Saturday, June 27, 2026 | London 28°C · Drizzle
DailyGlimpse

No further injuries for Ireland before Wallabies opener

Sports
June 27, 2026 · 1:21 PM
No further injuries for Ireland before Wallabies opener

BBC Homepage

More menu

More menu

Search BBC

Close menu

BBC Sport

Menu

More

A-Z Sports

More from Sport

No further injuries for Ireland before Wallabies opener

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption,

Stuart McCloskey has recovered from the hamstring injury that forced him to miss Ulster's Challenge Cup final loss

By Matt Gault

BBC Sport NI senior journalist

  • Published 26 minutes ago

Forwards coach Paul O'Connell has confirmed Ireland have no further injury concerns before next week's Nations Championship opener against Australia in Sydney.

Having missed out on reclaiming the Six Nations title in March, Ireland take on the Wallabies and Japan in Australia and New Zealand in Auckland on 4, 11 and 18 July.

Head coach Andy Farrell's preparations have been hit by injuries to key players including fly-half Jack Crowley, prop Andrew Porter and captain Caelan Doris.

While Munster forward Tadhg Beirne and Ulster centre Stuart McCloskey have been struggling with injuries, O'Connell confirmed "everyone is fine".

"Everyone is training and trained hard and trained well today, so everyone's fine," he said.

While the inaugural Nations Championship is not a traditional summer tour, Ireland have the chance to claim the scalps of next year's World Cup hosts Australia and rivals New Zealand, who have won the past three meetings with Farrell's side.

Ireland's second batch of Nations Championship games will see them host Argentina, Fiji and South Africa in November before a possible finals weekend at Twickenham's Allianz Stadium.

And O'Connell hopes the next four weeks prove as useful as recent summer tours, which included 2022's historic series win in New Zealand.

"It feels like a summer tour, really. I think it's exciting to have a competition. And we certainly want to be at the business end of it come November, but it feels like a tour," added O'Connell.

"And that's what we're trying to make it like. I think you learn a lot about each other as a group. You develop a little bit more on tour because you're not going home at the weekend.

"You're not catching up with your family at the weekend. You're together all the time. So, we tend to get an awful lot of work done when we're on tours," O'Connell added.

"We tend to, I think, take big strides as a team in terms of trying to improve and evolve. So, even though it's a competition, it feels like, and we're probably treating it like a tour."

Ireland's Nations Championship fixtures (times BST)

**4 July:**Australia v Ireland, Allianz Stadium, Sydney, 11:10

**11 July:**Japan v Ireland, McDonald Jones Stadium, Newcastle, 11:10

18 July: New Zealand v Ireland, Eden Park, Auckland, 08:10

Related topics

Shorts

Previous Next, 4 of 9

  • 0:56 Vozinha on Cape Verde's progression. 00:00:56, play video Vozinha on Cape Verde's progression
  • 1:26 Scottish culture tier list! 00:01:26, play video Scottish culture tier list!
  • 0:23 Cape Verde keep the celebrations going! 00:00:23, play video Cape Verde keep the celebrations going!
  • 0:09 Bielsa snaps before post-match interview. 00:00:09, play video Bielsa snaps before post-match interview
  • 0:56 Tuchel on his love for the England job. 00:00:56, play video Tuchel on his love for the England job
  • 0:51 Seems like the England players all agree... 00:00:51, play video Seems like the England players all agree...
  • 0:46 England squad can cope with James injury - Tuchel. 00:00:46, play video England squad can cope with James injury - Tuchel
  • 0:58 How much money do players get for winning Wimbledon? 00:00:58, play video How much money do players get for winning Wimbledon?
  • 0:51 Changes on the left for England? 00:00:51, play video Changes on the left for England?

Top stories

Live. England v New Zealand on day three of deciding Test - follow live

*   30896 viewing 31k viewing

Live. World Cup 2026: What England can learn from Ghana draw to beat Panama

*   3351 viewing 3.4k viewing

George criticises Auvaa's 'unacceptable behaviour' after nightclub incident

*   Published 4 hours ago

Elsewhere on the BBC

Elsewhere in Northern Ireland sport

Elsewhere in Sport

Copyright © 2026 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.

Skip to end of content

Close Modal

Play previous item

Play next item, item 1 of 9, Vozinha on Cape Verde's progression, 00:00:56

End of content. Close Modal

Skip to close button

← More Sports View original