Ireland clash with Australia in the November Rugby Internationals in Dublin on Saturday and the home side start as firm favourites with the bookmakers.
Ireland v Australia, Saturday 15th November, Dublin, KO 22:10 (South African time)
Referee: Karl Dickson (RFU)
Assistant Referees: Pierre Brousset (FFR), Adam Leal (RFU)
TMO: Ian Tempest (RFU)
Weather Forecast - Dublin
Ireland:
Ireland put Japan away 41-10 at this venue last weekend. Of their 6 tries scored by 6 different players 4 came in the second half. Soldier Field, Chicago was the neutral venue for Ireland’s opening match of this series against the All Blacks and after a tight first half it was New Zealand who got on top with 3 of their 4 tries arriving in the final quarter and Ireland finished beaten 26-13.
Ireland’s mid year program saw them beat Georgia (34-5) and thrash Portugal (106-7).
In the Six Nations this year Ireland began with wins at home to England (27-22), in Scotland (32-18) and in Wales (7-18). They lost a crucial game at home to France (42-27) before finishing off with a 22-17 win in Italy. Although they had the same win / loss record as the top 2 sides Ireland finished third in the standings, 1 point behind England and 2 shy of France.
In the November international series of 2024 Ireland lost at home to New Zealand (23-13) before wins over Argentina (22-19), Fiji (52-17) and Australia (22-19).
After this Ireland will host South Africa.
Australia:
The Wallabies have found it tough going in this series so far. Their end of year tour began in Tokyo and they had to dig deep to see off Japan 19-15. Next up they took on England at Twickenham, they were given around 8.5 points start on the bookmakers main handicap line and that provide to be insufficient as England came out on top 25-7. Last weekend Australia were in Italy and although they started at around 11.5 point favourites and scored 3 tries to 2 they finished up on the losing side as they hosts came out on top 26-19.
In the Rugby Championship Australia eventually finished third with a record of 2 wins and 4 defeats. They started with a double header against the Boks in South Africa and won the first clash 38-22 before losing the second 30-22. Two home fixtures against Argentina went down to the wire with the Wallabies edging the first match 28-24 before losing the second 28-26. They were still in with some sort of shout in the title race heading into the final rounds but they suffered back to back defeats to the All Blacks, in Auckland (33-24) and in Perth (28-14).
In July the Wallabies lost a 3 match home series against the B&I Lions 2-1.
In last years November series Australia started with a thrilling (42-37) win over England at Twickenham and followed up with a (52-20) win in Wales. After that they went down in Scotland (27-13) and were edged out in Ireland (22-19).
After this the Wallabies will take on France.
Recent Head to Head
Nov 24 INT Dublin Ireland 22-19 Australia
Nov 22 INT Dublin Ireland 13-10 Australia
Team News
Ireland: 15 Mack Hansen, 14 Tommy O’Brien, 13 Robbie Henshaw, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 James Lowe, 10 Sam Prendergast, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Caelan Doris (C), 6 Ryan Baird, 5 Tadhg Beirne, 4 James Ryan, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Dan Sheehan, 1 Paddy McCarthy
Replacements: 16 Rónan Kelleher, 17 Andrew Porter, 18 Thomas Clarkson, 19 Nick Timoney, 20 Cian Prendergast, 21 Craig Casey, 22 Jack Crowley, 23 Bundee Aki
Australia: 15 Max Jorgensen, 14 Filipo Daugunu, 13 Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, 12 Len Ikitau, 11 Harry Potter, 10 James O’Connor, 9 Jake Gordon, 8 Harry Wilson (captain), 7 Fraser McReight, 6 Rob Valetini, 5 Tom Hooper, 4 Jeremy Williams, 3 Allan Alaalatoa, 2 Matt Faessler, 1 Angus Bell.
Replacements: 16 Billy Pollard, 17 Tom Robertson, 18 Zane Nonggorr, 19 Nick Frost, 20 Carlo Tizzano, 21 Ryan Lonergan, 22 Tane Edmed, 23 Andrew Kellaway
The Betting
Average early show, subject to change
Ireland -12.5 points at 9/10
Australia +12.5 points at 9/10
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
This Weeks Bets
Brent Graham's betting angle and plays for this week’s internationals will be posted on this blog.
Finally, all this week's rugby tips from members of the Goodforthegame community can be found on the weekly rugby thread on our brand new discussion forum. If you haven't done so already, register a forum account here.