up game at Virgin Media Park in Cork on 2 August before a contest against Canada at Kingspan Stadium in Belfast on 9 August.

Canada, who defeated Ireland at last autumn's WXV 1 tournament in Vancouver a week after the Irish had shocked world champions New Zealand, are second in World Rugby's rankings behind England.

Ireland will open their World Cup campaign by facing Japan in Northampton on 24 August before further group games against Spain and New Zealand on 31 August and 7 September.

Bemand's Ireland squad will link up in June to begin an extended training stint.

"We are delighted to confirm our two warm-up fixtures against quality opposition in the build up to Women's Rugby World Cup," said the Ireland head coach.

"Our pre-season block that will run throughout June and July in Dublin will be designed to test and prepare the extended squad, ensuring we are in the best possible shape for the tournament ahead and getting the opportunity for valuable match minutes and exposure is vitally important."

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Flanker Dorothy Wall says a healthy competitive environment is benefiting the Ireland camp as they prepare to face England in the Women's Six Nations in Cork on Saturday.

Wall started Ireland's defeat by France in their opener and then came off the bench and scored a try in the subsequent win over Italy.

The back-row is hoping to be recalled to the starting line-up for this weekend's encounter with the defending champions.

"We're all incredibly competitive. Our whole environment is around compete so everything we do there is an edge of compete," explained Wall.

"It's great to learn how to compete well with people as well, that you really respect who you're going against. You put it up to each other in training and then you'll have a chat about it after.

"It encompasses a really good environment where we'll go after it but we're also helping each other in the process. It's quite fulfilling as a player to compete like that."

Wall says being a replacement is a learning experience in itself.

"I had a few things I needed to work on and it's an important skill to know how to come off the bench too.

"It's very different to starting. You have to judge the momentum of the game, how much energy you need to bring. You just need to come in and do a job and not overcompensate in a way and make mistakes that will go against what you're trying to do as a team.

"It was a great lesson for me and I thoroughly enjoyed the 20 or 30 minutes I got and I've really enjoyed the prep this week too."

Wall explained that head coach Scott Bemand's squad are in positive mood heading into their meeting with the Red Roses.

"There's a good feeling in camp. We've trained hard, we've trained well and we're a very connected unit who know what we're trying to do.

"The focus has been very much on us - how we want to control the set-piece, where we want to play on the park and different aspects of the game.

"We've reviewed what they do and we know they've got their strengths in certain areas. The work we've done this week will hopefully counteract those areas."

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Ireland fly-half Jack Crowley has agreed a two-year contract extension with Munster Rugby and the Irish Rugby Football Union which will keep him at the province until at least 2027.

The 25-year-old has won 24 Ireland caps to date, had been linked with English Premiership club Leicester Tigers.

Crowley's only start in the recent Six Nations campaign came in the final game of against Italy on 15 March, having come off the bench in the previous four matches which saw Sam Prendergast handed the starting role.

The Cork Constitution clubman became part of the senior Munster squad ahead of the 2021-22 season and started his first United Rugby Championship and Champions Cup games for Munster during that term.

In the 2022-23 campaign he helped Munster win the URC title and made his Ireland Test debut against Fiji.

Crowley featured at his first World Cup in 2023 and went on to start seven consecutive games for Ireland during the victorious 2024 Six Nations campaign and the summer tour to South Africa.

He has made 11 appearances for Munster this season and won consecutive player of the match awards in the away wins over La Rochelle and Connacht over the past two weeks.

Last weekend the number 10 scored the winning drop goal against La Rochelle in a 25-24 victory in the last 16 of the Champions Cup.

To date Crowley has scored 305 points in 65 appearances for Munster since making his debut against Ulster.

Last season he was named 2023-24 URC Players' Player of the Year, URC Next-Gen Player of the Year and was named on the URC Elite XV.

Jonathan Bradley
BBC Sport NI Journalist

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Ulster wing Zac Ward felt his start in the side's Investec Champions Cup last-16 defeat by Bordeaux-Begles last weekend was a "really good learning curve".

In his first season as a XVs player after representing Ireland Sevens at the Paris Olympics, the game was only Ward's fifth senior start and he marked the occasion with two of the five tries Ulster scored in the 43-31 reverse.

"I loved every second of it," he said.

"It was real tough, a real good test, but for myself personally, it was a really good learning curve and one I'll definitely lean on going forward.

"I like competing against the best. I want to be as good as I can so I need to be competing against the best out there."

As he continues to manage the transition between codes, Ward said he found playing in the back-three with Mike Lowry and Jacob Stockdale especially helpful at the Stade Chaban Delmas.

"Little Mikey and Jacob have been massively beneficial for myself," he added.

"It's starting to show on the pitch, we've all got really good chemistry and it's just finding those little one percenters in training that start to pay off on the pitch.

"Jacob on his day is one of the best players in the world so to have someone like that to lean on is massively beneficial to myself.

"I'm constantly asking him questions but Jacob is not the only one, we have plenty of really good back-three players in the club, so I'm not stuck for advice."

Jonathan Bradley
BBC Sport NI Journalist

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After what he called a "special day" in La Rochelle on Saturday, Munster's head of rugby operations Ian Costello said the province are targeting three more such occasions in the Investec Champions Cup this season.

The 25-24 win over Ronan O'Gara's side in the last-16 stage set up a quarter-final away to Bordeaux-Begles this Saturday and Costello wants to ensure that the win in La Rochelle is not viewed as a "cup final" for the group.

"The reality is now we want to have three more days like this," he said after the dramatic win in the Stade Marcel-Deflandre.

"You take one game at a time, but there's no point in this being our cup final. It would nearly disrespect what the club have done.

"We've three matches left to have a crack at winning a trophy."

Costello praised the visiting Munster supporters who travelled to La Rochelle in huge numbers

"I went down to meet a few friends just to get out of the hotel for an hour and it was shivers down your neck stuff," he said.

"I hadn't seen anything like that for a long, long time.

"That set the tone. What it means to our supporters.

"There was talk of 2,000 [Munster fans] here, there were way more than 2,000."

With only seven days between visits to France, it is unlikely the Munster support will travel in such numbers to the Stade Chaban-Delmas this weekend, although Costello is sure some will try.

"There'll be kids' piggybanks raided," he joked.

"There'll be people here, that's the magic of it.

"There's people that would prefer not to go on summer holidays to get two weekends like this. That's what's special about the club."

Jonathan Bradley
BBC Sport NI Journalist

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Ulster lock Alan O'Connor says the province still want to "compete with the best" after exiting the Investec Champions Cup at the last-16 stage with a 43-31 defeat by Bordeaux-Begles.

Richie Murphy's side went into the knock-out phase of the tournament as the 16th seed and with just one win in the pool stages.

Some had speculated that the 1999 champions would have been better served dropping down a tier and making a run at the European Challenge Cup but the experienced O'Connor believes the side should be encouraged by the entertaining 11-try encounter against one of the competition's favourites.

"We all want to compete against the best," said the man who filled in as Ulster captain in the absence of Iain Henderson.

"For me as a rugby player, it's a no-brainer. I want to play in the top tier and challenge ourselves as individuals and as a unit.

"I can see maybe where they're coming from but as we've shown on days like this, we can stand up and we can score plenty of points.

"There's things we need to work on obviously but that game was maybe there for us in the last 10 minutes if another couple of things had gone our way."

Ulster were late arriving to the Stade Chaban Delmas after their bus got caught in traffic then could not get down one of the streets near the stadium.

Left to walk the rest of the way, O'Connor, who said the situation did not factor into their slow start, enjoyed soaking up the atmosphere.

"These are the places that you want to come play, any French ground is always special," he added.

"We had a bit of a mishap with our busses, but we ended up walking through a lot of the crowd and it was a great atmosphere, something different.

"As a player you relish playing in these grounds. We want to be shooting for the top."

Jonathan Bradley at the Stade Chaban Delmas
BBC Sport NI Journalist

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Ulster head coach Richie Murphy felt his side's 43-31 defeat by Bordeaux-Begles in the last 16 of the Investec Champions Cup provided another example of the "good resilience" in his squad.

The province have had to come from behind to beat Scarlets, Dragons and Stormers in the United Rugby Championship (URC) over recent weeks and, while they could not complete another fightback at the Stade Chaban Delmas, Murphy was pleased by how his side "stayed in the fight."

The visitors were 21-0 down after 21 minutes but cut the deficit to seven points before the end of the first half.

Bordeaux later threatened to pull away but a second-half double from Zac Ward, along with a score from Nick Timoney, ensured the game remained competitive.

"Extremely proud of the lads, the way they stuck at it and stayed in the fight," Murphy said.

"The last few weeks we've been 14-0 down and this week we were 21 points down after the first period and that's tough.

"What we've shown over the last few weeks is good resilience within the squad, you can see the team starting to build. Some young players are getting really good experience at the very top level and finding ways."

While Ulster struggled early in possession, they looked sharper in attack as the game progressed but were caught by Bordeaux's ability to break on the counter.

"We played some really good rugby at times [but] the transitionary moments which we knew were going to come really cost us in that first half," added Murphy.

"A couple of loose kicks and they punish you really badly.

"You know once you turn the ball over, within two or three phases it's going to be a try."

Matt Gault
BBC Sport NI at Croke Park

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Josh van der Flier was quick to credit his team-mates after being named player of the match in Leinster's 62-0 trouncing of Harlequins in Saturday's Investec Champions Cup last-16 game at Croke Park.

Back row Van der Flier was one of several Ireland internationals playing for the first time since the Six Nations.

And the 2022 world player of the year began the last run of games before Andy Farrell's British and Irish Lions squad announcement on 8 May in superb fashion with a try and some big carries as the Irish province overwhelmed their Premiership opponents.

Admirably uninterested in soaking up the acclaim, though, Van der Flier insists he was able to flourish only because of the work done by those in blue around him.

"It was nice to get the ball a few times," said the 31-year-old.

"It's the way some games go, some games the ball comes your way a lot, some days it doesn't. I think there was a huge amount of work from the forwards and the backs found the width.

"I managed to find myself in places where I had one-on-ones or a bit of space, so I think it's off the back of some good teamwork that some individuals are able to get some space. It was good to get the ball a bit but there was some good attacking work from all of the lads."

Leinster scored 10 tries to set up a home quarter-final against either Glasgow or Leicester next weekend and Van der Flier says the manner of Saturday's win will give the four-time champions "great confidence".

"Mentally, there's always a threat of forgetting how hard we had to work during the week to get there and forgetting the first 10, 20 minutes when we had to work unbelievably hard to keep them out," he added.

"You always have to balance it mentally, take the confidence in a positive way and make sure you're switched on and ready because some games can be like that but some are tight and can go the other way.

"We'll be ready for anything start again on Monday with a big week's prep."

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Ulster's Zac Ward says facing up against Bordeaux-Begles duo Louis Bielle-Biarrey and Damian Penaud, considered two of the best wings in rugby, "definitely excited me".

Bordeaux host Ulster in the last 16 of the Investec Champions Cup on Sunday and Bielle-Biarrey and Penaud, who both helped France to the Six Nations title, are expected to feature.

Bielle-Biarrey was the top try scorer in the Six Nations and was named player of the tournament.

Ward, 26, won his first cap for Ulster in the Pool One match between the sides in December, which Bordeaux won 40-19 in Belfast.

"I want to compete against the best in the business," said Ward, who made the switch from sevens rugby after the Paris Olympics.

"It was my first cap here playing against those two guys. I was a bit nervous beforehand, but a friend of mine said they were just two guys with two arms and two legs, so just to try and think of it like that.

"It's easier said than done but I'll try and do the same this weekend."

'Dream come true'

Bordeaux are heavy favourites to progress against Ulster after Yannick Bru's side finished as top seeds after the pool stages.

After a disappointing first half of the season, Ulster have now won their last three matches in the United Rugby Championship and Ward believes that momentum will help his side in France.

"We know going into this weekend that it's a huge ask and a huge task, but we want to give a good account of ourselves for 80 minutes," added Ward.

"We showed the last time we played them here, we were ahead after 60 or 65 minutes. If we can carry that through for 80 minutes, then we will be in a nice spot."

After taking the long road to Ulster's first team through Ireland's rugby sevens programme, Ward, who is the son of former back row Andy, says playing for his home province "was always a dream".

"For that now to be a reality is really special.

"It was a dream come true getting my first cap, and now I've got a taste for it I really don't want it to end anytime soon."

Matt Gault
BBC Sport NI Senior Journalist

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In the wake of a disappointing Six Nations, and with most of the senior coaching set-up now on British and Irish Lions duty, this summer's Tests against Georgia and Portugal could prove a crucial bridge to Ireland's next era.

On the coaching side, Ireland are without Andy Farrell, Simon Easterby, Andrew Goodman and John Fogarty, while a sizeable Irish playing contingent is expected to make the Lions squad heading to Australia.

That means Paul O'Connell faces a big job this summer. The former Ireland captain was handed the interim head coach reins following confirmation that Easterby - who filled in for Farrell during the Six Nations - has joined the Lions coaching ticket.

O'Connell has spent the past four years as Ireland's forwards coach, but this is a considerable step-up for the 45-year-old.

Succession planning is key to Ireland's future. Farrell is contracted until the end of the 2027 World Cup. If he leaves after that tournament, the Irish Rugby Football Union [IRFU] will at least know how two of his possible successors in Easterby and O'Connell have fared while leading the team.

O'Connell's remit will be clear: improve morale after a third-place finish in the Six Nations and identify new Test talent, which is a pressing concern given the age profile of the senior squad.

O'Connell will, however, have experienced coaches he knows well alongside him. He played alongside Denis Leamy and Mike Prendergast at Munster and will have Colm Tucker to oversee the scrum.

The input of Prendergast, in particular, will be valuable after he led the Ireland 'A' team against England in February.

Johnny Sexton, who was involved in the Irish coaching set-up during the autumn Tests and Six Nations, was not named as part of O'Connell's team, so it will be interesting to see if the iconic fly-half links up with the squad closer to the Test against Georgia on 5 July.

Regardless of his involvement, though, it will be a big summer for O'Connell and his presumably youthful Ireland squad.

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Interim Ireland head coach Paul O'Connell will have Denis Leamy, Mike Prendergast and Colm Tucker as his coaching team for this summer's Tests in Georgia and Portugal.

O'Connell was confirmed as interim boss last week, with Andy Farrell and Simon Easterby away with the Lions.

Former Ireland back row Leamy has been Munster defence coach since 2022, while Prendergast has been the province's attack coach for the past three seasons and led Ireland 'A' in February's defeat by England.

Tucker is Connacht's scrum coach and also led the team during last weekend's United Rugby Championship loss to Munster in Castlebar, with head coach Pete Wilkins on sick leave.

All three coaches will link up with Ireland at the end of the club season. The squad is due to be announced in mid-June.

Ireland face Georgia in Tbilisi on 5 July (18:00 BST) and Portugal in Lisbon on 12 July (time TBC).

Former Ireland and British and Irish Lions captain O'Connell took over as interim boss after Easterby was appointed as part of Lions head coach Farrell's backroom team.

Ireland scrum coach John Fogarty and attack coach Andrew Goodman are also on Farrell's Lions ticket.

O'Connell said he was "honoured" to accept the position.

"With a busy schedule of international rugby this summer, these two Tests will provide us with further opportunities to assess and develop the competition levels within the squad," added O'Connell.

"I am excited to work with a coaching team who I know well individually and are hugely motivated to deliver success to Ireland and look forward to putting our plans in place over the coming weeks."

Irish Rugby Football Union performance director David Humphreys says it will mark an "important step" in O'Connell's coaching career.

"He will be assisted by Denis, Mike and Cullie who have all been in Ireland camp at different points over the last number of months and their selections is another positive progression in their coaching careers and reasserts the IRFU's commitment to developing a pathway for Irish coaches," added Humphreys.

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Munster flanker Peter O'Mahony could face La Rochelle in the last 16 of the Investec Champions Cup this weekend after returning from injury.

The Irish province will face the two-time champions at the Stade Marcel-Deflandre on Saturday (17:30 BST), with the French side coached by Munster legend Ronan O'Gara.

O'Mahony missed the side's win over Connacht on Saturday and has not played since his final Test appearance for Ireland in their Six Nations victory against Italy last month.

The 35-year-old has not featured for Munster since their Champions Cup loss to Northampton Saints in January, but a statement from the province said his availability for Saturday will be determined "based on how he gets through the week's training".

Against Connacht, Irish international scrum-half Craig Casey was playing for the first time since knee surgery in December and the 25-year-old came through the game unscathed.

Forwards Oli Jager, Jean Kleyn and Niall Scannell also returned from injury in the inter-provincial derby and are fit to face La Rochelle.

Flanker John Hodnett was forced off with a thigh contusion in Castlebar, however, and is a doubt for the game.

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Ulster wing Robert Baloucoune requires a scan to determine the extent of his latest hamstring injury.

The 27-year-old, who has won four caps for Ireland, made his comeback from 11 months out in the province's United Rugby Championship (URC) win over Stormers at Kingspan Stadium on Friday night.

He scored his side's first try in the comeback victory but was replaced after 47 minutes.

Centre Ben Carson also failed to finish that fixture due to a back complaint and an Ulster statement said that both players "will have scans early this week to further assess the extent of their respective injuries".

Richie Murphy's side travel to face Top 14 side Bordeaux-Begles in the last-16 of the Investec Champions Cup on Sunday.

Centre James Hume will be "monitored through training" in the build-up to that trip after missing the win over Stormers through illness.

Forwards coach Jimmy Duffy saying playing a team of the calibre of Bordeaux, who finished the pool stages as top seeds, "raises your game".

Bordeaux have the Six Nations' top try scorer Louis Bielle-Biarrey in their ranks, along with his fellow France internationals Damian Penaud and Yoram Moefana.

"They have world-class talents in the forwards or the backline," said Duffy.

"They are household names in most quarters. They have a brilliant stadium and a brilliant fan base.

"We're going there to compete and it's going to be a big challenge."