The Emerging Ireland three-match tour to South Africa has polarised opinion regarding the timing and the strength of the opposition – those watching the Cheetahs match could not complain about the physical examination that the young Irish side endured – critics pointing to how the provinces, except for Connacht, have had to assimilate the loss of significant playing numbers.
The flip side of the argument is that in the absence of the younger and academy players, the provinces have been able to play stronger sides in their URC matches and that those that have gone on tour have done so under the guidance of the senior Ireland coaching group, which is huge beneficial for all concerned.
Paul O’Connell is in no doubt about the importance of the tour. “We’ve been blow away by the standard, by the appetite, by the work-rate of the players. It is very comforting that when you go down the layers, you have these guys who are being really well coached in the academies, really well coached in the provinces.
“They are very smart rugby players, they’re very motivated, they’re able to figure things out.” O’Connell spoke positively about secondrows Tom Ahern – he had another superb game against the Cheetahs – and Joe McCarthy among others.
Munster will surely benefit more from Jack Crowley running matches, which he did impressively rather than sitting in the stand or on a bench. Michael Milne, Josh Wycherley, Tom Clarkson, and Roman Salanoa know a little more about facing South African style scrums, while 19-year-old James Culhane proved that he can handle the rough and tumble.
There is no obvious downside to the tour. What will be instructive to note is how many players push their way into the Ireland A matchday 23 for the game against a Maori All Blacks Development XV. If several do, then it’s been a worthwhile exercise.
Will a province take a punt on Irish-qualified Oli Morris?
The human aspect to the compulsory liquidation of Worcester Warriors rugby club is the real tragedy of what their head of communications Paul Bolton described as “appalling financial and business management”.
He continued: “There are a lot of fantastic people at Warriors – on and off the pitch – but we have been betrayed, not just by the owners, but by the entire board who seem to have been asleep at the wheel while the club has been hurtling towards oblivion.” Bolton would like to see a parliamentary investigation into the matter.
The English Rugby Football Union (RFU) has suspended the Warriors from the Premiership and the Premiership Cup for the remainder of the 2022-2023 season. Players have scrambled to find other clubs, some temporary in the form of a quartet who have gone to Bath, Rory Sutherland to Ulster and Duhan van der Merwe who has rejoined Edinburgh.
Oli Morris, who signed his first professional contract with the Warriors last year is the younger brother of Saracens’ Dom, and the 23-year-old is an Irish qualified (through his grandmother) centre. He was part of an extended Ireland squad in advance of the 2019 Under-20 Six Nations Championship, a tournament in which Noel McNamara’s squad won the Grand Slam.
Morris, a former England underage international who was with Saracens at the time, played for Leinster and Munster Development XVs against the Irish 20s in warm-up matches. McNamara was impressed enough to name him in an extended squad, although he didn’t play in any of the Six Nations matches.
It will be interesting to see if one of the Irish provinces or the Ireland Sevens programme invite Morris to train on a trial period.
Mulhall comes marching in to give Saints a dig out
Kilkenny man Martin Mulhall is enjoying a short-term loan from the Bristol Bears to the Northampton Saints as the latter are currently suffering something of a crisis at loosehead prop, with three players unavailable through injury. Bristol head coach Pat Lam said: “This is a good opportunity for Martin to get some quality rugby.”
Mulhall has already played two games for Northampton in the Premiership Cup, starting in the defeat by London Irish and then coming on as a replacement in the Saints’ 58-34 win over Saracens.
The 25-year-old prop, who joined Bristol from Swansea University during the summer, previously played against the Saints for a Leinster Schools team that included future Irish senior internationals Caelan Doris and Jordan Larmour. He has joined fellow Irishman and prop Oisín Heffernan – they played together in those Premiership Cup matches – at Franklin’s Gardens.
Mulhall studied at Carlow IT and played his club rugby with Lansdowne before moving to Wales to continue his studies and it was from there that he joined Bristol. The Saints play Munster in the Heineken Champions Cup pool stages in December and January.
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“Look I am not going to risk him on a 4G pitch. The reality is that no Test match that is in Tier 1 nations is on a 4G pitch for a reason. He got injured on that sort of surface. I just feel that from a player welfare point of view and that fact that he has come back from a horrific injury and been out for 11 months, I don’t feel we should risk playing him on a 4G pitch.” – Bulls coach Jake White on why he didn’t play outhalf Johan Goosen against Glasgow.
Number: 23
Tony Butler, Munster academy and Ireland Under-20 Grand Slam winner, scored all his side’s points in a 26-23 All Ireland League defeat to Young Munster. The outhalf crossed for two tries and kicked two conversions and three penalties.
