Irish Rugby

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Ireland's Jamie Osborne believes his ability to cover a number of positions is "definitely a strength".

Osborne made his Test debut at full-back and has also played at centre and on the wing and the 23-year-old hopes he can continue to make the most of his versatility as he prepares to wear the 13 jersey against Georgia in Tbilisi on Saturday (18:00 BST).

"I think it's definitely a strength, sometimes it can seem a bit like a bit of a weakness at times if you're, say, not selected and you're thinking 'maybe I should be a bit more specialised in a certain position,'" he said.

"I suppose over time we'll see and hopefully I can figure out how to best utilise it."

Osborne is part of an inexperienced Ireland side for Tests games against Georgia and Portugal that will be lead by Paul O'Connell while Andy Farrell is on British and Irish Lions duty.

With 16 Ireland players also on tour in Australia, interim head coach O'Connell has 13 uncapped players in his travelling squad and could hand out as many as six debuts against Georgia.

While Osborne said that camp "feels a bit different" with a new-look coaching staff and so many new players, he believes the squad are focused on impressing enough to earn inclusion in future Ireland squads.

"It's definitely a chance to put our hands up," he added.

"It's the lads who've been here for a while who are showing the younger lads how to prepare for games, how to train and how to bring your thoughts to meetings. We're just trying to raise the standard up to the level it was."

Osborne also praised O'Connell's influence since he stepped up from forwards coach to the interim head coach role.

"He's similar to what he's been in past camps really, he's unbelievably detailed in his preparation and in his delivery of messages.

"You know exactly what he wants from you, and you really want to live up to his expectations of you because he'll tell you if you're not and he's honest like that.

"I think he's been brilliant in the head coach role."

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Ulster Rugby's home ground has been renamed the Affidea Stadium after a "long-term" sponsorship agreement with the healthcare company.

The Belfast ground, originally known as Ravenhill, had been called Kingspan Stadium since 2014.

An Ulster statement said the new deal will provide "a strong platform to invest in the development of players, facilities and fan experience".

"Together, we will continue to invest in elite and grassroots rugby, and we look forward to seeing the Affidea Stadium become a beacon for sport and community pride in Ulster," said the province's chief executive officer Hugh McCaughey.

Ulster's 11-year naming rights deal with construction firm Kingspan concluded at the end of last month, while the association went back to 1999.

The commercial relationship with the Cavan-based company had been questioned in the wake of the firm's links to the Grenfell Tower fire.

Seventy-two people died in the fire in London in 2017 and Kingspan's business practices were criticised during an inquiry.

The company, however, said its products made up only 5% of the insulation at Grenfell and that they were used without its recommendation.

Andy Gray
BBC Sport NI Journalist

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Interim head coach Paul O'Connell says his youthful Ireland team's performance in Georgia on Saturday "won't be perfect".

O'Connell has handed debuts to second row Darragh Murray and wing Tommy O'Brien, while four more players could make first Ireland appearances off the bench.

Ireland are without the 16 players who are in Australia with the British and Irish Lions, and captain Caelan Doris and Robbie Henshaw are missing through injury.

Although former Ireland lock O'Connell says preparations have "been good", he says learning from mistakes will be part of the process in Tbilisi.

"We're aware of that, even when we play with the most experienced internationals," O'Connell said.

"Trying to make the players aware of that as well is really important and we just have to crack on."

Jacob Stockdale is the most-capped player with 39 caps, while Stuart McCloskey is the only player over the age of 30.

Eleven of the starting 15 have fewer than 10 caps, something that also applies to all but one of the replacements, and O'Connell says there will likely be some nerves in his players.

"That's part of it, you almost have to experience that to learn how to figure it out," he said.

"That's why we wanted them in that two-week prep window as that's what international rugby is all about.

"They experience how to come in and learn quickly and how to get aligned quickly.

"Ultimately, until you are in the middle of it and you make a mistake, it's only by getting on the field and experiencing it that you really learn."

O'Connell added that facing Georgia, who defeated Japan and Tonga last year and narrowly lost to Italy, will be a "real challenge" for his players.

"It's not a Test match of small significance, it's a match where they have to perform," he said.

"They are going to learn a lot. We are going to learn a lot."

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With 16 players on British and Irish Lions duty this summer, interim Ireland head coach Paul O'Connell's 33-man squad for this summer's matches against Georgia and Portugal features 13 uncapped players. BBC Sport NI takes a closer look at those hoping to feature in green for the first time.

Versatile Nathan Doak's impressive performances for Ulster in the half-back positions have been rewarded with a berth in Ireland's summer tour squad.

The 23-year-old has featured regularly for the northern province under Ulster head coach Richie Murphy, having already becoming a pivotal member of the squad under previous coach Dan McFarland.

Despite his tender years he has already accumulated 92 Ulster appearances, scoring 366 points.

Primarily regarded as a scrum-half, Doak was drafted into the Ireland squad last summer before the second Test in South Africa after Craig Casey was injured in the first Test, but was not capped.

The son of former Ulster coach and current Ireland under-20s coach Neil Doak, Nathan continued his progress by starting for Ireland 'A' against England at Bristol in February.

A product of the Ulster Academy, he played for Ireland at Under-18, U19 and U20 level and was also a member of the Emerging Ireland squad which toured South Africa in September 2022.

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With 16 players on British and Irish Lions duty this summer, interim Ireland head coach Paul O'Connell's 33-man squad for this summer's matches against Georgia and Portugal features 13 uncapped players. BBC Sport NI takes a closer look at those hoping to feature in green for the first time.

Andrew Porter's Lions commitments could open the door for Ireland's fringe loose-head props to establish themselves.

At 26, Michael Milne is not as young as some of O'Connell's squad, so he will undoubtedly be keen to make an instant impression this summer.

Having only started 12 games for Leinster in the best part of six years, Milne made the move to Munster earlier this year.

He started four games at loose-head, scoring a try against Ulster before putting in a whopping 90-minute shift in the United Rugby Championship play-off thriller against the Sharks, which the South Africans won in a place-kicking competition.

A Grand Slam winner with the Ireland under-20s, Milne has previously trained with the senior squad in multiple international windows, but this summer could be a crucial period in his development.

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Jack Conan says the British and Irish Lions are "pretty happy" with how they have performed in their first two games in Australia.

Andy Farrell's side followed Saturday's comfortable win against the Western Force with a comprehensive 52-12 triumph over Queensland Reds on Wednesday.

Conan made his first start of the series at number eight against the Reds in Brisbane and was pleased with his display and the Lions' collective performance.

"It was class, I absolutely loved it. Normally I get a bit nervous before a game, but I was just excited," he told BBC Sport.

"I'm happy enough with how it went, a few mistakes but that is always going to happen, you have to roll with the punches a little bit, make the most of it and I felt like I did that.

"Like everyone else, I'm trying to put my best foot forward and make the most of the occasion personally and collectively."

After a slow start at Suncorp Stadium, the Lions dominated the second half as they claimed a deserved win.

Conan believes their focus now is to put in a complete performance from the start as they look forward to their next game against Waratahs in Sydney on Saturday.

"We just want to play from minute one to minute 84, I think at one stage a few lads were screaming to kick it out because we were over it and pretty tired, but you want to play and show what you're about and show your skillset, I think we did that in spades today," he added.

"There is always room to improve and get better but we're pretty happy with how they have gone, and we have the opportunity to go again Saturday."

'Lions tour a really exciting challenge'

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Conan's fellow Irish forward, Ronan Kelleher, was also thrilled to get the win against the Queensland side on his first start of the tour.

The Leinster front row's tap penalty put Andrew Porter over to level at 12-12 before Finn Russell's conversion put the Lions ahead and there was no looking back from there.

Kelleher, a veteran of the 2021 tour of South Africa, is excited to be involved for a second time and feels their victory on Wednesday is a "a step in the right direction".

"It's great to get the win against an unbelievably good Reds side," said the 27-year-old hooker.

"They were unbelievably physical, particularly in that first half, so we're happy with how we went and are really excited about the next four weeks.

"It's a really exciting challenge and everyone is really looking forward to it. The competition for places is really important as well with lads showing up in training and ready to get better each day."

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With 16 players on British and Irish Lions duty this summer, interim Ireland head coach Paul O'Connell's 33-man squad for this summer's Tests against Georgia and Portugal features 13 uncapped players. BBC Sport NI takes a closer look at those hoping to feature in green for the first time.

Tom Ahern has been recognised by O'Connell after an impressive season with Munster, during which he made 19 appearances including five off the bench in the Champions Cup.

The 25-year-old lock made his Munster debut in 2020, has earned 65 caps and was part of the 2022-23 United Rugby Championship title-winning squad. In 2023-24, he scored eight tries in 23 outings.

Ahern, from County Waterford, featured for the Ireland under-20s during the 2019 World Rugby Under-20 Championship and was part of the 2022 Emerging Ireland tour of South Africa.

At under-20 level, he also helped Ireland win the Triple Crown during the Covid-hit 2020 Six Nations.

While his progress has been hindered by injuries, he has long been on the radar of Ireland's senior coaching staff. Invited to train with the squad during the 2021 autumn Tests and the past couple of Six Nations campaigns, Ahern hopes to finally earn his first senior international cap.

Capable of playing in the second and back rows, the 6ft 9in forward could learn a great deal under O'Connell, another totemic second row to have emerged from Munster.

He was nursing a hamstring injury but was passed fit on Tuesday.

Matt Gault
BBC Sport NI senior journalist

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Ireland interim assistant coach Denis Leamy says this month's Tests against Georgia and Portugal offer an exciting opportunity to introduce inexperienced players to senior international rugby.

With 16 Ireland players on British and Irish Lions duty in Australia, Ireland interim head coach Paul O'Connell - overseeing national team matters while Andy Farrell is away - has 13 uncapped players in a squad captained by 26-year-old Craig Casey.

The Irish face Georgia in Tbilisi on Saturday (18:00 BST) and Portugal in Lisbon on 12 July (19:00 BST).

"I think it's about implementing old and new into the Irish gameplan and playing the Irish way and seeing how players do in this environment and how they can produce big efforts and big performances," said Leamy, who has taken the Ireland defence coach role while on secondment from Munster.

"It's about building, I suppose, that catalogue of experience with those players and giving them a feel of what Test rugby looks like."

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Ireland are first tasked with taking down Georgia, who are ranked 11th in the world and possess quality operators like 22-year-old back Davit Niniashvili, who will play under former Ireland fly-half Ronan O'Gara at La Rochelle next season.

"They're a very experienced Georgian team, a lot of them have played in World Cups. A huge amount of them play in the Top 14 so they're well accustomed to big games, being in tough environments.

"So it's a really good challenge for a young team and to go to Tbilisi, into a bit of a bearpit, it's going to physical, it's going to be hot, it's everything we want to expose our young players to."

Former back row Leamy - part of Ireland's 2009 Grand Slam-winning squad - also offered a positive fitness update on uncapped Munster forward Tom Ahern, who has been nursing a hamstring issue.

Calvin Nash is also fit, while uncapped Ulster prop Scott Wilson was added to the squad on Tuesday.

"He's fit and he's ready to go," Leamy said of Ahern.

"Tom has progressed hugely over the last couple of years and he's put in some excellent performances for Munster. So he's a guy we have high hopes for and absolutely, hopefully, he'll get game time and do really well.

"He's such a promising player, I've no doubt he can do that."

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Leinster and La Rochelle have again been paired together in the draw for the Investec Champions Cup pool stages.

The four-time champions and former Irish fly-half Ronan O'Gara's side have met six times in the past five seasons, including twice in finals won by the French outfit.

The other sides in Pool Three are English pair Leicester Tigers and Harlequins, Top 14 side Bayonne and United Rugby Championship (URC) rivals the Stormers, although Leinster will not play the latter given that they are in the same domestic competition.

Munster have also been handed a familiar opponent and will play Castres of the Top 14 for the 20th time in this competition.

The southern province, who will be under new head coach Clayton McMillan next season, will also play Bath, Toulon and Gloucester with Edinburgh the other URC representative in Pool Two.

Ulster will start the season in the Challenge Cup for the first time in their history and have been paired with Cardiff, Exeter Chiefs, Cheetahs, Racing 92 and Stade Francais.

They faced Exeter in last season's Champions Cup, and Racing the season before that, although have not faced Stade Francais since 2009 or the Cheetahs since they departed what was then the PRO14 in 2020.

The Challenge Cup does not have the same rule against playing teams from your own league so Ulster could face Cardiff given they will play four opponents from their six-team pool.

Former England coach Stuart Lancaster will guide Connacht in the second-tier competition with the western province handed a more varied draw than their Irish rivals.

They are in Pool One along with Montauban, promoted to the Top 14 this season, and Georgian side Black Lion.

URC duo Ospreys and Zebre, as well as French side Montpellier, are also in the group.

Full fixture dates, times, and locations will be confirmed at a later date.

EPCR pools involving Irish sides

Champions Cup Pool 2: Bath Rugby, RC Toulon, Munster Rugby, Castres Olympique, Edinburgh Rugby, Gloucester Rugby

Champions Cup Pool 3: Leinster Rugby, Leicester Tigers, Harlequins, La Rochelle, Bayonne, DHL Stormers

Challenge Cup Pool 1: Ospreys, Zebre Parma, Montpellier, US Montauban, Black Lion, Connacht Rugby

Challenge Cup Pool 3: Toyota Cheetahs, Cardiff Rugby, Exeter Chiefs, Racing 92, Stade Francais, Ulster Rugby

Nigel Ringland
BBC Sport Senior Journalist in Brisbane

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Twelve months ago, Hugo Keenan was preparing for the Paris Olympics as a member of the Ireland Rugby 7s squad.

Now he’s ready to stake his claim for a British and Irish Lions test place and in doing so is creating a little bit of history.

When the Ireland full-back steps onto the pitch to face the Queensland Reds on Wednesday, he will become the first Irish player to represent his country at the Olympics and the Lions.

“I wouldn't compare one to the other. What comparison I would make is that when you come into a new squad it was deja vu to that nearly butterfly feeling in your stomach of the nerves of meeting guys you hadn't known before,” explained Keenan.

”It was similar in the Sevens squad. I knew maybe 50% of the lads in the squad and had close bonds with them similar to the Lions where you know all your country teammates and you've come across a few others along the way.

“But then there's also new lads here you need to get to know and build up those connections and I'm definitely taking some of the learnings I have from going off to a new team, a new squad, a new sport in one sense in the case of the Sevens and trying to bring it into the Lions.

“I've been lucky to have been a part of that Olympic journey and I'm lucky to be here today on this Lions journey. Just feeling very privileged.”

The Ireland full-back has been sidelined with a calf injury that caused him to miss Leinster’s end-of-season win in the United Rugby Championship and has led to a frustrating beginning to his Lions tour.

In his absence and that of Blair Kinghorn, who arrives in Brisbane on Monday evening following Toulouse’s win in the Top 14, the battle for the full-back shirt in the Test matches is wide open after England’s Elliot Daly stepped up against the Western Force by scoring two tries and putting in an impressive performance.

“It's been a frustrating couple of weeks missing out on the final with Leinster and then maybe not being able to participate as much at the start of this tour as I would have liked.

“But I'm excited now to put on the red jersey and looking forward to it. Thankfully the tour was never really in doubt and we were always targeting the Reds game, so thankfully it's been pretty smooth sailing.”

BBC Sport and Inpho present a selection of some of the best images from the British and Irish Lions' victory over Western Force at Optus Stadium, Perth

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BBC Sport and Inpho present a selection of some of the best images from the British and Irish Lions Captain's run at the Optus Stadium, Perth, Australia

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Connacht second row Josh Murphy has been called up to train with the Ireland squad as injury cover for Tom Ahern.

In a squad update issued on Friday morning, the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) said Munster's Ahern was dealing with "hamstring tightness".

The uncapped Murphy will remain with the squad in Dublin before Wednesday's departure to Tbilisi ahead of Tests against Georgia on 5 July (18:00 BST) and Portugal in Lisbon on 12 July (19:00 BST).

The 30-year-old, who can operate in the second and back rows, has played 39 times for Connacht after joining from Leinster in 2022.

Having taken a year out of professional rugby in 2023-24, he returned last year and made 21 appearances - 17 of which were starts - for Connacht, scoring four tries.

Murphy is one of six training panellists in interim head coach Paul O'Connell's squad, alongside Brian Gleeson, Diarmuid Kilgallen, Evan O'Connell (all Munster), Jude Postlethwaite and Zac Ward (both Ulster).

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BBC Sport and Inpho present a selection of some of the best images from the British and Irish Lions golf outing at the Joondalup Resort in Perth, Australia

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Nigel Ringland
BBC Sport Senior Journalist in Perth

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Tadhg Furlong pronounced himself ready for the challenges of a third Lions tour before Saturday’s first game on Australian soil against Western Force in Perth.

The 32 year-old is a veteran of the past two tours to New Zealand in 2017, which ended in a draw, and South Africa four years ago, when the Lions lost.

The Leinster prop, however, was a stalwart of both series playing in all six Tests and he’d like to extend that run Down Under.

"Would it be cool to say that I played in all three again?

"Yeah, it would. Is it something that motivates me at the minute? No.

"I think obviously after the result last weekend, we're looking straight ahead for this Saturday, so it's just about trying to get my best out on to the pitch and trying to get results with the lads,” explained Furlong.

Not so long ago there were doubts Furlong would make the squad. A calf strain was the latest in a long line of injuries that kept him sidelined for most of last season, missing Leinster’s URC win a couple of weeks ago.

"They're all short-term injuries, and you're always trying to get back for this game or that game.

"It's more a feeling of 'would you get picked, have you done enough'?"

Furlong will pack down in the front row against Western Force alongside his Leinster team-mate and Saturday's Lions captain Dan Sheehan.

"Knowing Dan, he doesn't overthink it a whole lot, and he always plays well, and I think he has the respect of the group.

"I'm delighted for him as a friend and a team-mate.

"He was a big old hooker and I remember him coming into a few scrum sessions.

"It's hard to find your slot, what's comfortable, what works for you.

"Then it just exploded for him. I'm not sure at what point, but when he came onto the scene, he came onto the scene quick."