| Union | Irish Rugby Football Union | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Emblem | theShamrock | ||
| Ground(s) | Donnybrook Stadium Ravenhill Stadium The Sportsground Thomond Park Musgrave Park | ||
| Coach | Cullie Tucker | ||
| Captain | Max Deegan | ||
| |||
| First match | |||
| Ireland XV (26 January 1946) | |||
| Largest win | |||
| Ireland XV (01 March 2002) | |||
| Largest defeat | |||
| Ireland XV (22 February 2008) | |||
TheIreland Wolfhounds (variously branded as Ireland Wolfhounds, Ireland A, Ireland B and Ireland XV) are the second nationalrugby union team of Ireland, behind theIreland national team.
The Wolfounds previously competed in theChurchill Cup together with theEngland Saxons, the national teams ofCanada and theUnited States, as well as a selection of other nations' 1st, 2nd and 3rd representative sides (including Scotland A and theNew Zealand Māori). They also played against otherSix Nations countries' A sides during the Six Nations. They have intermittently played touring sides, namelySouth Africa in 2000, theAll Blacks in 2001 andAustralia in 2006. On the 21 June 2009, Ireland A won their firstChurchill Cup, beating the England Saxons 49–22 in the final. They also won the Churchill Plate three times in 2006, 2007 and 2008. Initially named Ireland B, the side was redesignated to Ireland A from the 1992–1993 season.[1] They were once again renamed the Ireland Wolfhounds in January 2010.[2] This name was inspired by a nomadic invitational side, which competed between 1956 and 1987 against other club sides throughout Ireland.[3] The Wolfhounds have not competed in a competition since the IRFU declined to compete in the 2016 Tbilisi Cup.[4] Ireland A played their first match in over seven years against the All Blacks XV in November 2022 at the RDS losing 19–47.[5][6]
On 21 January, Ireland named their 'XV' squad for their match againstEngland 'A' on 6 February 2026.[7]
Billy Bohan andJude Postlethwaite were originally named in the squad, but were subsequently called up toIreland's fullSix Nations squad.
The number of caps in the table below represents caps earned for the seniorIreland national team.
Head Coach:
Cullie Tucker
| Player | Position | Date of birth (age) | Caps | Club/province |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Diarmuid Barron | Hooker | (1998-08-06)6 August 1998 (age 27) | 0 | |
| Stephen Smyth | Hooker | (2004-08-01)1 August 2004 (age 21) | 0 | |
| Gus McCarthy | Hooker | (2003-07-23)23 July 2003 (age 22) | 7 | |
| Sam Crean | Prop | (2000-06-12)12 June 2000 (age 25) | 0 | |
| Oli Jager | Prop | (1995-07-05)5 July 1995 (age 30) | 1 | |
| Sam Illo | Prop | (2001-02-16)16 February 2001 (age 24) | 0 | |
| Scott Wilson | Prop | (2002-08-06)6 August 2002 (age 23) | 0 | |
| Darragh Murray | Lock | (2001-04-07)7 April 2001 (age 24) | 2 | |
| Diarmuid Mangan | Lock | (2003-03-06)6 March 2003 (age 22) | 0 | |
| Charlie Irvine | Lock | (2003-01-28)28 January 2003 (age 23) | 0 | |
| Paul Boyle | Back row | (1997-01-14)14 January 1997 (age 29) | 1 | |
| Brian Gleeson | Back row | (2004-02-05)5 February 2004 (age 22) | 0 | |
| Max Deegan (c) | Back row | (1996-10-01)1 October 1996 (age 29) | 4 | |
| Sean Jansen | Back row | (1999-05-10)10 May 1999 (age 26) | 0 | |
| Bryn Ward | Back row | (2004-07-16)16 July 2004 (age 21) | 0 | |
| Ben Murphy | Scrum-half | (2001-04-23)23 April 2001 (age 24) | 2 | |
| Fintan Gunne | Scrum-half | (2003-07-28)28 July 2003 (age 22) | 0 | |
| Jack Murphy | Fly-half | (2004-07-15)15 July 2004 (age 21) | 0 | |
| Cathal Forde | Centre | (2001-04-11)11 April 2001 (age 24) | 0 | |
| Dan Kelly | Centre | (2001-06-16)16 June 2001 (age 24) | 1( | |
| James Hume | Centre | (1998-09-07)7 September 1998 (age 27) | 3 | |
| Zac Ward | Wing | (1998-12-11)11 December 1998 (age 27) | 0 | |
| Shane Daly | Wing | (1996-12-19)19 December 1996 (age 29) | 2 | |
| Joshua Kenny | Wing | (2003-08-03)3 August 2003 (age 22) | 0 |
Home sides are listed first. 1940s[edit]
1970s[edit]
1980s[edit]
1990s[edit]
| 2000s[edit]
2010s[edit]
2020s[edit]
|
| Ireland A Home Record | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Facility | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | % Won |
| Donnybrook Stadium | 19 | 12 | 0 | 7 | 63.16% |
| The Sportsground | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 50% |
| Lansdowne Road | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 40% |
| Musgrave Park | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 50% |
| Ravenhill Stadium | 12 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 50% |
| RDS Arena | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 50% |
| Tallaght Stadium | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
| Thomond Park | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 50% |
| Total | 49 | 27 | 0 | 22 | 55.1% |
Above is the Ireland Wolfhound's home record in each stadium. Up to date as of 7 February 2026.
| Against | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | For | Against | Diff | % Won |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 12 | +15 | 100.00% | |
| 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 64 | 8 | +56 | 100.00% | |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 17 | 24 | –7 | 0% | |
| Bay of Plenty (New Zealand) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 39 | 52 | –13 | 0% |
| 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 119 | 70 | +49 | 100% | |
| 30 | 10 | 0 | 20 | 556 | 748 | –192 | 33.33% | |
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 53 | 0 | +53 | 100% | |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | –1 | 0% | |
| 11 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 205 | 295 | –90 | 36.36% | |
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 5 | +35 | 100% | |
| 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 259 | 52 | +207 | 100% | |
| King Country (New Zealand) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 26 | 32 | –6 | 0% |
| New Zealand Academy | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 74 | –59 | 0% |
| 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 38 | 118 | –80 | 0% | |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 30 | 43 | –13 | 0% | |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 19 | 47 | –28 | 0% | |
| Northland (New Zealand) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 16 | 69 | –53 | 0% |
| 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 48 | 75 | –27 | 50% | |
| 23 | 11 | 2 | 10 | 468 | 474 | –6 | 47.83% | |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 19 | 50 | —31 | 0.00% | |
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 25 | +3 | 100% | |
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 11 | +17 | 100.00% | |
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 61 | 24 | +37 | 100.00% | |
| Thames Valley (New Zealand University) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 38 | 12 | +26 | 100% |
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 48 | 19 | +29 | 100% | |
| 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 106 | 29 | +77 | 100% | |
| 10 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 240 | 263 | –23 | 30% | |
| Total | 110 | 51 | 3 | 56 | 2,610 | 2,635 | –25 | 46.36% |
The above is a list of the Ireland Wolfhounds' head-to-head record against international first and second sides, non-national representative sides such as theNew Zealand Māori, as well as some club sides. Up to date as of last match: Ireland XV 14–52 England XV on 7 February 2026.
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