Irish Rugby

Image source, Getty Images

Ireland will return to Eden Park to face New Zealand as part of next year's inaugural Nations Championship.

Andy Farrell's side will face Australia in Sydney on 4 July and face Japan on 11 July before travelling to Auckland to take on the All Blacks at the 50,000-capacity Eden Park on 18 July.

The November window sees Ireland host Argentina, Fiji and South Africa.

Ireland have had four previous visits to the spiritual home of New Zealand rugby, losing all four matches. Their most recent trip ended in a 42-19 defeat in the 2022 Test series opener, before historic wins in Dunedin and Wellington.

New Zealand's unbeaten streak of 52 Tests at Eden Park stretches back to a loss to France in July 1994.

The first edition of the biennial 12-team event comprises six rounds of matches across the summer and autumn Test windows before a 'finals weekend' on 27-29 November at Twickenham's Allianz Stadium.

After each team has played the other six from the opposing hemisphere once, they are ranked within their own hemisphere.

The finals weekend in London will start with the sixth-placed northern hemisphere side taking on their southern hemisphere equivalent, and culminate in the two group winners taking each other on for the title.

The results on the finals weekend will also contribute to a north v south overall score and title.

Ireland's fixtures

4 July

Australia v Ireland

11 July

Japan v Ireland

18 July

New Zealand v Ireland

6-8 November

Ireland v Argentina

13-15 November

Ireland v Fiji

21 November

Ireland v South Africa

Finals weekend

27 November

Sixth-place North v Sixth-place South

Third-place North v Third-place South

28 November

Fifth-place North v Fifth-place South

Second-place North v Second-place South

29 November

Fourth-place North v Fourth-place South

First-place North v First-place South

All you need to know about the Nations Championship

Image source, Getty Images

Rob Herring is an injury doubt for Ulster's European Challenge Cup trip to face Cardiff on Saturday [20:00 GMT].

The 35-year-old hooker suffered a knee injury in the first half of the 61-7 victory over Racing 92 at Affidea Stadium.

Herring scored Ulster's go-ahead try late in the first half, but was replaced at the break by Tom Stewart and will have an MRI scan to determine the severity of the injury.

In better news for Richie Murphy's side, Cormac Izuchukwu is back in full training and in contention to feature after his recovery from a foot injury picked up in the United Rugby Championship win over the Bulls in early October.

The 25-year-old forward's progress had been monitored in recent weeks, but is now set to make his return for the trip to Cardiff Arms Park.

Ben Carson, Lorcan McLoughlin and Sean Reffell are also back in full training and the trio are all in contention for game-time this weekend.

Image source, Getty Images

Ireland wing James Lowe has been passed fit for Leinster's Investec Champions Cup pool 3 match at Leicester Tigers on Friday (20:00 GMT), but Jordan Larmour has been ruled out.

Lowe missed Saturday's 45-28 win over Harlequins at Aviva Stadium with a calf problem, paving the way for Larmour to score two tries in a man-of-the-match display.

Second row RG Snyman (shoulder) and centre Garry Ringrose (cramp) are doubts for the trip to Welford Road, while back row Will Connors could return after recovering from an arm injury.

With Ringrose's availability uncertain, Rieko Ioane could make his first Leinster start after having replaced the Ireland international in the second half against Harlequins.

New Zealand international Ioane, who has joined on a short-term deal until the end of the season, marked his first appearance in blue with a try assist for Jimmy O'Brien.

Leinster said there were no further updates on Cormac Foley, Hugo Keenan, James Culhane, Jamie Osborne, Ryan Baird and Andrew Porter.

Image source, Getty Images

Ulster back row David McCann believes the province will be "hard to deal with" if they can achieve greater consistency across games.

Richie Murphy's side have made a strong start to the season, winning five of their first six games of the 2025-26 campaign in all competitions.

They registered a thumping 61-7 win over Racing 92 in the Challenge Cup on Friday night, but seven of their nine tries came after half-time and they carried just a 14-7 lead into the turn.

McCann believes small alterations made a "massive difference" as the game progressed.

"I actually don't think we were that bad. We were just maybe half a second off," he said of the first-half showing.

"But we switched that up, showed ball focus, early to the breakdown, winning all the scraps, and you saw how that just allows us to play our game.

"When we attack like that, we're hard to deal with. I think if we can start to pair that together with 80-minute performances like that, we're going to be hard to deal with."

After a break for the November Test window, Ulster have won the first two contests of a run of 10 games in 10 weeks.

With a trip to Cardiff in the Challenge Cup to come on Saturday (20:00 GMT), followed by three interprovincial derbies in the United Rugby Championship, Ulster have found form in a key period of the season.

"I think momentum's huge but [there is a] general belief in what we're doing," added McCann.

"When we defend well, we get the ball back, and then when we get the ball back, I think everyone knows what our attack looks like now.

"So it's that belief that's huge at the moment. There's obviously some big games coming up, so it'll be good to see how we go."

Image source, Getty Images

Head coach Clayton McMillan says Munster "weren't good enough overall" in a 40-14 defeat by Bath in their Investec Champions Cup opener.

Hosts Bath took an early lead when they were awarded a penalty try and key Munster player Tadhg Beirne was sent to the sin bin.

Tries from Miles Reid, Henry Arundell and Tom Dunn secured the bonus-point for Bath.

Edwin Edogbo touched down for Munster's first score but Beno Obano soon grabbed Bath's fifth try.

Ireland scrum-half Craig Casey scored Munster's second try before the break but the English side secured their win when Ted Hill crossed late on.

"I think at 28-0 after 22 minutes, we were just too inaccurate and the small things become the big things at this level," McMillan said on Premier Sports.

"They got the wind in their sails and it was tough to come back from.

"Outside of that, we showed enough to show that we can compete with the best.

"But we weren't good enough overall today."

McMillan felt the decision to send Ireland second row Beirne to the sin bin after only eight minutes was "a little tough".

Munster will look to respond at home to Gloucester in their second Pool Two fixture in Limerick on Saturday.

"We get a yellow card and they get a penalty try, it was a tough one to swallow," McMillan added.

"But we need to own the stuff that we needed to be better at, and there was lots."

Image source, Getty Images

Leinster captain Caelan Doris says his side must raise their performance levels after they held off Harlequins to win Saturday's Investec Champions Cup opener at Aviva Stadium.

The four-time champions scored seven tries, but it was not all plain sailing as they were forced to finish strongly after a penalty try left the visitors just 24-21 down after 50 minutes.

"It's a bonus-point win, but performance-wise we're going to have to improve quite a bit going into Leicester away and as we get deeper into the tournament," Doris told Premier Sports.

"[There were a] few moving parts, not to make that an excuse, but we're going to need to improve as we go on."

Leinster's strong finish featured a try assist for New Zealand star Rieko Ioane, who made his debut for the Irish province after joining on a short-term deal until the end of the season.

Ioane was previously unpopular in Irish rugby circles because of a spat with former Ireland captain Johnny Sexton, but Doris says the 28-year-old has slotted smoothly into the Leinster environment.

"He's been great so far, he's fitted in pretty quickly," added Doris, who led Leinster in his first appearance for the province since May because of injury.

"It's tricky coming in and learning a new language in terms of all the play-calling and whatnot, but he's done a good job and he's one of us already."

Jonathan Bradley
BBC Sport NI senior journalist

Image source, Getty Images

Head coach Richie Murphy feels the province will soon "see the blessing" of Angus Bell's arrival at Ulster

The Wallaby prop made his Ulster debut off the bench in Friday night's 61-7 win over Racing 92 in the Challenge Cup and will spend the rest of the season in Belfast.

The loose-head's first outing for his new side came after he started all four of Australia's Test matches in November and following just one week of training with his new team-mates.

"It's been very quick," said Murphy of Bell's transition.

"Because of our Friday night game, we literally only trained on Tuesday. A walkthrough on Monday, he trained Tuesday, there was a captain's run [on Thursday], then we played. For him to come in and fit in really quickly was good.

"It was always sort of a case where we wanted to get him that 25, 30 minutes so that he understood what it's like to play for us here. Over the next couple of weeks and months, we'll probably see the blessing."

Murphy added that the 25-year-old is already fitting in well with the playing group at Affidea Stadium.

"It's great to have him here. He's a top quality player," he added.

"[He has a ] bubbly personality, works hard and fits in well with our group so we're really looking forward to seeing him sort of grow into his Ulster jersey over the next number of weeks."

Bell's debut for Ulster came in a second half where his new side outscored their opponents 40-0.

Racing 92 heavily altered their line-up for the trip to Belfast and, despite trailing just 14-7 at half-time, were quickly overmatched after the turn.

Murphy opted to field Ulster's strongest available side for the game but acknowledged "there has to be rotation" through this key period of his side's season where they face 10 games in 10 weeks including four European games and three interprovincial derbies in the United Rugby Championship.

"You just can't pick the same team every week, so we're trying to balance that out and make sure that we're strong enough every week, that we're putting out a team that we think we can win a game with."

Image source, Inpho

Munster will be without Jack Crowley for their Champions Cup opener against Bath as the out-half has been ruled out with a leg injury.

Crowley picked up the injury in his side's United Rugby Championship defeat against the Stormers last weekend and is set to be out for "one to two weeks".

Head coach Clayton McMillan has made five changes from the side that started the 27-21 loss at Thomand Park, which was their first defeat of the season.

Fromer Leinster prop Michael Ala'alatoa is set for his Munster debut off the bench after joining until the end of the season from Clermont Auvergne.

JJ Hanrahan comes in to replace Crowley and he partners Craig Casey in the half-backs with fellow summer arrival Dan Kelly coming into the backline.

Jean Kleyn returns from international duty with South Africa to start in the pack with Michael Milne and John Hodnett.

Shane Daly, Diarmuid Kilgallen and Thaakir Abrahams start in an unchanged back three with Kelly and Tom Farrell in midfield.

Captain Tadhg Beirne, Hodnett and Gavin Coombes are in the back row.

Munster: Shane Daly; Diarmuid Kilgallen, Tom Farrell, Dan Kelly, Thaakir Abrahams; JJ Hanrahan, Craig Casey; Michael Milne, Diarmuid Barron, John Ryan; Jean Kleyn, Tom Ahern; Tadhg Beirne (C), John Hodnett, Gavin Coombes.

Replacements: Lee Barron, Jeremy Loughman, Michael Ala'alatoa, Edwin Edogbo, Ruadhan Quinn, Ethan Coughlan, Alex Nankivell, Alex Kendellen.

Joel Bell
BBC Sport NI

Image source, Inpho

Jack Murphy says Ulster feel "really confident" as they prepare to host Racing 92 in Friday's Challenge Cup opener at Affidea Stadium (20:00 GMT).

Murphy signed for Ulster in 2024 after his father Richie Murphy took on the coaching role.

The 21-year-old has established himself as Ulster's first-choice fly-half, starting all five United Rugby Championship games this season, of which the Irish province have won four.

Having made three Champions Cup appearances last season, the former Leinster academy player starts against Racing on Friday - and is relishing a return to the European stage.

''[I'm] really excited to get going here at home against Racing, a huge French club who have unbelievable players all over the park. We're all really looking forward to it and there's a huge buzz in training," he told BBC Sport NI.

''They've a lot of super star players, French internationals and overseas players they've brought in - a lot of power and flair.

"Morale is high in our camp though. We've won four out of our first five. We're really confident going into this week and we take some learnings in too."

Over the past few months, Ulster have introduced some quality additions to their squad, including South African back row Juarno Augustus and Australia prop Angus Bell.

''Juarno has been great for us. We know how good a player he is, but he's also a really nice fella," added Murphy.

''Angus Bell has come in as well. I'm sure he'll impact the group in a great way.

"Watching him over the autumn for Australia, you can see how dynamic he is and how powerful he is.''

Murphy is satisfied with life at Ulster and the form that the squad have shown so far this term.

"Everybody came in the start of the year with a fresh mindset and everyone has bought into it. We feel like we're flying high at the moment but we're just focusing on the next one.

"I'm very happy and grateful to be playing for Ulster and I'm really enjoying it. It's a great place to be on a Friday night.

"We've been playing some nice attacking rugby, but also trying to shore up our defence which has helped us a lot as well."

Image source, Getty Images

New Zealand international Rieko Ioane is set to make his Leinster debut off the bench in Saturday's Investec Champions Cup opener against Harlequins at Aviva Stadium (17:30 GMT).

The 88-cap All Black - a two-time World Rugby Player of the Year nominee - has joined the Irish province from the Blues until the end of the season.

Ioane - who can cover outside centre and the left wing - is part of a strong Leinster matchday squad as head coach Leo Cullen recalls his Ireland internationals after the autumn break.

Caelan Doris captains the side in his first Leinster appearance since May, having returned from a shoulder injury for Ireland last month. Jack Conan also makes his first Leinster appearance this season in a strong back row completed by former World Rugby player of the year Josh van der Flier.

Lock Joe McCarthy returns from a foot injury to partner South Africa international RG Snyman in the second row.

Ireland trio Thomas Clarkson, Dan Sheehan and Paddy McCarthy are named in the front row, with the latter making his Champions Cup debut.

Sam Prendergast and Jamison Gibson-Park are paired in the half-backs, while Jordan Larmour, Tommy O'Brien and Jimmy O'Brien make up the back three.

Andrew Porter (arm), James Lowe (calf) and Robbie Henshaw (hamstring) are not included.

Leinster have won four Champions Cup titles, the last of which came in 2018, while they lost three successive finals between 2022 and 2024.

Cullen's side thrashed Harlequins 62-0 at Croke Park in the round of 16 last season. Harlequins are currently eighth in the 10-team Prem.

Leinster: J O'Brien; T O'Brien, Ringrose, Frawley, Larmour; Prendergast, Gibson-Park; P McCarthy, Sheehan, Clarkson, Snyman, J McCarthy, Conan, Van der Flier, Doris (capt).

Replacements: Kelleher, Boyle, Furlong, Mangan, Deegan, McGrath, Byrne, Ioane.

Image source, Getty Images

Australia prop Angus Bell is set to make his Ulster debut off the bench in Friday's Challenge Cup opener against Racing 92 at Belfast's Affidea Stadium (20:00 GMT).

Bell, who has joined the Irish province on a short-term deal from NSW Waratahs until the end of the season, is named among the replacements with Sam Crean starting at loose-head.

Hooker Rob Herring and tight-head prop Tom O'Toole also come into the front row as Tom Stewart and Scott Wilson drop to the bench.

With Iain Henderson, Matthew Dalton and Cormac Izuchukwu ruled out, Charlie Irvine partners Harry Sheridan are paired in the second row. Irvine, 20, played the majority of last week's win over Benetton after Dalton's early injury.

Irvine's only previous Ulster start came in last season's defeat by the Bulls in Pretoria.

Nick Timoney captains the side in Henderson's absence alongside David McCann and Juarno Augustus in an unchanged back row.

Zac Ward is restored to the left wing after not featuring against Benetton as Werner Kok drops out. In-form Rob Baloucoune is retained on the right wing.

Nathan Doak and Jack Murphy continue their half-back partnership while Jude Postlethwaite and James Hume are again named in the centres, with Jacob Stockdale starting at full-back.

Richie Murphy's side are competing in Europe's second-tier competition after failing to qualify for the Investec Champions Cup.

Ulster - who have won four out of five United Rugby Championship games this season - reached the Challenge Cup semi-finals in 2021 after dropping down from the Champions Cup after the pool stage.

Six-time French champions Racing sit 11th in the Top 14 with six wins and five defeats this season. Ulster beat Racing 31-15 when the sides met in Belfast in the 2023-24 Champions Cup pool stage.

Ulster: Stockdale; Baloucoune, Hume, Postlethwaite, Z Ward; Murphy, Doak; Crean, Herring, O'Toole, Sheridan, Irvine, McCann, Timoney (capt), Augustus.

Replacements: Stewart, Bell, Wilson, Hopes, B Ward, McKee, Flannery, Moore.

Image source, Getty Images

Ireland captain Caelan Doris admits his side's journey to the 2027 Rugby World Cup must feature improvements "across all areas" after a mixed autumn campaign.

In November, Ireland suffered dispiriting losses to southern hemisphere giants New Zealand and South Africa either side of wins over Japan and Australia as they slipped to fourth in the world rankings.

Wednesday's World Cup draw placed Ireland in Pool D alongside Scotland, Uruguay and Portugal for the expanded 24-team tournament in Australia.

"If you look at the four games [in November], I don't think there was one area that was consistently amazing, maybe the breakdown was pretty good throughout," said Doris.

"There is growth across all areas, which is exciting. A lot of that is individuals. There is belief in our plans and in what we can do.

"I'm looking at myself. I had a good chat with Paulie [O'Connell] earlier in the week, some of the things to work on personally, some of the penalties I gave away aren't the standard to what we hold ourselves to. There's tackle techniques and so many others areas from an individual perspective.

"But I believe we have a group with the hunger and the mindset to improve."

Ireland have exited the World Cup at the quarter-final stage on eight occasions, most recently to New Zealand in France two years ago.

But Doris insists talk of Ireland's last-eight hoodoo is "largely outside noise" and does not weigh heavily on the players' minds.

"It's obviously different this time anyway," added the Leinster back row.

"There's an extra knockout game in the round of 16 so if anything that will be favourable in that there's an opportunity to win a knockout game, but I don't think it's a massive factor."

Image source, Getty Images

Ireland will meet Scotland in the group stage of a Rugby World Cup once again as they were drawn together in Pool D for the 2027 competition in Australia alongside Uruguay and Portugal.

Ireland were 36-14 winners when the sides met in the 2023 tournament in France, while they claimed a 27-3 win against the same opponents in Japan in 2019.

Scotland's last win against Ireland came in the 2017 Six Nations, while the Scots' last World Cup win over the Irish came at the 1991 tournament.

While Scotland are familiar foes, there is fresh World Cup opposition with Ireland to face Uruguay and Portugal for the first time at the sport's showpiece event.

Ireland's last meeting with Portugal occurred in July as they ran up a record score in a 106-7 win during their summer tour.

The top two teams in each of the six pools will qualify for the knockout phase, as-well-as the four best third-placed teams.

The winner of Pool D will face one of the teams who finished third in the round of 16, while the second-place team in Pool D are set to take on the winner of Pool E which contains France, Japan, USA and Samoa.

Analysis

If Ireland are to finally reach the Rugby World Cup semi-finals at the ninth time of asking, they will first need to tackle some familiar foes.

For the third tournament running, they will face Six Nations rivals Scotland at the pool stage. The last two went well for Ireland, with 27-3 and 36-14 wins at Japan 2019 and France 2023.

Ireland have had Scotland's number for a while now, winning the past 11 encounters stretching back to the 2018 Grand Slam campaign.

But with Portugal and Uruguay rounding out Pool D, the Scots will undoubtedly pose the biggest threat to Ireland's hopes of finishing top. If Ireland top the pool, they will face a third-placed team from one of Pool B, E or F.

Finishing second, however, would almost certainly leave Ireland with a last-16 match against France, who will be clear favourites to top Pool E ahead of Japan, Samoa and the USA.

Ultimately, it's two years away. Much can happen between then and now. But with the World Cup picture now clear, Ireland head coach Andy Farrell can focus on readying his side for the trek to Australia in 2027.

And considering a mixed autumn campaign that yielded humbling losses to World Cup contenders New Zealand and South Africa, there is much work on the road ahead.

Rugby World Cup 2027 draw

Pool A

New Zealand

Australia

Chile

Hong Kong

Pool B

South Africa

Italy

Georgia

Romania

Pool C

Argentina

Fiji

Spain

Canada

Pool D

Ireland

Scotland

Uruguay

Portugal

Pool E

France

Japan

USA

Samoa

Pool F

England

Wales

Tonga

Zimbabwe

Image source, Inpho

Ulster back row Juarno Augustus said that his side are preparing to face a "physical" Racing 92 side in Friday's Challenge Cup opener (20:00 GMT).

Richie Murphy's side have had a good start to the United Rugby Championship season, picking up four wins from their five games.

Racing 92 are 11th in France's Top 14 with six wins from their 11 games and Augustus knows what type of challenge they will present for his side at the Affidea Stadium.

"I've played against Racing at Northampton [Saints] they're quite physical and heavy, but if we can move them around it will be an easier game for us and that's what we want to do," he told BBC Sport NI.

Augustus arrived at Ulster in the summer after four seasons with Northampton and said that he has settled "pretty well" in Belfast.

The 27-year-old returned for the province's 47-13 home win against Benetton last weekend after an arm injury ruled him out of their defeat by the Lions in October and is now striving for a sustained run in the starting side.

"I've had my arm injury two or three weeks ago, but I've parked that. It's behind me and I'm fit to play and looking forward to the weekend," he added.

Australia prop Angus Bell could make his debut on Friday after arriving in Belfast last week and Augustus has already been impressed by the 25-year-old's quality in training.

"He is a big boy," Augustus joked.

"He came in last week to show his face and he has started training this week with the boys. He looks quite well, is doing well in training and hopefully he can help the team.

"He is a big ball carrier and tackler and a nice guy. He looks like he enjoys being around us and you will probably see that on the field.

"With his experience playing international rugby, you can learn off him and hopefully that can benefit the team."

Image source, Getty Images

Ireland back Mack Hansen has suffered another injury setback with his latest foot injury requiring surgery that could rule him out of the Six Nations.

The 27-year-old first sustained the problem on the British and Irish Lions tour of Australia and missed all three Tests of the victorious series.

The Connacht back-three player reaggravated the issue on his only provincial appearance of the season against the Bulls in October and subsequently missed Ireland's autumn series games against New Zealand and Japan.

He was named at full-back for the first time in his Test career against Australia and marked his return with a memorable first-half hat-trick.

A week later against South Africa, however, he was replaced after 64 minutes with Connacht stating an estimate for his return will be determined after Tuesday's surgery.

Ireland start their 2026 Six Nations away to France on 5 February.

Connacht face Ospreys in their 2025-26 Challenge Cup opener at Brewery Field, in Bridgend on Sunday (15:15 GMT).

Hansen's fellow Irish internationals Cian Prendergast and Caolin Blade will also miss the game through injury, while once-capped All Black Josh Ioane is a doubt.

Image source, Getty Images

Ulster second rows Matthew Dalton and Iain Henderson have been ruled out of Friday's Challenge Cup opener against Racing 92 (20:00 GMT).

Dalton picked up a knee injury during last weekend's United Rugby Championship win over Benetton having replaced captain Henderson just prior to kick-off.

Henderson withdrew minutes before kick-off after a back spasm in the warm-up, and while Ulster said he was a doubt for Friday's game, attack coach Mark Sexton later confirmed the experienced Ireland lock is unavailable.

"Hendy's has had a back spasm last week so he's out, Dalts has hurt his knee, so a couple of second-rows injuries," said Sexton.

Cormac Izuchukwu - who has not played since early October - is also a doubt with an ongoing foot problem, but Sexton does not feel the injuries add up to a "crisis" with head coach Richie Murphy still able to call upon Charlie Irvine and Joe Hopes.

"I know they're going to be big losses to us, but Charlie and Joe are brilliant young players and it's brilliant that they're going to get an opportunity," added Sexton.

Hooker Rob Herring is also a doubt with an ankle problem he sustained after coming off the bench in the Benetton game.

With Michael Lowry having missed the Benetton game, Instonians full-back Bradley McNamara has joined the squad as injury cover after recently impressing in Ulster A's win over Connacht Eagles.

"He was one of the standout players on the pitch," said Sexton.

"His attack was brilliant that day which was brilliant to see. He's very elusive, he has a good swerve, good passing and running game. We'll keep a close eye in here now for the next couple of weeks."

Australia prop Angus Bell could make his debut after arriving in Belfast last week.

"He trained today and trained very well so we're hoping that he'll be involved," said Sexton.

He added: "He seems like a great fella, great character, and he can certainly move on the rugby pitch so I think we just need to get him the ball and let him go."