Emerging Ireland will be hoping for another comprehensive victory this evening when they take on the Free State Cheetahs in the final match of their South African tour.

Ireland’s ‘second team’ has already achieved two victories so far, firstly beating the Pumas 36-24 last week, before seeing off Western Force 29-24 at the weekend.

Fans of the side have noted how impressive some of the squad’s team play has been throughout the series, noting the below play in particular:

Dom Perignon Rugby from Emerging Ireland
byu/mugillagurilla inrugbyunion

Looking ahead to the final game of the series, Emerging Ireland Head Coach Simon Easterby said: “When we set out at the beginning of our pre-camp in Dublin, we knew about the challenge of facing three sides in a week and we knew that every player in the group would have the opportunity to play his part. To a man each player has given his all so far and we are aiming to finish off the series with another positive performance on Wednesday.

“The Cheetahs are a fiercely proud and strong side and it should be a lively game with a vocal home support behind them. It has been a fruitful past few weeks to date and we have learned a lot.

“While our performances haven’t been perfect, the players have embraced the challenge and played some brilliant rugby at times. The action has come thick and fast and we know that we have to be clinical in our execution.

“We will need to go up another level on Wednesday to get the performance we want and hopefully finish the tour on a high.”

Emerging Ireland Team & Replacements

15: Ben O’Connor (UCC RFC/Munster)

14: Andrew Osborne (Naas RFC/Leinster)

13: Hugh Cooney (Clontarf FC/Leinster)

12: Hugh Gavin (Galwegians RFC/Connacht)

11: Zac Ward (Ballynahinch RFC/Ulster/Ireland Sevens)

10: Sam Prendergast (Lansdowne FC/Leinster)

9: Cormac Foley (Lansdowne FC/Leinster)

1: Alex Usanov (Clontarf FC/Leinster)

2: Stephen Smyth (Old Wesley RFC/Leinster)

3: Jack Aungier (Clontarf FC/Connacht)

4: Evan O’Connell (Young Munster RFC/Munster)

5: Darragh Murray (Buccaneers RFC/Connacht)

6: Harry Sheridan (Dublin University FC/Ulster)

7: Sean Edogbo (UCC RFC/Munster)

8: James Culhane (UCD RFC/Leinster) (captain)

Replacements:

16: Danny Sheahan (Cork Constitution FC/Munster)

17: George Hadden (Garryowen FC/Munster)

18: Scott Wilson (Queen’s University Belfast RFC/Ulster)

19: Conor O’Tighearnaigh (UCD RFC/Leinster)

20: Alex Soroka (Clontarf FC/Leinster)

21: Matthew Devine (Corinthians RFC/Connacht)

22: Jack Murphy (Clontarf FC/Leinster)

23: Charlie Tector (Lansdowne FC/Leinster)

The match kicks off at 6pm Irish time and is free to watch on irishrugby+