Andy Farrell returns to Ireland duty after the victorious British & Irish Lions Tour to Australia with titanic matches against New Zealand and South Africa on the schedule. As home welcomes go, that is quite something.
Farrell picks up an Ireland side re-setting for the future, with the likes of Conor Murray, Cian Healy and Peter O’Mahony all hanging up their boots after tremendous careers, but also one packed with elite talent.
Ireland have a talent pool that is the envy of almost every side in the world and there is no shortage of promising young players ready to break through, while they had 15 players selected in the initial Lions squad.
That did not include Ireland captain Caelan Doris, who suffered a shoulder injury on the eve of the Tour, but he is back to lead the Men in Green – starting with a crunch game in Chicago this weekend.
The schedule
The strapline on the souvenir DVD simply reads: The greatest day in Ireland’s rugby history.
And while there are more than a few other contenders for that accolade, from Grand Slam deciders to that emotional win against England at Croke Park, the significance of November 5, 2016 in the history of Irish sport is hard to overstate.
New Zealand, the most famous and celebrated rugby nation on the planet, were the only team Ireland had never beaten but across 80 emotional minutes, David slayed Goliath on an I-was-there afternoon in Chicago – and all those precious memories will be stirred up again when the two trapse overseas to do battle in the famous US city once again. It is not to be missed.
Ireland then return home to take on Japan before facing a resurgent Australia side, and back-to-back world champions, South Africa.
Squad news
Doris’ return to international rugby is the headline news and Ireland have reported a clean bill of health from their training camp.
However, there are some notable absentees with both Mack Hansen and Joe McCarthy out of the whole autumn with injuries.
Hansen sustained a foot injury playing for Connacht, while McCarthy has been unable to recover from an injury in the same area that he suffered during the first Australia Test.
Year to date
Ireland’s array of stars were the first to admit they were below their best during the Six Nations, a campaign in which they won four matches but suffered a heavy home defeat to France.
They had a very successful summer, however, when a youthful side beat Georgia (34-5) and Portugal (106-6).
The series gave a number of young players their first international caps and vital experience at the top level.
What they said
Andy Farrell said: "This November’s Quilter Nations Series promises to be a great challenge. We’re playing four top quality Southern Hemisphere teams who are all coming off the back of a busy block of matches of late, and they’ll be keen to finish their year strongly.”
"First up is New Zealand, and we’re really excited to get back to Chicago for the Gallagher Cup match. I’ve no doubt the Irish global supporter base will be out once again in force to cheer on the team in a brilliant city at a world-class arena.
"We’ve seen the strides Japan have made from their ever-improving domestic competition and how that has led to success on the field for the national team over the last number of years.”
