England 'A' canter to Thomond Park victory over Ireland XV

Ireland's Shane Daly and England's Ben Bamber. Pic: Dan Clohessy/Inpho

Ireland XV 14 England A 52 

England ‘A’ breezed to victory over Ireland XV, as they registered eight tries over a disappointing home side at Thomond Park. 

Two Irish tries in reply did little to halt the English, in what was viewed as an opportunity for fringe players to stake a claim for frontline inclusion during the Six Nations.

Andy Farrell and other members of the senior Irish coaching ticket were among those who made the trip to Limerick, though the paying supporters didn’t overly buy into this fixture.

Able to name a sextet of players with senior caps in the starting side, Connacht-bound out-half Ciaran Frawley was perhaps the standout name. 

Frawley, as well as Munster’s Shane Daly, featured in this fixture 12 months ago, where Ireland were beaten 28-12 at Ashton Gate.

Ulster led the way with six starting players, Leinster had five included, while four from Munster and Connacht’s Billy Bohan completed the starting XV.

Alex Dombrandt was the marquee player for England. The number eight has 23 international caps, having made his debut nearly five years ago for England, selected by then-head coach, Eddie Jones. He was among 10 capped players listed by head coach Mark Mapletoft.

Irish head coach Cullie Tucker had Sean O’Brien (defence), John Muldoon (forwards) and Mark Sexton (attack) in his backroom team. Given the short-training period as a cohesive unit, the early exchanges were unsurprisingly scrappy and without fluency. 

England had played New Zealand ‘A’ and Spain late in 2025 and their fluency was a notch or two ahead of the home side.

Ireland conceded with the first notable defensive play, a scrum five meters from their own line. England went quick off a free-kick and Ethan Roots, the English skipper, powered his way over. Billy Searle obliged to give England a 7-0 advantage after ten minutes.

Searle wheeled his way into the corner for a try of his own, this time off a rolling maul for a second five-pointer for the visitors.

A brace of offside infringements allowed Ireland to tap-and-go close to the line, and Munster’s Brian Gleeson powered over to get the green scoreboard moving. The gap was quickly eroded, however, as a disjointed defence was exposed, allowing Ollie Hassell-Collins to walk in the third English try.

The sides exchanged five-pointers before half-time as scrum-half, and Man-of-the-Match, Harry Randall’s jinked in for England’s fourth before James Hume pounced on a stray pass to kick through for Joshua Kenny. Frawley’s routine two-pointer meant the gap was cut to 10, 14-24, at half-time.

George Kloska was next over the whitewash, with Fineen Wycherley in the bin. Hassell-Collins walked in his second to stretch the margin even further.

Replacement Cathal Forde, of Connacht, raced in for a third Irish try only for the TMO to deny him due to an earlier knock-on.

Harlequins winger Cadan Murley sprinted in for a seventh, as the chasm between the sides grew. Roots crashed over the eighth try just before the final whistle.

Ireland XV: S Daly; J Kenny, J Hume, D Kelly, Z Ward; C Frawley, F Gunne; B Bohan, G McCarthy, S Wilson; C Irvine, F Wycherley; M Deegan (Capt), B Ward, B Gleeson.

Replacements: D Barron, S Crean, J Aungier, H Sheridan, P Boyle M Devine, C Forde, S Jansen.

England ‘A’: J Carpenter; C Murley, L Northmore, O Bailey, O Hassell‑Collins; B Searle, H Randall; T Haffar, J Blamire, G Kloska; B Bamber, J Batley; E Roots (Capt), J Kenningham, A Dombrandt.

Replacements: K Tuipulotu, A Van Der Flier, A Fasogbon, H Tizard, F Harding, R Quirke, C Atkinson, G Hendy.