Irish Rugby

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Leinster are without their frontline Ireland internationals for Friday's United Rugby Championship game against Dragons at Rodney Parade (19:45 GMT), but Josh Ericson is set to make his debut from the bench.

Back row Ericson, who joined the Leinster academy earlier this month, has been named as a replacement for tomorrow night's game.

Head coach Leo Cullen has made 12 changes to the side from their URC win over Zebre last month, with only fly-half Harry Byrne, centre Hugh Cooney and wing Joshua Kenny retained.

RG Snyman, who won his 50th international cap for the Springboks against Ireland last week, is named among the replacements alongside the uncapped Ericson.

Max Deegan will captain the side from number eight, with Alex Soroka and Scott Penny named on the flanks.

Leinster are without Tommy O'Brien, Robbie Henshaw, Jamie Osborne, Ryan Baird, Will Connors, James Culhane, Joe McCarthy, Cormac Foley and Hugo Keenan because of injury.

Ireland captain Caelan Doris, fly-half Sam Prendergast and first-choice props Andrew Porter and Tadhg Furlong are among the players rested after the Test window.

Leinster are also without the suspended James Ryan.

The URC holders have lost three of their opening five games, while Friday's opponents are without a win so far this season.

Leinster: O'Brien; Kenney, Cooney, Frawley, Larmour; Byrne, Gunne; Boyle, McCarthy, Clarkson, Deeny, Mangan, Soroka, Penny, Deegan (capt).

Replacements: McKee, Cahir, Slimani, Snyman, Ericson, McGrath, Tector, Moloney

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Three of Ulster's Ireland internationals have been named to start Friday's United Rugby Championship encounter against Benetton in Belfast (19:45 GMT).

While centre Stuart McCloskey is ruled out with a groin injury, Iain Henderson returns to captain Ulster from the second row, with Nick Timoney and Jacob Stockdale also recalled.

Having been deployed on the left wing on his last appearance for Ulster, Stockdale reverts to full-back, where he played in the win over the Bulls last month.

Fit-again Juarno Augustus starts at number eight after recovering from an arm injury, but Cormac Izuchukwu has not been included despite returning to training following a foot issue.

Tom Stewart, who captained an Ireland XV to a win over Spain earlier this month, starts at hooker with Sam Crean and Scott Wilson completing the front row.

Jack Murphy and Nathan Doak are again paired at half-back, with replacement scrum-half Dave Shanahan set to make his 100th appearance for the province off the bench.

An experienced bench also includes Rob Herring, Tom O'Toole and Stewart Moore, who was recalled from his loan at Newcastle Red Bulls earlier this week.

Back row Bryn Ward, who made his debut against the Lions in Johannesburg last month, is also among the replacements, but there is no place in the squad for his older brother Zac, who has started three URC games this season.

Ulster boss Richie Murphy is currently without Ben Carson, Michael Lowry, Lorcan McLoughlin (elbow), Sean Reffell (shoulder), Ben Moxham (knee), Ethan McIlroy (knee), Eric O'Sullivan (hamstring) and James McNabney (knee).

Australia prop Angus Bell, who has joined until the end of the season, was not considered for selection this week.

Fifth-placed Ulster have three wins and a defeat from four games this season. Benetton sit 10th with two wins and three defeats. The Italian side won last season's meeting 34-19 in Treviso.

Ulster: Stockdale; Baloucoune, Hume, Postlethwaite, Kok; Murphy, Doak; Crean, Stewart, Wilson, Henderson (capt), McCann, Timoney, Augustus.

Replacements: Herring, Reid, O'Toole, Dalton, Ward, Shanahan, Flannery, Moore.

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James Ryan has been handed a three-week suspension after the red card he was shown during Ireland's 24-13 defeat by South Africa at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday was upheld by an independent disciplinary committee.

Second row Ryan's yellow card for a high hit on Malcolm Marx in the early stages of the loss to the Springboks was subsequently upgraded to a 20-minute red card.

The independent committee determined that by applying World Rugby's sanctioning provisions, a mid-range entry point of six weeks was appropriate.

That has been reduced to three weeks, however, in light of Ryan accepting the red card, his clean record and other mitigating factors.

The sanction could be further reduced to two weeks should Ryan complete World Rugby's Coaching Intervention Programme as a substitute for the final week of his suspension.

That option is aimed at modifying specific techniques and technical issues which contributed to the incidence of foul play.

As it stands, Ryan is ruled out of Leinster's United Rugby Championship game against Dragons this weekend and the Investec Champions Cup matches at home to Harlequins on 6 December and away to Leicester Tigers on 12 December.

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During a distinguished playing career, former Ireland, Munster and British and Irish Lions scrum-half Conor Murray played alongside some legendary figures in the world of rugby union.

In a special edition of the BBC's Ireland Rugby Social podcast, Murray selects the best XV from all the players he lined up with during 15 years participating in the sport at the highest level.

The 36-year-old racked up 125 caps for Ireland, made 207 appearances for Munster and played eight Tests for the Lions across three tours in 2013, 2017 and 2021.

In his own position of scrum-half, Murray selected former Wales number nine Mike Phillips, one of three Welsh players in his XV.

Murray says he learned much from watching Phillips, "taking in as much information as he could" as part of the Lions squad in 2013.

A couple of Englishmen are also included in the selection, with the remainder of the team made up of his former Ireland team-mates.

Murray explains on the podcast that he believes Sam Warburton is worthy of his place in the side at open-side flanker because of both his performances and his leadership abilities.

Warburton led the Lions to a series victory over Australia in 2013 and a drawn series with New Zealand four years later.

The Welsh forward had natural leaders like Brian O'Driscoll and Paul O'Connell in the Lions ranks when he took up the reins for the 2013 tour at just 24 years old.

"To be honest, I'd say it was hard for him [to win everyone over at first]," said Murray.

"You had Paulie [O'Connell] and Drico [O'Driscoll] and players who had been on Lions tours before and people naturally looked up to them. They didn't have to earn people's respect.

"They looked up to Sam too but he was a new young captain, young to be captain of a British and Irish Lions team."

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The former Cardiff player retired from playing in July 2018 after failing to recover fully from neck and back surgery.

"He probably retired a bit early but what he did in that window was incredibly impressive. Seeing him on the 2013 and 2017 Lions tours he was someone who grew as a leader. He obviously earned unbelievable respect with his performances

"To be named captain in 2013 with Paul O'Connell and Brian O'Driscoll in that squad was a really daunting thing to do, and he managed to do that and win a series.

"For what Sam did over a long period of time he deserves to be in there. To be fair he let Paulie and Drico speak whenever they thought they needed to.

"When you're captain it's not just you. If you've got people around you you use the room, people who can possibly do it more naturally than you, if you're not an expert in a certain area, let them talk about it."

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Ireland internationals Iain Henderson, Jacob Stockdale and Nick Timoney are all available for Ulster's return to United Rugby Championship action on Friday against Benetton at Affidea Stadium (19:45 GMT).

The trio reported back for club duty at the conclusion of the Autumn Nations Series this week as Richie Murphy's men seek to get back to winning ways following their 49-31 defeat by the Lions in South Africa in late October.

There is further good news on the injury front as Juarno Augustus and Cormac Izuchukwu are back in training with their progress to be monitored this week.

Augustus suffered an arm injury in the 34-26 win over the Lions in the first leg of Ulster's South Africa tour last month and missed out on the Lions game.

Izuchukwu sustained a foot injury in Ulster's last home game in the URC - a 28-7 win over the Bulls - and missed out on the trip to South Africa plus Ireland's November internationals, but could return this week.

That news is tempered by confirmation that Ben Carson and Michael Lowry will miss out this week with Carson sustaining a hamstring injury in Ulster A's victory over the Connacht Eagles last Friday, while Lowry suffered an ankle in jury in the Ireland XV win against Spain three weeks ago.

Stuart McCloskey is also out due to the groin injury picked up in Ireland's win over Australia, joining Lorcan McLoughlin (elbow), Sean Reffell (shoulder), Ben Moxham (knee), Ethan McIlroy (knee), Eric O'Sullivan (hamstring) and James McNabney (knee) on the sidelines.

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Ryan Baird and Jamie Osborne are major doubts for the start of Ireland's 2026 Six Nations campaign because of injury.

Versatile forward Baird, who was forced off in Ireland's 24-13 defeat by world champions South Africa on Saturday with a leg injury, will be out for "up to three months", according to his club Leinster.

Speaking after the loss to the Springboks, Ireland boss Andy Farrell said Baird - who started all four autumn Tests - suffered a suspected fractured tibia.

Osborne is facing a four-month spell on the sidelines with the shoulder injury he sustained in Ireland's win over Japan.

Ireland begin their Six Nations campaign with a trip to holders France on 5 February.

In their squad update, Leinster also confirmed wing Tommy O'Brien, who suffered a head injury against South Africa, and centre Robbie Henshaw (hamstring) will also miss Friday's United Rugby Championship match away to Dragons.

Leinster boss Leo Cullen will also be without Will Connors and James Culhane, who picked up arm and knee injuries respectively in Leinster 50-24 victory over Zebre last month.

There is good news for Cullen and Farrell, however, with lock Joe McCarthy entering the final stage of his rehabilitation from a foot injury he sustained during the first British and Irish Lions Test against Australia in July.

Leinster said he will "be further assessed as the week continues" but added there are no further updates on the fitness of Cormac Foley (calf) and Hugo Keenan (hip).

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Ireland centre Bundee Aki said his side is "moving in the right direction" despite their 24-13 defeat by South Africa, which came at the end of a mixed Autumn Nations Series.

Andy Farrell's side fell short against New Zealand in Chicago, had an unconvincing win over Japan before roaring back with a record victory over Australia.

They finished the year with a chaotic loss against the world champions, but Aki believes they have taken "a lot of good learnings" from their four games with the Six Nations on the horizon.

"Like we said at the start, from how poorly we started, there were some learnings there. We improved for Japan, more improvement again Australia," he said.

"They are world champions for a reason, but I think we're moving in the right direction, and I think this game will stand to us.

"I thought there was bloody good stuff from the boys there from the beginning right to the end. We have to regroup, go back to the drawing board and have a look at ourselves."

Ireland will not be in action again until their Six Nations opener against France in Paris in February.

As a result, Aki knows he and his teammates must park the autumn games and perform well for their clubs until then to give Ireland the best chance of wrestling back the championship crown.

"We finish the Autumn Nations Series now, we close that book, and I need to put my best foot forward for Connacht and be able to be playing well, giving the best for the team and put my hand up whenever I can," he added.

"There's loads of belief in that changing room. We back ourselves to be honest with each other and go again."

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Jack Crowley said there was "calmness" with Ireland despite playing a portion of Saturday's 24-13 defeat by South Africa with 12 players.

Five Ireland players were shown yellow cards as the Springboks won in Dublin for the first time since 2012.

After James Ryan's yellow card was upgraded to a 20-minute red card, Sam Prendergast, Crowley, Andrew Porter and Paddy McCarthy were all sent to the sin-bin for infringements.

Despite playing for 12 players for 10 minutes in the second half, Ireland pushed to the end but came up short of an unlikely comeback against South Africa.

"You are presented with the situation at hand, and the coaches and key leaders in the group put a plan in place and aren't phased by it," Crowley said.

"There was no panic - it was like, 'this is the situation and this is how we're going to handle it'."

Crowley said he was proud of the "fight" shown by Ireland, who won the second half 6-5 despite South Africa having a man advantage for the majority of the game, and he had "unbelievable pride".

"We wanted to win and we knew we could," he said.

"To be part of a group that fights that way for each other, I'm grateful to be part of that."

Crowley did say the actual game was "chaotic", and that he was frustrated with his own yellow card which came after he infringed with scrum-half Cobus Reinach while on the ground at a ruck.

"Coming in your are trying to bring that energy and I probably went over that edge, I was a bit desperate," the Munster fly-half said.

"It's in my control to avoid that, so it's frustrating."

Despite Ireland's fight, it was the world champions who left Dublin with an impressive victory and Crowley said they were a world-class side.

"We got what we expected from them," he said.

"If you do lack discipline, like we did at times, they are going to punish you."

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Centre Stewart Moore has been recalled from his loan to Newcastle Red Bulls by Ulster "due to recent injuries" in their senior squad.

The 26-year-old moved to the Prem club just 19 days ago and scored a hat-trick on his debut against Northampton Saints in the Prem Rugby Cup.

He had been due to start Newcastle's game against Saracens on Saturday.

In a statement, Ulster said that they had activated a recall clause to "ensure appropriate cover in key positions" and would provide a further update this week.

Stuart McCloskey has had his injury woes with Ireland this autumn, suffering a groin injury against New Zealand at the start of November and then going off injured against Australia with a recurrence of the same injury.

The Irish province sit fifth in the United Rugby Championship table after an impressive start to the season with three wins from their opening four games.

They return to action on Friday against Benetton (20:00 GMT) as the URC resumes following the autumn internationals.

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Quilter Nations Series - Ireland v South Africa

Venue: Aviva Stadium, Dublin Date: Saturday, 22 November Kick-off: 17:40 GMT

Coverage: Listen on BBC Sounds, BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Radio Ulster; live text updates on BBC Sport website and app

Ireland wing James Lowe says changes to rugby union rules surrounding contestable high balls have "brought a bit of a different dynamic to the game".

The focus of the new rules has been making the high-ball contest more open, improving player safety by reducing dangerous tackles and penalising players who illegally block or escort opponents from getting to the ball.

Speaking to reporters before Saturday's Test against South Africa in Dublin, Lowe said the guidelines had made preparation and decision-making in "that massive facet of the game incredibly tougher".

"With the way the game is being refereed now it's completely different. The high ball, the contestable in the air, is completely different to what it was the last time we played against South Africa," reflected the 33-year-old.

"A thing we used to call 'the cradle', which was pretty much protecting the catcher so he could get a clean catch, there were about six lads protecting you to go up and try to win a high ball, now obviously that has changed and it has brought a bit of a different dynamic to the game.

"Obviously almost every contestable kick there's a collision in the air that you've got to worry about, there's trying to not knock it on, trying to win it cleanly.

"It's the way the game's going, we're doing a lot more in training, there's a lot more live contest in the air because you have to replicate it somehow."

The Leinster back explained that advice had been sought from gaelic footballers and Australian Rules players, for whom challenging for high balls is an integral part of their respective sports.

"We're talking to the GAA boys, and the AFL guys when we're in Australia too, trying to pick up a few things because obviously that's their bread and butter.

"Ninety five per cent of the time there's going to be a collision in the air so obviously timing is massive, trying to get knees higher than theirs, arms higher than theirs.

"It's tough. It has probably taken that skillset further and further and a lot of it is not only the battle in the air, it's the battle on the ground too."