Ireland have named there squad for the 4 games over November where they face New Zealand in Chicago and then 3 games in Dublin facing Japan, Australia and South Africa. Questions have to be asked at this point about certain selections given that the World Cup in Australia in only 2 years away.

The World Cup is not the only show in town of course but a number of players will be wondering what they need to do to get into a squad. Our centres are moving on in age and while they still have plenty to offer where are there challengers, you have guys like James Hume, Cathal Forde, Jude Postlewaite and Dan Kelly naming 4 men that could easily be involved in November.

I know that the here and now is important but future proofing is so important and Ireland have been guilty over the years of not doing that and could easily be without one of those guys selected and then where does Andy Farrell go to select the next man.

Those that played in any of the mini tours of South Africa or the few A games in recent years have to be scratching their heads as to what they need to do to break into the main squad. You can’t wait until injury intervenes to force your hand.

I just hope that those players on the outside continue to perform and make it almost impossible not to select players for the upcoming 6 Nations as well as the November internationals. Andy Farrell needs to be asked why certain players can’t break into a squad.

Age could easily catch Ireland over the next few years, all of our selected centres are well over 30. Those selections don’t scream future to me unfortunately and while the men selected won’t let the jersey down, it is time others got the chance to fight for a spot in the main squad.

Of course, when a coach is selecting a squad his priority would be to get the best players on the field for the games, it some circumstances the squad selected might not be the best one. If Farrell picked a load a new players or lads with single figures in terms of caps he would be fed to the wolves. There was room for some more fresh faces but like most Ireland squads, he went with caution over youth…

Let’s hope, we see more fresh faces over the next 12 months between the November games and 6 Nations of 2026. We do have youth in both the scrum half department and at out half.  

Another crack at New Zealand is just over the horizon and that is always a special game in Chicago this time 9 years after the game in Soldier Field before facing Japan, Australia and South Africa in the Aviva Stadium.

Ireland Squad for November Series 2025 :

Prop : Micheal Milne, Jack Boyle, Jordan Duggan (3)

Hooker : Dan Sheehan, Ronan Kelleher, Lee Barron (3)

Prop : Oli Jager, Thomas Clarkson, Tadgh Furlong (3)

Second Row :  Thomas Ahern, Tadgh Beirne, Joe Mc Carthy, Darragh Murray, Cormac Izuchkwu (5)

Back Row : Nick Timoney, Gavin Coombes, Cian Prendergast, Caelan Doris, Ryan Baird, Josh Van Der Flier (6)

Backs :

Scrum Halves:  Craig Casey, Fintan Gunne, Ben Murphy (3)

Out Half : Jack Crowley, Sam Prendergast, Jack Murphy (3)

Wing/Full Back : Calvin Nash, Tommy O Brien, Shayne Boulton, Finn Tracey, James Lowe,

Shane Daly, Jimmy O Brien, Jamie Osbourne (8)

Centre :

Hugh Gavin, Dan Kelly, Jude Postlewaite, Robbie Henshaw, Ciaran Frawley…. (5)

Here is the squad I would select to face into the games over the November Series. There will be others selected ahead of some of these players. With Andy Farrell back in charge it is time to focus on the next two years before World Cup Australia in 2027.

Munster go into the new season with Clayton Mc Millan taking over as head coach after he took over from Ian Costello who had taken the reins from Graham Rowntree in October of 2024. 

With this fresh start bringing fresh hope that Munster will get close to winning a League title last won in 2023. They are certainly capable of going for a league title but will need to be far more consistent than last year if they are to wrestle the trophy away from Leinster.

Munster will be away to Scarlets in week 1 of the campaign and that will be followed by 3 games of the next 4 on home soil the only away fixture will be in Croke Park against Leinster.

Given they could have had a tour away in South Africa to begin the year, looking at the games over the opening rounds they are very manageable and Mr Mc Millan will hope his charges can hit the ground running.

Europe could be that much trickier given the lack of strength in depth Munster have, yes they will have everyone back from injury both long term absentees and short term also.

The return of Roman Salanoa from injury will be a massive boost, he along with Ronan Fox will provide competition for Oli Jager who himself will hope for a good run without injury in the early part of the new campaign, not forgetting Lee Barron and Michael Milne who joined from Leinster both on 2 year deals.

Dan Kelly has joined on a 2 year deal from Leicester Tigers and will provide welcome competition for the pairing of Tom Farrell and Alex Nankivell who were the chosen centres in the big games last season when injury or suspension didn’t rule Nankivell out.

JJ Hanrahan has re-joined for third spell in red and his experience will take the pressure off Jack Crowley and will hopefully help the two other 10s currently in the set up Dylan Hicks and Tony Butler to advance and put pressure of the senior pair for a place in the match day 23 as the season goes ahead.

Up front, men like Evan O Connell and Tom Ahern will want to establish themselves on a weekly basis as will Brian Gleeson while young tyros like Luke Murphy and Ruan Quinn will want to continue the good work of recent years. Michael Foy will want to push on after some good showings in green in the recent Junior World Cup.

The coaching team will hope that with this new start that they can move ahead and maybe tweak things both in defence under Denis Leamy and in attack under Mike Predergast. Munster will want to be water tight in defence while trying new things in attack.

When things went well in attack last year they were great, La Rochelle away springs to mind straight off but then early in the year against Leinster in Croker. They failed to fire even after a bright start. So consistency will be the name of the game for Munster in the new campaign.

The new season will start on Friday week away to Gloucester who they will also face in the Champions Cup before playing Bath in Cork the following week, who are to face Munster in Europe later in the year.

They were due to play Biarritz in France during pre-season but that game fell through unfortunately. Another link to Munster’s first win in Europe which will be marked this season as it will be 20 years in May 2026 since the famous 23-19 win over Biarritz in Cardiff….

Australia win a weather delayed third test 22-12 to show the fighting quality that is a hall mark of sport not alone Australian sport. Australia are fully deserving of the win in the third test and like last week, the win can be attested to Joe Schmidt and his ability to fire up a team and give them a game plan that is hard working and you need to be extremely clear in how to execute the game plan.

Men like Nick White, Will Skelton and Taniela Tupou led from the front from minute 1 and got stuck in and that defiantly upset the Lions rhythm and when Dan Sheehan began to lose his momentum at the line out and Tupou was winning his battle with Andrew Porter at the scrum.

All those little moments led to Australia getting in front and not surrendering the lead at any point and although the score line reads 22-14 at full time, Australia will know they left a couple of chances behind them. You can say the Lions minds were already on the beach given they had snuck a late win in the 2^nd Test last weekend but knowing how Andy Farrell likes to do things, he would have wanted to win the series 3-0.

Australia manged to dig a well-earned win out and can go into the opening round of the Rugby Championship in 2 weeks’ time against South Africa with a shot of confidence. They were very close to winning last week’s 2^nd test and only for the late intervention of Hugo Keenan to get over and seal a late 29-26 win, this win today could have had a very different meaning.

The weather delay at the start of the second half had the desired did not overly affect either side, it saw Ellis Genge in to replace Andrew Porter and that had the desired effect on the scrum that saw a slight reversal in fortunes and a number of penalties going to the Lions.

The Lions started to slowly build into the game without a functioning line out that had trouble before Maro Itoje went off but did continue to struggle as the game went on. Australia for there part kept moving the ball around and kept things flowing and allowing themselves through their own good play as well as Lions indiscipline to keep them on the front foot.

Today again showed that top level sport really is only a game of inches and if your only even a small bit off it how it can effect things in an overall sense. From an Australian point of view they can take today’s complete performance and refer back to it over the next few weeks.

They will have a new forwards coach as Geoff Parling now moves on to take the top job at Leicester Tigers, they will also have Les Kiss most likely beginning to put his stamp on the team heading into the Rugby Championship.

Joe Schmidt although they didn’t win the series, they won in a test game and the manner in which  they saw it through will do no harm. They do have a base to work from and now they need to get things sorted upstairs in ARU HQ.

There may be bumpy days ahead but the wheel might slowly begin to turn now and it is up to all involved in Australian rugby to put the shoulder to the wheel and move forward together.

For the Lions, it is a first series win since Australia in 2013 and they can bask in the glory of the achievement. Maro Itoje has led the Lions to a series win.  

Andy Farrell has guided the Lions to series win. He has had such an impact on the whole organisation since his announcement last year, he and his coaching staff will look back on a job well done. They didn’t win the series 3-0 but if you gave Farrell a test series win he would have taken your hand off…

They can enjoy a few days in each other’s company now to celebrate and take stock of what has been achieved. These players will now get some well-earned and deserved time off to celebrate with family and friends and then they can all just switch off from rugby for a couple of weeks.

The stated aim of a series win has been secured and Australia provided a win and close fought series. While the Lions brand will continue to be questioned and it’s place in the modern day game will also be spoken about, they provide vital revenue for the competing union, namely Australia on this occasion and New Zealand is next up in 2029…

The Lions secured the series with some late drama with Hugo Keenan diving over to secure the lead for the Lions late on that saw them win 29-26. There was a TMO intervention for a clear out on replacement Colin Tizzano but both the TMO and referee Andrea Piardi saw nothing wrong with Jac Morgan’s tackle, it was a hit across the shoulders with no contact to the head of Tizzano.

Australia came to play in this game and Joe Schmidt’s hand prints can be seen all over this performance lead by Rob Valentini and Will Skelton up front. They flew out of the blocks and lead 6-0 before the Lions responded through Dan Sheehan which went unconverted that made it 6-5.

Australia kept coming through Joespeh Aukuso Suaalii and Len Ikitau who both showed incoming coach Les Kiss that they will happily go forward at all available opportunities. Joe Schmidt will likely know the loss through injuruy of Skelton and Valentini didn’t help the cause even though Langi Gleeson played manfully when he came on as did Jeremy Williams.

Australia showed today that they can perform, they will want to back today up with another strong showing in Sydney. It will be very tough for them to go again given the manner of the defeat today but they will also know that they have the Australian public back onside and that will be a big help over the next few months with the game next Saturday as well as the Rugby Championship on the horizon.

From a Lions perspective, it is another Series win in Australia 12 years on from the last win in 2013. A drawn series in 2017 and the Covid hit series in 2021 means that the Lions brand will stay intact for New Zealand in 2029.

Andy Farrell has now won a series in New Zealand with Ireland, two Lions series in Australia one as assistant coach and today as head coach, a grand slam with Ireland in 2023 and a Championship win in 2024.

His stock as a coach has again shot through the roof not forgetting the impact of Richard Wigglesworth, Jonathan Sexton, Simon Easterby, John Fogarty, Andrew Goodman and John Denizel in the coaching team.

Yes, the Lions will always have it detractors and always be questioned as to its place in the modern professional game but the game again today highlighted why it still matters. Australia will be proud of the effort even though they came up short they led right up until the 79^th minute and then Hugo Keenan crashed over to seal a famous win.

Rugby Union is also a winner today as the performance from both sides showed that this series that has been lambasted as a bastion of a bygone era, is still worth its place in the rugby calendar.

The scrum was a huge factor in the Lions win and John Fogarty can take bow for the hard work he put into to get his charges up for the fight.

The series has been secured and now you can be sure the Lions will want to win 3-0 to cement the legacy of this campaign. The team selection next week will be dictated by the body count once celebrations subside.

Will men like Garry Ringrose and Sione Tuipulotu get a look in or will Mr Farrell stick with Aki and Jones. The aim will be now to go 3-0 if they can so I feel you won’t see too many changes barring injury intervening over the last week of the tour.

It has been a slow burner for the majority of people and as I mentioned the tour has taken plenty of flak from the outside but rugby union defiantly won the battle for the back pages in Australia for 1 day at least.

The aim of the tour has been achieved and now they can fully focus on trying to whitewash Australia who will have to dust themselves down and try and focus on the final game before the Rugby Championship will loom into view…

Australia like the Lions may have to make a few changes owing to injury and or form for test 3 in Sydney. Both sides still have plenty to play for in that third game so while the series has been secured you can sure Australia will want to stop the chances of a 3-0 whitewash….

Congrats to Andy Farrell, his squad and support staff for securing Series win, Maro Itoje joins the likes of Martin Johnston, Sam Warburton and Willie John Mc Bride in captaining a winning Lions squad in a series…… Test 3 is next Saturday August 2^nd at 11am in Sydney.  

The Lions won their final mid-week game on the 2025 tour beating the First Nations / Pasifika side 24-19. The invitational side had star quality in the coaches box as well as internationally capped players in the 23.

They stuck in the fight from the first minute although they did lose a player to the sin bin early on in the first half they battled hard with men like Taniela Tupou, Rob Leota showing Joe Schmidt that those outside the Test 23 as of this moment still have plenty to offer for game 2 and 3 as well as the Rugby Championship starting in August.

From a Lions perspective, depending on injuries players like Scott Cummings, Owen Farrell, Jamie Osbourne and Garry Ringrose did there Test chances no harm for involvement in either game 2 or 3. The result was very close on the score board and will keep minds focused.

Great for the mid-week side to finish unbeaten even though it was tight towards the end of the game. You can tell the coaching of Tana Umagna , Totei Kefu, Sekope Kepu and Dave Rawlui had an impact on the squad they had at their disposal.

They stuck in the contest and worked for each other and had a solid set piece which allowed them to stay in the contest and won a few key penalties to assert pressure on the Lions pack that didn’t seem to be overly affected by all the inclusions of the players brought in to help out with this particular fixture.

It was a tight game but that will do the squad no harm in preparation for the final two games vs Australia. While some of the players involved this morning may not see any game time over the final fortnight, others did enough to put the hand up for least a bench role if called upon.

Andy Farrell will be happy that the mid-week part of this tour has seen them stay unbeaten. The only plot on the copy book so far came in Dublin against Argentina.

Australia will know they will need to far more physical on Saturday in the MCG to stand any hope of making the series 1-1 and going to a decider in Test 3. It will take a huge effort from Australia to pick up the win but as they showed last November against England if they still in the game late on they can find a way to win.

The evidence of the first game might suggest that the Lions will make it 2-0 but knowing Joe Schmidt he will still hold out hope that his charges can muster up the type of performance that was the hall mark of his 6 years in charge of Ireland, only time will tell of course.

 For the Lions, it is time to go for the throat in the 2^nd Test and try and finish the series off on Saturday. That ruthless edge we hear so often of needs to be seen and put this Australian side to bed in terms of a series win.

The last time the Lions put a series to bed in the second test was 1997 in South Africa, time for Melbourne July 26^th 2025 to be added to that particular list…..

The Lions went 1-0 up in the Series with Australia winning 27-19 in the opening Test in Brisbane. From the first minute when Tadgh Beirne turned over a ball to get the Lions an opening penalty that Finn Russell popped over to put them 3-0 up they never looked back and while they did leave chances behind them that will upset the coaches.

The Lions were in full control of the game and although Australia came back into to the game in the second half and won several penalties at scrum time and had the majority of the ball and scored tries through Jorgensen, Mc Dermott and Tizzano with Ben Donaldson converting two of them from close range.

The Lions will head to Test two with plenty still to work on as they left a few chances behind them like the Joe Mc Carthy opportunity that was knocked on over the line. The set piece, in particular the line out worked well and they also dealt with the restarts every time. Jamison Gibson Park and Finn Russell showed why they were favourites to start at least the 1^st Test.

The centre pairing of Tuipulotu and Jones combined to send Tuipulotu over while Huw Jones was unlucky to see his try chalked off as the tackle was deem to be completed and he didn’t release the ball and regather to go forward.

Australia will be hopeful of bringing a few players into the pack in particular and that might shore up the breakdown as well as giving them more ballast at scrum time for the 2^nd Test next Saturday at the MCG.  Joe Schmidt will be pleased with the discipline his side showed only giving up a small numbers of penalties.

Tadgh Furlong was lucky that Ben O Keeffe only awarded a penalty and no more against him for contact to the head with the shoulder, he deemed it in the low range with mitigation which meant no card was awarded bar a penalty. The starting front row of Genge, Sheehan and Furlong will begin Test 2 as more than likely barring injuries will the rest of the starting pack.

I think there may be room for changes on the bench if other players can put their hands up in Tuesday’s fixture at Marvel Stadium Melbourne vs First Nations and Pasifika XV.

Australia will know they are clinging on for dear life after that game but they know if they can just get one or two players back that will give them a chance,  might not be enough in terms of the Series as the evidence after the opening game suggests that a 3-0 whitewash could happen.

The Lions were in full flight in that opening 40 minutes and that will encourage them heading for Test 2. They may make a change or two on the bench even though the impact from the bench for the most part was positive, Ronan Kelleher did miss his mark twice but that is being very picky.

Marcus Smith coming on at 10 to replace Finn Russell was a telling moment in terms of the trust that Farrell has in Smith to come in and do a job if anything happens to Russell over the next fortnight. You also have Fin Smith and latterly Owen Farrell to cover 10 if need be.

Hugo Keenan was solid bar one knock on and showed the form that has seen in the 15 jersey for both Leinster and Ireland so regularly since his debut. For Australia it is now about circling the wagons. Tom Lynagh will be given the keys again next week with Donaldson to back him up.

They will more than likely change at 9 with Tate Mc Dermott to come in with Jake Gordon to come in off the bench. Joe Schmidt has made a career out of making teams perform about and beyond themselves and he has a week to do it with Australia to see can they level up the series at 1-1 or will The Lions go 2-0 up at the MCG in Melbourne… Test 2 is next Saturday at 11am in the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Ireland beat Portugal 106-7 on Saturday evening to wrap up the summer series that saw them play Georgia and Portugal. They played away in both games and used a number of uncapped players across the 2 games.

The stand out score line in the two games will obviously be the 99 point winning margin against Portugal. We have subsequently heard from Portugal head coach Simon Mannix that they were missing players and didn’t have a good amount of time to build into the game.

The manner of the victory will have people questioning the quality of the opposition but I do think there were some benefits even though it turned into a training session in the second half of the Portugal game in particular.

The IRFU announced this tour in plenty of time and the fact that Paul O Connell would lead a new coaching team to boot helped focus minds heading into to the games. Ireland will have gained plenty from the Georgia game.

 The forwards got a serious test up front and the young players within that 23 will benefit from the tough game that followed. The quality of the opposition will be questioned time and again but only World Rugby can put a stop to poor team selections or the timing of games.

The fact the Television Match Official could not be used after 15 minutes of the opening half on Saturday is another situation that World Rugby will not want a repeat of due to the failure of technology.

The referee Adam Leal then told the captains that all he would have at his disposal at that stage would be his two assistants and himself which both players didn’t question and all he asked for was patience from both sides.

The newly capped players like Tom Ahern, Shaun Boulton, Alex Kendellen, Hugh Gavin and Jack Auniger all got game time and will be thrilled to have won their first caps and that of course is special no matter the opposition.

The coaches will be happy with the manner of both wins even though the facile win over Portugal won’t do anything long term. It was good to see Ireland be as ruthless and break scoring records by scoring 106 points.

Back in the summer of 2012, Ireland were battered by New Zealand in the 3^rd Test losing 60-0. That of course came after a tight affair in the second test that ended in a 22 all draw. So it isn’t too long ago since Ireland suffered a heavy loss. They also lost 55-19 before the 2019 World Cup away to England.

Anyone that may laugh at the manner of the loss can look at those two previous examples and just think that it isn’t too long ago that Ireland suffered on the score board regularly.

There has been so much discussion around giving the likes of Portugal, Georgia and Romania the chance to face the so called big boys regularly as well as Fiji, Tonga, Samoa and a number of so called tier 2 nations.

I have long been an advocate of allowing an “A” squad tour the countries mentioned along with the main side who may be touring another place. It is time World Rugby kept doors and avenues open rather than closing them off.

Rugby Union needs to really try and grow itself, it is 30 years old as a professional sport this year so it is time the governing body started  treating it that way rather than a problem child that won’t go away quietly.

Ireland broke a scoring record this summer and that will ultimately be the one and only take away from the games, but from a player’s perspective it will be a good memory for those lads that earned  a 1^st cap in either Georgia or Portugal…..

The Lions will go into Test 1 next Saturday on the back of a comprehensive 48-0 win over the Australia & New Zealand Invitational side in Adelaide. The performance will have pleased the Lions coaches and again shows how finely tuned a team can be and also how close the fine margins are at top level of professional sport.

The Lions have steadily built over the first few weeks of the tour and have tried certain combinations up front as well as in the back line. All aspects with the exception of goal kicking which wasn’t great this morning will have pleased Andy Farrell and his staff. The set piece and restart worked well after a few games where things didn’t go quite how they might have liked.

Several players put their hands up for Test selection and another aspect of the performance was no player went on a solo run and was selfish in defence or attack. The combo of Tuipulotu and Jones made the most of another shot outside Fin Smith and brought the back three into the game on many occasions.

That aforementioned back 3 worked tirelessly with Hansen, Keenan and Van Der Merwe covering back and although Van Der Merwe had a moment or two to forget he still managed 3 tries on the night. The selection meetings will be very interesting as the week goes by.

Amazing how 1 game can swing the pendulum one way or the other, last Wednesday, people would have picked a 23 to play Australia but off the back of this morning you can be sure there will be a few changes to supporters sides to now play in the opening Test next weekend.

The aggression in defence as well as the accuracy in attack means that things that have been worked on from week to week have been looked at and the constant work done by the likes of Vinnie Hammond as well as the players has paid off in the video analyst room.

The Lions scored a few top quality tries and will be happy that what is being worked on is coming to fruition at the right time. You have players putting the hand up and pushing each other and that can only bode well.

The scrum and line out were almost faultless bar a few scrum penalties in the second half, that aspect will please the coaches. The discipline at the breakdown was another positive and yes they gave up a few penalties but they have improved and are listening to what referees are looking for over the course of an 80 minute game.

It is great to see everything starting to come to fruition as the key part of the tour comes into view. As I mentioned the way a team can tailor itself and try and peak at the opportune moment is great to see.

The work that Gary Keegan has done in the background has helped them be the best versions of themselves up to this point of the tour. They seem to be a very in tune group that doesn’t seem to have the same divisions as there may previously have been on other tours.

It is all eyes on the first Test next Saturday and to see can the Lions drive on from the first couple of weeks and start the series on the right note and go 1-0 up in the Series.

The last Series win was 12 years ago in Australia and Lions supporters will be very hopeful similar to both 24 years ago in 2001 and also 12 years ago in 2013 that the Lions can win the first Test and set up the Series perfectly.

Roll on 11am next Saturday for the 1^st Test in the 2025 British and Irish Lions Series…..

The Lions defeated the Brumbies 36-24 this morning and will be pleased with the overall performance even if the score line suggests a close contest. The Brumbies will be happy to have stayed in the contest until late on and kept the Lions honest for the full 80. The Lions will be pleased that certain pairings got more game time with one eye on the first Test in 10 day’s time.

The scrum has certainly improved and Tadgh Furlong is defiantly making a late push for Test inclusion along with Dan Sheehan and Ellis Genge. Finn Russell and Jamison Gibson Park both had very solid games today and will almost certainly be the Test half backs in 10 days.

Handling in open play and the driving maul still need to be tightened up and with a big game coming on Saturday with the Australia & New Zealand Invitational side in Adelaide. The team selection for that game will give a very clear indication who will be in the 23 for Australia the following Saturday.

The Irish centre pair of Aki and Ringrose gave Andy Farrell a timely reminder that they are still in the shake up for Test selection. They worked well along with Finn Russell and Aki in particular gave them go forward ball and he straightened the line several times to allow others to get set in attack mode.

Joe Mc Carthy did his Test chances no harm with an all action display and he was strong in defence when called upon. Ollie Chessum worked hard and carried well along with Tom Curry and they continued to look for an offload when the chance appeared or was on.

The Lions certainly have shifted toward Test mode and took a few shots at goal where previously it would have been a kick to touch. You can still win a game by kicking your goals regularly and that is another aspect that the Lions will hope they can work on at the weekend.

The scrum was a real positive and will only get better over the next 3 weeks, the restart still caused issues at times and they will need to solidify it heading into the next few weeks.

Australia just about manged to get passed a fired up Fiji on Sunday and won’t play any more games before the first Test. For the Lions it is about combinations and fine tuning as we move closer to Test 1.

Players will still know that there are Test places up for grabs and that will keep minds focused for the weekend. It will be interesting to see will Owen Farrell be given game time at 10 with Fin Smith after both Finn Russell and Marcus Smith interchanged there this morning after Blair Kinghorn was withdrawn early in the 1^st half. Smith came on at 15 but at times he swapped in with Russell and it allowed the Lions attack both sides of any particular ruck.

They will also need to spend time at the breakdown as there haven’t been many turn over penalties through the tour and the discipline will need to be far better as the Lions gave up several penalties for offside and that is down to pressure yes but also it can just be players being careless.

As I mention, the selection for Saturday will be a very big indicator of where Andy Farrell sees his team for the opening game vs Australia. I will now select my 23 for Saturday and also my team for the 1^st Test the following Saturday 19^th July.

Here is my team to play the Australia & New Zealand Invitational side at 11am

15 Mack Hansen

14 Duhan Van Der Merwe

13 Huw Jones

12 Owen Farrell

11 Blair Kinghorn

10 Fin Smith

9 Ben White

8 Ben Earl

7 Jac Morgan

6 Tadgh Beirne

5 Ollie Chessum

4 Scott Cummings

3 Finlay Bealham

2 Ronan Kelleher

1 Andrew Porter

–

16 Luke Cowan Dickie

17 Pierre Schoeman

18 Will Stuart

19 Henry Pollock

20 Josh Van Der Flier

21 Alex Mitchell

22 Marcus Smith

23 Hugo Keenan

I will now select the 23 I think will play in Test 1 :

15 Blair Kinghorn

14 Tommy Freeman

13 Huw Jones

12 Sione Tuipulotu

11 James Lowe

10 Finn Russell

9 Jamison Gibson Park

8 Ben Earl

7 Jac Morgan

6 Tom Curry

5 Joe Mc Carthy

4 Maro Itoje

3 Tadgh Furlong

2 Dan Sheehan

1 Ellis Genge

–

16 Ronan Kelleher

17 Pierre Shoeman

18 Will Stuart

19 Ollie Chessum

20 Josh Van Der Flier

21 Alex Mitchell

22 Finn Smith

23 Garry Ringrose

I know that injury could yet intervene and rule some of these selections out of contention for that opening Test but from what I have seen over the past few weeks this is my selection to take Australia on Saturday July 19^th.