England A v Ireland A: Huge ‘opportunity’ for Six Nations snubs as star-studded teams named
Jack van Poortvliet will captain England A while Max Deegan leads Ireland A,
England A will be led by 16-cap scrum-half Jack van Poortvliet when they face off with Ireland A in what promises to be an entertaining game at Ashton Gate on Sunday.
Lee Blackett’s charges have trained out of Bristol Bears’ High Performance Centre this week and will make the short journey across Bristol for this weekend’s showdown.
Leicester Tigers scrum-half Van Poortvliet has been given the captaincy of the England side for the game and is joined by Charlie Atkinson (Gloucester) in the half-backs.
Keen to back up Australia win
Curtis Langdon (Northampton Saints) will take on the leadership job of vice-captain for the visit of Ireland A. Like Van Poortvliet, another former Grand Slam winner with the U20 men’s side in 2017, the hooker won the Premiership with Northampton in 2024 and made his two appearances to date with the England senior men in 2021.
Phil Brantingham (Saracens), Will Butt (Bath), Tobias Elliott (Saracens), Ollie Hassell-Collins (Leicester), Jack Kenningham (Harlequins), George Kloska (Bristol Bears), Tom Lockett (Northampton Saints) and Van Poortvliet will earn their first minutes for the England A outfit after missing November’s win over Australia A at The Stoop.
In a 5-3 split on Blackett’s bench, Gabriel Oghre (Bristol Bears), Tarek Haffar (Northampton Saints), Luke Green (Northampton Saints), Richard Capstick (Exeter Chiefs), Greg Fisilau (Exeter Chiefs), Will Porter (Harlequins), Jamie Shillcock (Leicester Tigers) and George Hendy (Northampton Saints) are included as replacements.
“Players and staff from across the RFU and Premiership Rugby have embraced the challenge of working with three training days and implementing the brand of rugby we want to play. It has been a pleasure to work with this talented and varied group this week – it is kind of test you savour as a coach,” said head coach Blackett.
“Nine of the squad involved against Australia A have since been involved in England senior camps, with four of them going on to achieve further caps. The opportunity in front of players this Sunday is clear.
“It’ll be great to take the Men’s A side to another big rugby city in Bristol following on from Leicester and London in 2024, and we are all excited for a strong, physical test against Ireland A this weekend.”
Meanwhile, Leinster back-row Max Deegan captains an Ireland A side that contains an exciting blend of senior capped internationals and young players in their squad.
Deegan is one of five players in the matchday 23 – alongside Ciarán Frawley, Harry Byrne, Shane Daly, Tom O’Toole and Oli Jager – who have been capped by Ireland.
Ireland A head coach Mike Prendergast has named three Leinster players in his starting XV with a further six among the replacements for Sunday’s meeting in Bristol.
Daly starts at full-back with Tommy O’Brien and Shayne Bolton on the wings, while Hugh Gavin and Jude Postlethwaite are the midfield pairing selected for the game.
Frawley is named to start at fly-half alongside Ulster scrum-half Nathan Doak, who was called into the squad this week after Ben Murphy was ruled out through injury.
In the forward pack, O’Toole, Diarmuid Barron and Jack Aungier are named in the front-row, with Evan O’Connell and Darragh Murray in the Ireland A engine room.
Deegan leads from blindside flanker, Alex Kendellen is at openside and Sean Jansen completes the starting team.
Ireland A have strong options on the bench, with Stephen Smyth, Paddy McCarthy, Jager, Conor O’Tighearnaigh, Alex Soroka and Brian Gleeson providing the forward reinforcements, with scrum-half Fintan Gunne and Byrne completing the matchday 23.
The teams
England A: 15 Joe Carpenter, 14 Tobias Elliott, 13 Max Ojomoh, 12 Will Butt, 11 Ollie Hassell-Collins, 10 Charlie Atkinson, 9 Jack van Poortvliet (c), 8 Alfie Barbeary, 7 Jack Kenningham, 6 Tom Pearson, 5 Tom Lockett, 4 Hugh Tizard, 3 George Kloska, 2 Curtis Langdon, 1 Phil Brantingham
Replacements: 16 Gabriel Oghre, 17 Tarek Haffar, 18 Luke Green, 19 Richard Capstick, 20 Greg Fisilau, 21 Will Porter, 22 Jamie Shillcock, 23 George Hendy
Ireland A: 15 Shane Daly, 14 Tommy O’Brien, 13 Jude Postlethwaite, 12 Hugh Gavin, 11 Shayne Bolton, 10 Ciarán Frawley, 9 Nathan Doak, 8 Sean Jansen, 7 Alex Kendellen, 6 Max Deegan (c), 5 Darragh Murray, 4 Evan O’Connell, 3 Jack Aungier, 2 Diarmuid Barron, 1 Tom O’Toole
Replacements: 16 Stephen Smyth, 17 Paddy McCarthy, 18 Oli Jager, 19 Conor O’Tighearnaigh, 20 Alex Soroka, 21 Fintan Gunne, 22 Harry Byrne, 23 Brian Gleeson
Date: Sunday, February 23
Venue: Ashton Gate
Kick-off: 13:00 GMT
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