The IRFU have formally applied to host either the Rugby World Cup 2015 or 2019, nine other Unions have also expressed an interest.
The 10 Unions now have until May 8, 2009 to submit their detailed Tenders, a decision will be announced on July 28,2009
Declan Kidney has hinted that O’Driscoll might not be the captain going forward.
As lump down the rankings in the 6 Nations and the World Cup means that Ireland need a good November series against Canada, New Zealand and Argentina - before the cut-off date of 1st December, as the IRB are set to use the rankings to seed teams for the 2011 World Cup.
The hope from Kidney would be that without that responsibility weighing down on him, that O’Driscoll would rediscover his best form.
Obvious candidates for the captaincy would be Paul O’Connell or Ronan O’Gara.
Kidney seems well aware of what he has in O’Driscoll, and that he’s been shouldering the Irish squad for the last five years, winning three Triple Crowns on the way….
They’re the latest additions to Declan Kidney’s coaching staff, both are recognised as world class coaches in their fields and may mark the start of something big in Ireland.
Gaffney will operate as a backs coach, combining with his position at Leinster. Whilst Tainton returns as kicking coach.
An extended 45 man squad has been named for the Ireland training camp, by Declan Kidney. The squad includes the players who toured New Zealand and Australia and 11 players from the Churchill Cup Squad.
Gordon D’Arcy, Andrew Trimble and Leo Cullen all make welcome returns to the squad after missing out recently through injury.
Declan Kidney said,
“The camp is an opportunity for the coaching staff to work with the players and set some foundations ahead of what is going to be an important November for us. We have a new blend of experience in the coaching staff and we felt that this camp would be key to getting the ideas of both the staff and players across ahead of the new season”.
“Once we get into September, it really is a short space of time before we will arrive at our first camp ahead of the November games, so it will be important to our preparation. It is an exciting time and both the coaching staff and myself are looking forward to getting down to business and working with what is a talented squad of players”.
Ireland Squad:
Neil Best (Northampton)
Rory Best (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster)
Isaac Boss (Ballymena/Ulster)
Tommy Bowe (Ospreys)
Tony Buckley (Shannon/Munster)
Ryan Caldwell (Dungannon/Ulster)
Robert Casey (London Irish)
Tom Court (Ballymena/Ulster)
Leo Cullen (Blackrock College/Leinster)
Gordon D’Arcy (Lansdowne/Leinster)
Girvan Dempsey (Terenure College/Leinster)
Ian Dowling (Shannon/Munster)
Gavin Duffy (Galwegians/Connacht)
Keith Earls (Garryowen/Munster)
Stephen Ferris (Dungannon/Ulster)
Luke Fitzgerald (Blackrock College/Leinster)
Jerry Flannery (Shannon/Munster)
John Hayes (Bruff/Munster)
Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster)
Jamie Heaslip (Clontarf/Leinster)
Marcus Horan (Shannon/Munster)
Shane Horgan (Boyne/Leinster)
Bernard Jackman (Clontarf/Leinster)
Shane Jennings (St. Mary’s College/Leinster)
Robert Kearney (UCD/Leinster)
Denis Leamy (Cork Constitution/Munster)
Geordan Murphy (Leicester)
Donncha O’ Callaghan (Cork Constitution/Munster)
Paul O’ Connell (Young Munster/Munster)
Ronan O’ Gara (Cork Constitution/Munster)
Malcolm O’ Kelly (St. Mary’s College/Leinster)
Brian O’Driscoll (UCD/Leinster)
Mick O’Driscoll (Cork Constitution/Munster)
Tomas O’Leary (Dolphin/Munster)
Alan Quinlan (Shannon/Munster)
Eoin Reddan (Wasps)
Michael Ross (Harlequins)
Donncha Ryan (Shannon/Munster)
Jonathan Sexton (St.Mary’s College/Leinster)
Peter Stringer (Shannon/Munster)
Andrew Trimble (Ballymena/Ulster)
David Wallace (Garryowen/Munster)
Paddy Wallace (Ballymena/Ulster)
Roger Wilson (Northampton)
Bryan Young (Ballymena/Ulster)
Phill Orr, manager of the Under-20 Squad, has accepted an invitation to join the club committee - after the retirement of Haydn Mainwaring.
President Mickey Steele-Bodger said:
“First of all I want to thank Haydn Mainwaring for his unstinting service on the committee over the past 18 years. He was a fine player in his day and has been equally loyal to our club in recent times.
“His invariably good humour and wise counsel made him the ideal companion at our various events and matches and as a valued committee man.”
“We are equally fortunate to have Phil Orr available to join us. He, too, was an utterly dependable player over a ten-year period with the Barbarians and I am confident that he will have much to contribute as a committee member. I welcome him on board.”
Phill Orr said:
I have many happy memories of my playing days with the Barbarians with great rugby on the field and never a dull moment off it. It was also a special day for me when I was President of my home club, Old Wesley, in 1991 and the Barbarians came to play us as part of their own centenary celebrations.
“Now it is a great honour for me to serve on their committee and I am delighted to accept the invitation. I am convinced that the Barbarians still have a unique place in modern rugby and I will do everything I can to further their cause.
“I also look forward to working alongside several old friends from my playing and administrative days in the game. One example is John Jeffrey who was my opposite number last month at the IRB Under-20 World Championship. When Ireland played Scotland in their final matches we were the managers of our respective sides,”
Ulster back rower Stephen Ferris has also been called into the squad as a precaution for Alan Quinlan, as he continues to recover from his dead leg that he picked up.
Ferris has been pulled out of the Ireland ‘A’ squad for the Churchill Cup tournament and will meet up with the rest of the senior squad in Melbourne this Sunday.
Luke Fitzgerald has been ruled out of the game on Saturday against New Zealand, he has been carrying and ankle injury and not reached the required level of fitness.
Paddy Wallace moves off the bench and into centre, while Geordan Murphy gets his space on the bench.
“While obviously disappointed for Luke, I was delighted to get the word from Michael (Bradley) that I would be starting the game.
“You never want to benefit from somebody else’s misfortune, but playing against the All Blacks is going to be a huge challenge as they are the top team in the world and have some superb players across the park.
“You always want to test yourself against the best, so this weekend is going to be a big game,” he added.
“I have been playing a lot of my rugby in the centre for Ulster this season, so I don’t have any concerns about being able to slot into the position with Brian (O’Driscoll).
“He has so much experience and is one the top players in the world, so hopefully it should be a smooth transition for us.
“We have had a couple of training sessions to work on systems and patterns together, so I think we have prepared quite well.”
NEW ZEALAND TEAM & REPLACEMENTS (v Ireland, Saturday, June 7, Westpac Stadium, Wellington, kick-off 7.35pm local time/8.35am Irish time (live Sky Sports 1)):
15 - Mils Muliaina (Waikato)
14 - Anthony Tuitavake (North Harbour)
13 - Conrad Smith (Wellington)
12 - Ma’a Nonu (Wellington)
11 - Sitiveni Sivivatu (Waikato)
10 - Dan Carter (Canterbury)
9 - Andy Ellis (Canterbury)
1 - Neemia Tialata (Wellington)
2 - Andrew Hore (Taranaki)
3 - John Afoa (Auckland)
4 - Brad Thorn (Tasman)
5 - Ali Williams (Tasman)
6 - Rodney So’oialo (Wellington)
7 - Richie McCaw (Canterbury) (capt)
8 - Jerome Kaino (Auckland)
Replacements:
16 - Keven Mealamu (Auckland)
17 - John Schwalger (Wellington)
18 - Anthony Boric (North Harbour)
19 - Adam Thomson (Otago)
20 - Jimmy Cowan (Southland)
21 - Stephen Donald (Waikato)
22 - Leon MacDonald (Canterbury)
Ireland have naturally assumed the role of underdogs for Saturday’s Test against New Zealand, but that doesn’t meann they think they can’t win!
Ireland have never beeten the All-Blacks in their previous 20 encounters with their best peformance a 10-10 draw at Landsdowne in Jauary 1973
Alan Quinlan says:
‘The mentality has certainly changed in Irish rugby,’ he said. ‘A few years ago we didn’t believe we could win these games.
‘It’s always a hard game and the All Blacks will always be favourites when they play Ireland, but we play every game to win and Saturday will be no different.
‘You need a lot of luck when you play New Zealand, especially away from home. We’ll need a lot of things to go our way.
‘There’s confidence and a belief within the Irish players in the last number of years that if we play to our potential we certainly have a good chance.’
Ireland had two chances to beat the All Blacks two years ago, in the first test they led 16-8 at half time, were ahead going into the last quarter before Luke McAlister kicked a penalty and Troy Flavell scored a try to give New Zealand a 34-24 victory. A week later New Zealand had to score a try in the 70th minute to get a 27-17 win.
Quinlan was not involved, but he said:
‘The core group of players have experienced those two Test matches in 2006. We did a lot of things right in both those games but came up short in both of them.
‘We’ve probably learned that to get one over on the All Blacks we have to put in a massive, massive performance and get a lot of stuff right.’
‘New Zealand have great strength and depth and I think the guys who will come in are probably going to be just as good and probably hungrier as well.
‘I don’t think it’s going to be any less intimidating,’
An experienced Ireland side will face the All Blacks this weekend. O’Driscoll returns to centre alongside Luke Fitzgerald so we can see the much awaited new centre pairing we expected to see against the Barbarians.
With Munster now back available after the Barbarians game, seven of the pack are Munster based with only Jamie Heaslip sneaking in to join them.
Flannery returns to hooker after missing the Six Nations and makes it an entire Munster front row.
Rob Kearney showed his worth against the Barbarians and keeps the full back spot, while Eoin Reddan comes into the team.
IRELAND TEAM & REPLACEMENTS (New Zealand, Saturday, June 7, Westpac Stadium, Wellington, 7.35pm local time/8.35am Irish time (live Sky Sports 1)):
Player / Club / Caps
15 - Rob Kearney (UCD/Leinster) 6
14 - Shane Horgan (Boyne/Leinster) 61
13 - Brian O’Driscoll (UCD/Leinster) 83 (capt)
12 - Luke Fitzgerald (Blackrock College/Leinster) 4
11 - Tommy Bowe (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster) 13
10 - Ronan O’Gara (Cork Constitution/Munster) 82
9 - Eoin Reddan (Wasps) 10
1 - Marcus Horan (Shannon/Munster) 56
2 - Jerry Flannery (Shannon/Munster) 21
3 - John Hayes (Bruff/Munster) 84
4 - Donncha O’Callaghan (Cork Constitution/Munster) 45
5 - Paul O’Connell (Young Munster/Munster) 52
6 - Denis Leamy (Cork Constitution/Munster) 32
7 - David Wallace (Garryowen/Munster) 46
8 - Jamie Heaslip (Clontarf/Leinster) 8
Replacements:
16 - Rory Best (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster) 22
17 - Tony Buckley (Shannon/Munster) 7
18 - Mick O’Driscoll (Cork Constitution/Munster) 15
19 - Shane Jennings (St. Mary’s College/Leinster) 1
20 - Peter Stringer (Shannon/Munster) 82
21 - Paddy Wallace (Ballymena/Ulster) 8
22 - Girvan Dempsey (Terenure College/Leinster) 80
Not considered due to injury:
Alan Quinlan (thigh)