Union | Irish Rugby Football Union | ||
---|---|---|---|
Emblem(s) | the Shamrock | ||
Ground(s) | Donnybrook Stadium Ravenhill Stadium Galway Sportsgrounds Thomond Park Musgrave Park | ||
Coach(es) | Andy Farrell | ||
Captain(s) | Craig Casey | ||
| |||
First match | |||
Ireland XV 3–4 France (26 January 1946) | |||
Largest win | |||
Ireland XV 60–3 Scotland A (01 March 2002) | |||
Largest defeat | |||
Ireland XV 7–67 Scotland A (22 February 2008) |
The Ireland Wolfhounds (also known as Ireland A and Ireland B) are the second national rugby union team of Ireland, behind the Ireland national team. They previously competed in the Churchill Cup together with the England Saxons, the national teams of Canada and the United States, as well as a selection of other nations' 1st, 2nd and 3rd representative sides (including Scotland A and the New Zealand Māori). They also played against other Six Nations countries' A sides during the Six Nations. They have intermittently played touring sides, namely South Africa in 2000, the All Blacks in 2001 and Australia in 2006. On the 21 June 2009, Ireland A won their first Churchill Cup, beating the England Saxons 49–22 in the final. They also won the Churchill Plate three times in 2006, 2007 and 2008. Initially named Ireland B, the side was redesignated to Ireland A from the 1992–1993 season. [1] They were once again renamed the Ireland Wolfhounds in January 2010. [2] This name was inspired by a nomadic invitational side, which competed between 1956 and 1987 against other club sides throughout Ireland. [3] The Wolfhounds have not competed in a competition since the IRFU declined to compete in the 2016 Tbilisi Cup. [4] Ireland A played their first match in over seven years against the All Blacks XV in November 2022 at the RDS losing 19–47. [5] [6]
The Ireland Wolfhounds 23-man match day squad which was selected to play All Blacks XV on 4 November 2022 included: [7]
Home sides are listed first. 1940s
1970s
1980s
1990s
| 2000s
2010s
2020s
|
Ireland A Home Record | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Facility | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | % Won |
Donnybrook Stadium | 19 | 12 | 0 | 7 | 63.16% |
Galway Sportsground | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 50% |
Lansdowne Road | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 40% |
Musgrave Park | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 50% |
Ravenhill Stadium | 12 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 50% |
RDS Arena | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 50% |
Tallaght Stadium | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
Thomond Park | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 60% |
Total | 48 | 27 | 0 | 21 | 56.25% |
Above is the Ireland Wolfhound's home record in each stadium. Up to date as of 4 November 2022.
Against | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | For | Against | Diff | % Won |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Argentina | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 12 | +15 | 100.00% |
Argentina Jaguars | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 64 | 8 | +56 | 100.00% |
Australia A | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 17 | 24 | –7 | 0% |
Bay of Plenty (New Zealand) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 39 | 52 | –13 | 0% |
Canada | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 119 | 70 | +49 | 100% |
England Saxons | 28 | 10 | 0 | 18 | 530 | 668 | –138 | 35.71% |
Fiji | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 53 | 0 | +53 | 100% |
France | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | –1 | 0% |
France A | 11 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 205 | 295 | –90 | 36.36% |
Georgia | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 5 | +35 | 100% |
Italy A | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 259 | 52 | +207 | 100% |
King Country (New Zealand) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 26 | 32 | –6 | 0% |
New Zealand Academy | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 74 | –59 | 0% |
Māori | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 38 | 118 | –80 | 0% |
New Zealand XV | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 30 | 43 | –13 | 0% |
All Blacks XV | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 19 | 47 | –28 | 0% |
Northland (New Zealand) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 16 | 69 | –53 | 0% |
Samoa | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 48 | 75 | –27 | 50% |
Scotland A | 23 | 11 | 2 | 10 | 468 | 474 | –6 | 47.83% |
South Africa | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 19 | 50 | —31 | 0.00% |
South Africa A | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 25 | +3 | 100% |
South Africa XV | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 11 | +17 | 100.00% |
Thames Valley (New Zealand University) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 38 | 12 | +26 | 100% |
Tonga XV | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 48 | 19 | +29 | 100% |
United States | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 106 | 29 | +77 | 100% |
Wales A | 10 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 240 | 263 | –23 | 30% |
Total | 107 | 50 | 3 | 54 | 2523 | 2521 | –8 | 46.73% |
The above is a list of the Ireland Wolfhounds' head-to-head record against international first and second sides, non-national representative sides such as the New Zealand Māori, as well as some club sides. Up to date as of 4 November 2022
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