Test Match Preview – Ireland vs USA

The USA Eagles will conclude their July tour on Saturday. In their second of two matches the North Americans take-on Ireland in Dublin. It is to be the first of two matches between the countries this year. The second is scheduled after the RWC 2023 qualifiers.

Irish Head Coach Andy Farrell has named James Ryan as captain. He will lead a side featuring four debutants. They come in the form of tight head Tom O’Toole; flanker Nick Timoney; center James Hume; and winger Robert Baloucoune.

Overall the team is a mixture of youth and experience. This is evidenced with Ryan’s 36 caps and prop Dave Kilcoyne’s 44 caps. Moreover, Ireland cannot be said to be going in to the match with a comparatively young side; Gary Gold had no shortage of fresh faces in his 23.

Gold has an uncapped player in the form of replacement Andrew Guerra. He also has six other players who will be playing for just the second time for the USA. They are , flanker Riekert Hattingh, fly half Luke Carty, wingers Christian Dyer and Mika Kruse and replacements Michael Baska and Matt Harmon.

The line-up itself features a number of changes. Two come in the forwards. Having been a replacement against England, Lyon’s Joe Taufete’e will start at hooker against Ireland. Flanker Hanco Germishuys was a try scoring replacement against Ireland. He will start against England.

Mike Te’o moves from wing to fullback. He does so in place of Marcel Brache who has been ruled out due to an HIA. The final change sees a first test start for Christian Dyer. He scored a try on debut against England as a replacement.

In looking ahead to the match Gary Gold commented:

“I’m proud of the guys for the fight they showed against England last week but obviously we have a new and difficult task ahead with Ireland. While we did some very good things last week, it’s important that we improve on those and eradicate the silly errors that allowed us to give away soft tries. We need to keep building on our basics and enjoy the opportunity to learn from teams who play in this environment regularly.”

Ireland has a perfect record against the USA. All prior ten matches were Irish victories. The Eagles ran Ireland very close in Houston in 2013. Unlike then, the team is now fully professional. The Eagles have never had a better shot at a win over Ireland.

IRELAND
1 Dave Kilcoyne, Ronan Kelleher, 3 Tom O’Toole, Ryan Baird, 5 James Ryan, 6 Caelan Doris, 7 Nick Timoney, 8 Gavin Coombes, 9 Craig Casey, 10 Joey Carbery, 11 Andrew Conway, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 13 James Hume, 14 Robert Baloucoune, 15 Hugo Keenan

Replacements: 16 Dave Heffernan, 17 Ed Byrne, 18 Finlay Bealham, 19 Fineen Wycherley, 20 Paul Boyle, 21 Caolin Blade, 22 Harry Byrne, 23 Will Addison

USA
1 David Ainu’u, 2 Joe Taufete’e, 3 Paul Mullen, 4 Greg Peterson, 5 Nick Civetta, 6 Hanco Germishuys, 7 Riekert Hattingh, 8 Cam Dolan, 9 Ruben de Haas, 10 Luke Carty, 11 Mika Kruse, 12 Bryce Campbell (capt.), 13 Calvin Whiting, 14, Christian Dyer 15 Mike Te’o

Replacements: 16 Kapeli Pifeleti, 17 Matt Harmon, 18 Dino Waldren, 19 Nate Brakeley, 20 Psalm Wooching, 21 Andrew Guerra, 22 Michael Baska, 23 Will Magie

Date: Saturday July 10 2021
Kick-Off: 7:15pm (Dublin); 2:15pm (Eastern)
Venue: Aviva Stadium, (Dublin)
Referee: Mathieu Raynal (France)
Assistant Referees: Adam Jones (Wales), Craig Evans (Wales)
TMO: Eric Gauzins (France)

HISTORICAL RESULTS
2018-11-24 – Ireland 57, USA 14 (Dublin, Ireland)
2017-06-10 – USA 19, Ireland 55 (Harrison, New Jersey, USA)
2013-06-07 – USA 12, Ireland 15 (Houston, Texas, USA)
2011-09-11 – Ireland 22, USA 10 (New Plymouth, New Zealand)
2009-05-31 – USA 10, Ireland 27 (Santa Clara, California, USA)
2004-11-20 – Ireland 55, USA 6 (Dublin, Ireland)
2000-06-10 – USA 3, Ireland 83 (Manchester, New Hampshire, USA)
1999-10-02 – Ireland 53, USA 8 (Dublin, Ireland)
1996-01-06 – USA 18, Ireland 25 (Atlanta, Georgia, USA)
1994-11-05 – Ireland 26, USA 15 (Dublin, Ireland)

OVERALL RESULTS
Ireland 10 Wins
USA 0 Wins