Craig Casey named captain as Ireland A team to face All Blacks is named

Patrick McCarry

A big chance for many of these players to impress in a green jersey, on home soil.

Andy Farrell has named his Ireland A side to face an All Blacks XV at The RDS on Friday evening.

Farrell has named Munster scrumhalf Craig Casey as his captain for the game, and paired him with Leinster outhalf Ciarán Frawley. The second row has Joe McCarthy and Gavin Thornbury teaming up, while Jacob Stockdale starts on the left wing.

The Ireland A team and their upcoming game were discussed [from 4:15 below] on the latest House of Rugby episode. Greg O’Shea, Lindsay Peat and Jason Hennessy also discussed the Emerging Ireland tour and the ‘rearranged pecking order’ on the countries top 50 players.

Nick Timoney of Ireland (C) is tackled during the match between the Maori All Blacks and Ireland at FMG Stadium. (Photo by Fiona Goodall/Getty Images)

Craig Casey captains strong Ireland A team

Craig Casey, who captains the side, is one of seven starters with Test experience for Ireland. On the bench are three more men – Dave Kilcoyne, Marty Moore and Max Deegan – who have international experience.

The back row of Cian Prendergast, Nick Timoney and Gavin Coombes played together during the summer games against the Maori All Blacks [essentially the same outfit that they’ll face on Friday, in a different wrapper].

Elsewhere, Jacob Stockdale, James Hume and Michael Lowry are Ulster’s three Test-hardened men in the Irish backline, with Leinster’s Jimmy O’Brien on the right wing and Jamie Osborne in the centre.

The front row sees Jeremy Loughman, Dave Heffernan and Tom O’Toole all packing down together, backed up by Kilcoyne, Moore and Munster hooker Diarmuid Barron.