TheIreland Wolfhounds(also known as Ireland A and Ireland B) are the second nationalrugby unionteam of Ireland, behind theIreland national team.They previously competed in theChurchill Cuptogether with theEngland Saxons,the national teams ofCanadaand theUnited States,as well as a selection of other nations' 1st, 2nd and 3rd representative sides (including Scotland A and theNew Zealand Māori). They also played against otherSix Nationscountries' A sides during the Six Nations. They have intermittently played touring sides, namelySouth Africain 2000, theAll Blacksin 2001 andAustraliain 2006. On the 21 June 2009, Ireland A won their firstChurchill 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]
 | |||
| Union | Irish Rugby Football Union | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Emblem(s) | theShamrock | ||
| 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 XV60–3 Scotland A(01 March 2002) | |||
| Largest defeat | |||
| Ireland XV7–67Scotland A (22 February 2008) | |||
Squad
editThe Ireland Wolfhounds 23-man match day squad which was selected to playAll Blacks XVon 4 November 2022 included:[7]
Results
edit|
Home sides are listed first. 1940sedit
1970sedit
1980sedit
1990sedit
|
2000sedit
2010sedit
2020sedit
|
Home record
edit| 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.
Statistics
editOverall
edit| 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 theNew Zealand Māori,as well as some club sides. Up to date as of 4 November 2022
Honours
edit- Six Nations A Championship
- Winners:1(2002)[46]
- Six Nations A Triple Crown
- Winners:2(2000, 2002)[44]
- Churchill Cup
- Winners:1(2009)
- Churchill Plate
- Melrose Sevens
- Winners:1(1991)
See also
editReferences
edit- ^"IRELAND A AND B INTERNATIONALS:TEAMS AND RESULTS".Irish Rugby.Retrieved30 September2021.
- ^"Result: Llanelli 12 Ulster 12".Irish Rugby Football Union.28 January 2010. Archived fromthe originalon 13 September 2015.Retrieved12 June2013.
- ^"Wolfhounds To Return To Irish Rugby".Irish Rugby.Retrieved7 October2021.
- ^O'Sullivan, John (4 January 2018)."Rugby statistics: Ireland opportunity yet to knock for Tom Farrell".The Irish Times.Retrieved22 July2021.
- ^"Ireland A will play against an All Blacks XV in November at the RDS".the42.Retrieved13 July2022.
- ^ab"Ireland A battered, bruised and outclassed by a dominant All Blacks Development XV".Irish Times.Retrieved4 November2022.
- ^"AS IT HAPPENED: IRELAND A V ALL BLACKS XV".the42.Retrieved15 November2022.
- ^"Ireland XV v France".ESPN scrum.Retrieved2019-03-20.
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- ^abcdefg"Irish Rugby Archive".Irish Rugby.Archived fromthe originalon 10 October 2021.Retrieved18 October2021.
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- ^abcdefg"Team History Archive".Irish Rugby.Retrieved18 October2021.
- ^abcdefg"Team History Archive".Irish Rugby.Retrieved18 October2021.
- ^abcdefg"Team History Archive".Irish Rugby.Retrieved18 October2021.
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- ^"IRELAND A TOUR - Apia, 14 June 1997".espnscrum.Retrieved18 October2021.
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- ^"England A v Ireland A -" A "Rugby International".Sportsfile.Retrieved21 October2021.
- ^ab"Ireland A claim Triple Crown".BBC Sport.Retrieved21 October2021.
- ^"Ireland 'A' on try spree".BBC Sport.Retrieved21 October2021.
- ^ab"No Grand Slam for the A team".Irish Times.Retrieved21 October2021.
- ^"O'Sullivan backs 'A' series".Irish Times.Retrieved21 October2021.
- ^"Ireland A lose to French".RTE.Retrieved21 October2021.
- ^"McHugh kicks England into touch A International".Irish Times.Retrieved21 October2021.
- ^"Possibles make a strong case for stepping up a level".Irish Times.Retrieved21 October2021.
- ^"Brave Irish effort falls just short".Irish Times.Retrieved21 October2021.
- ^"Heads-up Irish show real quality".Irish Times.Retrieved21 October2021.
- ^"CHURCHILL CUP, Pool A - Santa Clara, 3 June 2006, 14:00 local, 21:00 GMT".espnscrum.Retrieved1 May2021.
- ^"Maori deny Ireland place in Churchill final".Irish Times.Retrieved21 October2021.
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- ^"IRELAND 'A' 17 AUSTRALIA 'A' 24".Ulster Rugby.Archived fromthe originalon 8 October 2021.Retrieved7 October2021.
- ^"IRELAND A 5 V 32 ENGLAND SAXONS".Ulster Rugby.Retrieved7 October2021.
- ^"Ireland A 39-20 Canada".RTE.Retrieved22 October2021.
- ^"NZ Maori 50-22 Ireland A".RTE.Retrieved22 October2021.
- ^"Ireland A 22-21 Scotland A".RTE.Retrieved22 October2021.
- ^"England Saxons 31-13 Ireland A".RTE.Retrieved22 October2021.
- ^"Scotland A 67-7 Ireland A".BBC Sport.Retrieved22 October2021.
- ^"Ireland A 46-9 USA".BBC Sport.Retrieved9 October2021.
- ^"Ireland A 12-34 England Saxons".BBC Sport.Retrieved22 October2021.
- ^"Ireland A sign off on winning note".Irish Times.Retrieved22 October2021.
- ^"Late cancellation hits A encounter".Irish Times.Retrieved27 October2021.
- ^"Ireland A 35-10 Scotland A".RTE.Retrieved22 October2021.
- ^"Ireland A 30-19 Canada".RTE.Retrieved22 October2021.
- ^"Ireland A 40-5 Georgia".RTE.Retrieved22 October2021.
- ^"Ireland A 49-22 England Saxons".BBC Sport.Retrieved22 October2021.
- ^"Ireland A 48-19 Tonga".13 November 2009.Retrieved14 September2017– via news.bbc.co.uk.
- ^"Ireland A 31-0 Argentina Jaguars".RTE.Retrieved27 May2021.
- ^"Saxons edge out Ireland 'A'".espnscrum.Retrieved19 October2021.
- ^"Ireland Wolfhounds 34-19 Scotland A".RTE.Retrieved19 October2021.
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- ^"Wolfhounds 20-11 England Saxons".BBC Sport.Retrieved19 October2021.
- ^"England Saxons 23-17 Irish Wolfhounds".BBC Sport.Retrieved19 October2021.
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