Irish Rugby

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While the eye was almost automatically trained upon who would be the occupant of the 10 jersey when Andy Farrell revealed his team on Thursday afternoon, the big surprise was the presence of Stuart McCloskey at inside centre.

The 33-year-old starts for a third time in succession but his selection for Soldier Field on Saturday is certainly a different kettle of fish compared to summer Tests against Georgia and Portugal when a host of regulars were on British and Irish Lions duty.

McCloskey's 22nd cap will be his first run against the All Blacks and, although Bundee Aki and Robbie Henshaw travelled carrying knocks, Farrell says the Ulster player "thoroughly deserves" his chance.

Something of a form selection, the hard-carrying McCloskey will be expected to provide go-forward ball as one of few Irish players with three starts under his belt already this season.

His opposite number Jordie Barrett is hugely familiar to plenty of Ireland's side after a short stint with Leinster last season.

A versatile player with a complete skillset, Barrett's best position is at inside centre and, at 28-years-old, he is one of the best 12s in the world.

Head coach Scott Robertson described him this week as the sort of player who "coaches before they are coaches" and his contributions figure to be even more valuable on Saturday given how well he knows the opposition.

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The Chicago 'rematch' is set for Saturday with Ireland and New Zealand returning to the scene of their historic 2019 battle at Soldier Field.

Head coaches Andy Farrell and Scott Robertson have named their squads for the match with Jack Crowley given the nod at fly-half for Ireland and Beauden Barrett named in the same position for the All Blacks.

In their last ten meetings, the sides are level with five wins apiece - so who will come out on top this weekend?

We'll have live radio commentary of the match on BBC Radio Ulster, BBC Sounds and BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra from 20:00 GMT.

Jim Neilly will be joined by former Ireland forward Chris Henry on commentary.

The build-up will start on the BBC Sport website with text commentary from 18:30 GMT with everything you need to know ahead of the game.

And why don't you get yourself in the mood by listening (or watching on YouTube, external) the latest Ireland Rugby Social podcast as Gavin Andrews takes Conor Murray and Rory Best on a trip down memory lane.

We've also got this great recap of that famous win in 2019 from former Ireland wing Andrew Trimble too.

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Ireland forwards coach Paul O'Connell said captain Caelan Doris "feels really good" as his side prepare to face the All Blacks in Chicago on Saturday.

Leinster back row Doris has not played since his province's defeat by Northampton Saints in the Champions Cup semi-finals in May.

He sustained a shoulder problem that required surgery in that game and missed the British and Irish Lions' series win in Australia during the summer.

Despite not featuring in Leinster's first five games of the 2025-26 United Rugby Championship, O'Connell said there has been "very little minding" of Doris in the build-up to Saturday's contest at Soldier Field (20:10 GMT).

"He's been through a very good return to play period now and he's had a good few weeks," said the former lock of the side's skipper.

"There's been very little minding of him or anything like that - there hasn't been any.

"He's fine, he's trained really well, he feels really good, he's shown no ill-effects whatsoever."

Given Doris' lack of match action, it remains to be seen whether he will face Scott Robertson's side from the start or make his return from the bench.

"There's one train of thought that says you start a guy like that because he could come on after a minute anyway, and there's another train of thought that says you bring him off the bench," added O'Connell.

Ireland have Jack Conan, who himself has not played since the Lions' third Test against Australia in August, as another option at number eight.

For what is Andy Farrell's first game in charge of the side for 11 months after his sabbatical leading the Lions to victory down under, Ireland's 36-man squad travelled to Chicago last week with the full party taking part in training on Tuesday.

Bundee Aki (hip) and Robbie Henshaw (groin) were among the players who had travelled with knocks but O'Connell confirmed "everyone's good to go".

Back three players Hugo Keenan, Mack Hansen and Calvin Nash, as well as locks Joe McCarthy and Cormac Izuchukwu, did not travel because of injury.

Saturday's game is the start of an autumn series that will also see Farrell's side play Japan, Australia and South Africa in Dublin.

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On this week's Ireland Rugby Social, Conor and Gavin are joined by former Ireland captain Rory Best.

In the week that Ireland take on New Zealand in Chicago to start their autumn Test series, the trio take a trip down memory lane to Ireland's famous win over the All Blacks at Soldier Field in 2016.

Download and subscribe to the Ireland Rugby Socials now on BBC Sounds.

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Luke McGrath says Leinster owed their fans an improved performance as they shook off a sluggish start to the season to thrash Zebre in Dublin.

The United Rugby Championship holders came into Saturday's Aviva Stadium game on the back of three defeats in four, including last week's heavy loss to rivals Munster at Croke Park.

But despite handing out six debuts in a team shorn of their Ireland contingent, they overcame a spirited first-half showing from Zebre to score eight tries and seal a 50-26 win.

"It was such a tough week, especially after last weekend," captain McGrath told Premier Sports.

"We felt we owed it to our fans to put on a better performance and we're really pleased we were able to do that."

The scrum-half added: "It was far from perfect.

"There was so much inexperience in there, so much excitement before the game, so I'm happy for those six guys and thankfully we made it a good bonus-point win, something we haven't been amazing at this season."

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Ulster head coach Richie Murphy lamented his side's error count as their impressive start to the United Rugby Championship season was halted by the Lions at Ellis Park.

The Irish province went into the Johannesburg contest chasing a fourth straight win, and while an inspired Rob Baloucoune helped keep those hopes alive, the Lions scored seven tries to win 49-31.

In addition to Baloucoune's brilliant treble, James Hume and David McCann scores secured a try bonus point for Ulster, but Murphy was disappointed by his side's mistake-laden display at altitude.

"It's a difficult one to take in the end, we're in that game for 55, 60 minutes and let it get away from us in the end," said Murphy.

"Over the course of the game, our error count was probably too high and we just invited the Lions into the game.

"Scrum dominance from them put us under a lot of pressure, but it's a massive effort from the players in a very tough situation, 28 or 29 degrees at altitude, it's not an easy place to be."

On Baloucoune's hat-trick, Murphy added: "Incredible. We have an embarrassment of riches in the back three. Zac [Ward] has been on fire, Werner [Kok] has been really good and Mikey [Lowry]'s flying.

"Having Rob back is fantastic. He got through another full game, which is exciting for us, and long may that fitness level continue."

Juarno Augustus' late withdrawal elevated debutant Bryn Ward into the starting back row, while lock Joe Hopes made his first start.

"I thought both guys put in a big shift. There's going to be little thing there that we'll review and give them some feedback. It's good to see them both come through the game and contribute so much."

Following last week's bonus-point win over the Sharks in Durban, Ulster leave South Africa with six points from two games.

"You're never satisfied when you've lost a game that was in the balance at 60 minutes. Six points is a decent return, but we're still hurting today.

"It's really important when we get back into Belfast against Benetton in a few weeks that we flick the switch and get back to winning ways."

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Ulster centre Jude Postlethwaite is determined to push himself into the mix for an Ireland call-up after getting a taste of the Test environment over the summer.

Having previously been involved with Emerging Ireland, Postlethwaite was a training panellist for Ireland's tour to Georgia and Portugal.

The 23-year-old has also been named in the Ireland XV squad for next month's game against Spain and is hoping to use this season as a springboard after scoring six tries in 18 appearances for Ulster last term.

"Training with the players there was really important for me, just to see what the standard is," Postlethwaite said of his Ireland experience over the summer.

"Also working with the coaches to see what it is I need to do to improve when I get my chances to start or come off the bench, like what I need to do to prove to them that I'm capable of playing and getting the cap, but it was really good."

He added: "There's a lot of younger centres coming through that are really good and I've played with a lot of them so it'll be good competition once we all start getting gametime. It's like who can perform and it'll keep me on my toes, but it's a really exciting season ahead."

After being sprung from the bench in Ulster's wins over the Bulls and Sharks, Postlethwaite will make his first start of the season in Saturday's game against the Lions at Ellis Park (12:45 BST).

And after a deeply disappointing 2024-25 campaign that ended without Investec Champions Cup qualification, Postlethwaite says he senses an uptick in "belief and desire" in the Ulster squad as they target a fourth successive United Rugby Championship win.

"I feel like this has been building since pre-season," added the former RBAI pupil, who won a Six Nations Under-20 Grand Slam with Ireland in 2022.

"Our pre-season was really tough. Mark [Sexton] coming in [as attack coach] fought hard for that belief. He's obviously a really good coach and put the foundations in place for our attack.

"I feel like I know what we can do in training and when it comes off, you can tell in the games, it's hard for teams to defend."

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Leinster head coach Leo Cullen has included five uncapped players in his matchday squad for Saturday's United Rugby Championship game against Zebre at Aviva Stadium (17:30 BST).

Full-back Hugo McLaughlin and prop Jerry Cahir make their debuts from the start, with prop Alex Usanov, fly-half Caspar Gabriel and hooker Bobby Sheehan - British and Irish Lions and Ireland hooker Dan Sheehan's younger brother - named on the bench.

With 22 Leinster players on Ireland duty, Cullen has made 14 changes from last week's dispiriting 31-14 defeat by rivals Munster at Croke Park, with Max Deegan the only player retained.

Joshua Kenny earns his first start on the right wing after making his debut off the bench against the Sharks a fortnight ago, with Andrew Osborne on the left.

Experienced scrum-half Luke McGrath captains the side as Harry Byrne returns at fly-half.

France prop Rabah Slimani starts at tight-head while Springbok second row RG Snyman is on the bench.

URC holders Leinster have lost three of their first four URC games.

Leinster: McLaughlin; Kenny, Cooney, Tector, A Osborne; Byrne, McGrath; Cahir, McKee, Slimani, Deeny, Mangan, Deegan, Penny, Culhane.

Replacements: B Sheehan, Usanov, Sparrow, Snyman, Soroka, Connors, Gunne, Gabriel.

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Joe Hopes will make his first Ulster start after being named in the second row for Saturday's United Rugby Championship game against the Lions at Ellis Park (12:45 BST).

With Iain Henderson on Ireland duty, 21-year-old lock Hopes comes in to partner Harry Sheridan after making his second Ulster appearance off the bench in last week's bonus-point win over the Sharks in Durban.

Hooker Rob Herring captains the side on his return to the line-up, with Tom Stewart switching to open-side flanker to replace Ireland's Nick Timoney after filling in as a back-row forward in the second half of the Sharks game.

Sean Reffell was ruled out earlier this week, but Juarno Augustus has been passed fit to start at number eight after being forced off with an arm injury in Durban.

In the backline, Zac Ward and Jude Postlethwaite replace Jacob Stockdale and Stuart McCloskey, both of whom are with Ireland, while Rob Baloucoune comes in for Werner Kok on the right wing.

Bryn Ward - Zac's younger brother - is in line to make his debut after being named on the bench.

The 21-year-old back row, who has been capped by Ireland at under-20 level, travelled out to South Africa to link up with the Ulster squad earlier this week.

Ulster are targeting a fourth successive win to start the URC season after picking up a maximum 15 points from their first three outings. Saturday's fixture in Johannesburg is the province's last match until 28 November because of the autumn break.

Ulster: Lowry; Baloucoune, Hume, Postlethwaite, Z Ward; Murphy, Doak; Crean, Herring (capt), O'Toole, Sheridan, Hopes, McCann, Stewart, Augustus.

Replacements: McCormick, Reid, Wilson, Dalton, B Ward, McKee, Flannery, Kok.