Preview: USA v Ireland

Ireland start their three-game June international schedule with a match against the USA Eagles at the Red Bull Arena, Newark, on Saturday.

With several players involved with the British and Irish Lions, this month is the perfect opportunity for fringe players to lay down their own marker for a regular Test spot. Two games against Japan after this opener will be ideal to do just that following a long, hard season.

Joe Schmidt will be eager to build on their 13-9 victory against Six Nations champions England and despite missing those Lions such as their starting front-row, Iain Henderson, Peter O'Mahony, Sean O'Brien, CJ Stander, Conor Murray, Jonathan Sexton, Robbie Henshaw and Jared Payne, he has an exciting backline and forward experience in the shape of Cian Healy, Devin Toner and Rhys Ruddock at his disposal to get the job done.

Three wins would give the squad significant momentum to take into their November Test against South Africa, Fiji and Argentina, but June's games won't be easy, not least against Japan under Jamie Joseph. USA meanwhile will want to bid farewell to John Mitchell on a high note.

Mitchell's announcement that he would be leaving in July to take up a role with the Bulls in South Africa is a blow to the Eagles and it appears he's keen to focus their attention on their Rugby World Cup qualifiers against Canada later this month. Before that they take on Georgia.

For now though this is a chance to test themselves against a confident Ireland outfit who should have enough quality to come through this one with a victory. Anything else would be a major shock, particularly with Mitchell holding back several players, meaning this side could well chance their arm as they look to build on some positive results against Uruguay, Brazil, Canada and Chile in their 2017 games to date.

This though could well be a tough afternoon for the Eagles, with Tiernan O'Halloran certainly one player who will relish his chance in the spotlight, which is well earned after consistently strong performances for Connacht.

"This tour is a bit different. It's a younger squad and guys are looking forward to stepping up," he said as they look to hit the ground running in Newark.

Players to watch:

For USA: Former Hawke's Bay and Hurricanes openside flanker Tony Lamborn is one of our ones to watch for the Eagles as he'll be industrious throughout against a powerful Irish back-row. Our other is captain Nate Augspurger, who leads from scrum-half and must play direct smartly.

For Ireland: Jared Payne departing the action against the Blues would surely have set tongues wagging between Garry Ringrose's family and friends. Surely he would be the immediate replacement at centre for the British and Irish Lions so a busy performance in Newark would give a timely reminder to Warren Gatland of his qualities. Ringrose's x-factor should cause the USA problems, as will Joey Carbery at fly-half.

Head-to-head: It's a Sale Shark against a Leinsterman at fly-half as AJ MacGinty clashes with Joey Carbery. MacGinty, who played his rugby in Ireland for Connacht before moving to England, is an assured and neat and tidy playmaker while Carbery has shown an x-factor this year in Dublin. It promises to be a fascinating battle and for the latter it's an opportunity to push to become a regular face in Ireland's 23.

Previous results:

2013: Ireland won 15-12 in Houston
2011: Ireland won 22-10 in New Plymouth
2009: Ireland won 27-10 in Santa Clara
2004: Ireland won 55-6 in Dublin
2000: Ireland won 83-3 in Manchester
1999: Ireland won 53-8 in Dublin
1996: Ireland won 25-18 in Atlanta
1994: Ireland won 26-15 in Dublin

Prediction: The visitors will come through this one in impressive style. Ireland by 25 points.

The teams:

USA: 15 Ben Cima, 14 Mike Te’o, 13 Ryan Matyas, 12 Marcel Brache, 11 Martin Iosefo, 10 AJ MacGinty, 9 Nate Augspurger (c), 8 David Tameilau, 7 Tony Lamborn, 6 John Quill, 5 Nic Civetta, 4 Nate Brakeley, 3 Chris Baumann, 2 Peter Malcolm, 1 Ben Tarr
Replacements: 16 James Hilterbrand, 17 Joe Taufete’e, 18 Paddy Ryan, 19 Matthew Jensen, 20 Andrew Durutalo, 21 Shaun Davies, 22 Will Magie, 23 Bryce Campbell

Ireland: 15 Tiernan O'Halloran, 14 Keith Earls, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Luke Marshall, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Joey Carbery, 9 Kieran Marmion, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Rhys Ruddock (c), 5 Devin Toner, 4 Quinn Roux, 3 John Ryan, 2 Niall Scannell, 1 Cian Healy
Replacements: 16 Dave Heffernan 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 Andrew Porter, 19 James Ryan, 20 Dan Leavy, 21 Luke McGrath, 22 Rory Scannell, 23 Simon Zebo

Date: Saturday, June 10
Venue: Red Bull Arena, Newark, New Jersey
Kick-off: 17:00 local (21:00 GMT)
Referee: Luke Pearce (England)
Assistant Referees: Federico Anselmi (Argentina), Chris Assmus (Canada)
TMO: Neil Paterson (Scotland)