England A v Ireland A, Ashton Gate, Sunday, 1pm − live on RugbyPassTV
Ciarán Frawley and Nathan Doak start at halfback for Ireland A against England A on Sunday.
Neither was in the original 29-man training squad named last weekend, but with Connacht’s Ben Murphy missing through injury, Ulsterman Doak moves straight into the starting XV having been called up as a replacement.
Frawley, the only player to drop down from the Ireland senior squad, starts at 10 with Harry Byrne on the bench. Max Deegan captains the side from the backrow where he is joined by Alex Kendellen – captain on the recent Emerging Ireland tour – and Connacht number eight Sean Jansen.
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Eleven players who travelled with Emerging Ireland to South Africa are in Sunday’s squad. Alongside Kendellen and Jansen, secondrows Evan O’Connell and Darragh Murray, tighthead Jack Aungier, centres Jude Postlethwaite and Hugh Gavin, wing Shayne Bolton and replacements Stephen Smith, Conor O’Tighearnaigh and Alex Soroka have all been given another opportunity to sport the Ireland jersey.
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Wing Tommy O’Brien was originally named in the Emerging panel but missed out through injury. After a torrid run which saw him miss the trip to South Africa, as well as being a late scratch from a number of Leinster line-ups, O’Brien gets another opportunity on Sunday.
Wing is a position to watch for Ireland given the presence of Bolton on the opposite flank; both are intriguing prospects who match the profile Ireland tends to look for in wide men, while O’Brien offers an elusive speed element.
As always, senior frontrow depth ensures that will be a position of interest. How the halfbacks fare, given the impending lack of depth at scrumhalf, not to mention question marks surrounding the Leinster outhalf pecking order with Ross Byrne’s departure confirmed, will create intrigue.
Elsewhere, Ireland appear to have prioritised size at centre with Gavin and Postlethwaite starting instead of Cathal Forde and Hugh Cooney. The latter was named a training panellist in Ireland’s original Six Nations group but has not made the match day 23 here. Forde, the injured Murphy and Ulster’s James McNabney are all in the same boat.
Despite not lining out for Ulster on that side of the scrum all season, Ireland will once again give Tom O’Toole a run at loosehead prop. Nominally a tighthead, he was named as cover for the left side of the scrum when he came off the bench against Fiji in November.
England have approached this fixture in a similar manner, naming more of an emerging panel instead of using those who didn’t make the senior 23.
Max Ojomoh caused Leinster a few problems with Bath in January and he starts at 13. Ollie Hassell-Collins, Jack van Portvliet, Curtis Langdon and Tom Pearson are all starters with senior England caps.
Powerful number eight Alfie Barbeary and Gloucester outhalf Charlie Atkinson stand out as ones to watch.
ENGLAND A: Joe Carpenter (Sale Sharks); Tobias Elliott (Saracens), Max Ojomoh (Bath), Will Butt (Bath), Ollie Hassell-Collins (Leicester Tigers); Charlie Atkinson (Gloucester), Jack van Portvliet (Leicester Tigers) (capt); Phil Brantingham (Saracens), Curtis Langdon (Northampton Saints), George Kiosk (Bristol Bears); Hugh Tizard (Saracens), Tom Lockett (Northampton Saints); Tom Pearson (Northampton Saints), Jack Kenningham (Harlequins), Alfie Barbeary (Bath).
Replacements: Gabriel Oghre (Bristol Bears), Tarek Haffar (Northampton Saints), Luke Green (Northampton Saints), Richard Capstick (Exeter Chiefs), Greg Fisilau (Exeter Chiefs), Will Porter (Harlequins), Jamie Shillcock (Leicester Tigers), George Hendy (Northampton Saints).
IRELAND A: Shane Daly (Munster); Tommy O’Brien (Leinster), Jude Postlethwaite (Ulster), Hugh Gavin (Connacht), Shayne Bolton (Connacht); Ciarán Frawley (Leinster), Nathan Doak (Ulster); Tom O’Toole (Ulster), Diarmuid Barron (Munster), Jack Aungier (Connacht); Evan O’Connell (Munster), Darragh Murray (Connacht); Max Deegan (Leinster) (capt, Alex Kendellen (Munster), Sean Jansen (Connacht).
Replacements: Stephen Smyth (Leinster), Paddy McCarthy (Leinster), Oli Jager (Munster), Conor O’Tighearnaigh (Leinster), Alex Soroka (Leinster), Fintan Gunne (Leinster), Harry Byrne (Leinster), Brian Gleeson (Munster).
