Just nowSat 15 Nov 2025 at 7:53pm

Bell tolls for Angus ahead of Belfast stint(Getty Images)

Today’s match against Ireland may have a bit more significance than normal for prop Angus Bell.

He is, after all, staying on the island at the conclusion of this tour to play for Ulster in the north.

“I’ve had seven really good years at the Waratahs,” Bell told RTÉ.

“I’ve loved my time in Australia, and I just felt it was the right time to experience some change.

“Change is the spice of life.

“You learn, you meet different people, you’re under new coaches.

“It’s to experience something new, get away from Australia briefly … It’s all about learning from there, I’m still just 25 so just learning off those people around the world.

“And then obviously the URC is a pretty top competition, with top players, so it wasn’t a really hard decision.

“It was something that I needed in my career, I thought would be beneficial.

“I know it’s colder than Australia, that’s for sure.”

You’re not wrong, Angus.

The temperature today in Dublin is set to be between 9-11 Celcius.

It could get down as low as 1 degree in Ulster. Yikes.

(Getty Images)

4m agoSat 15 Nov 2025 at 7:50pm

Mack Hansen at fullback?

Mack Hansen will start at fullback in today’s match – a position he’s never started an international match in.

Ireland though, believe the ex-Brumby is ready to show his fellow countrymen a clean pair of heels and does have experience of playing in the role for Connacht, with 11 starts at 15 since 2021, according to Irish broadcaster RTÉ.

Andy Farrell said Hansen’s form heading into the Lions series was as good as he’s ever seen from the Canberra-born wing, but an untimely foot injury cruelled his chances of playing any of the Tests.

Despite that, Farrell is backing the 27-year-old to star there.

“I think he’s got the bit between his teeth as far as what he learnt on that tour,” Farrell told RTÉ.

“He played his last game at 15 [for Connacht] as well.

“Coming back into the group, he came in on Sunday night, got across his work Sunday and Monday and then trained the house down on Tuesday.

“He’s proved to, not just to us, the coaching staff, but to everyone else that he’s up for this, and ready and able.

“I suppose as well, every single time that Mack’s played for us as a winger, he’s always covered full-back, he’s always been able to get across the work there, so we get to see that in action.”

8m agoSat 15 Nov 2025 at 7:46pm

‘You’re kind of home’: Joe Schmidt on Dublin return(Getty Images)

Right back to Dublin for us, and back “home” for Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt.

Schmidt is no stranger to Ireland and Irish Rugby.

The 60-year-old spent nine years coaching on the Emerald Isle in back-to-back stints with Leinster and the Ireland international team.

He has family in Dublin, his son Tim and his brother both live in the Irish capital.

And speaking to RTÉ earlier this week, Schmidt admitted that being back in Dublin felt like being “home”.

“I got out of an Uber in town yesterday morning and I was with our manager Chris Thompson. The first three people walking past [said], ‘Hey Joe, howya Joe?’,” Schmidt said.

“It’s just a really nice feeling, like you’re kind of home.”

Given Schmidt is handing over the Wallabies’ reins next year, today’s match could be the last time he coaches a team at the Aviva Stadium.

(Getty Images)

But even if he never leads a team to Ireland again, he desperately wants to return to the Aviva stadium as a fan.

“I’ve always thought when we used to go into the [Aviva] stadium and you drive past the Sandymount Hotel, I’ll look at all those people having pints and really enjoying themselves, and I’m feeling like I’m in this sardine can of pressure,” he said.

“I’ll look out there and I think: ‘One day, I’m going to get amongst those people and then I’m going to drift into that stadium and I’m going to enjoy watching a game where I’m not so emotionally hanging off everything that happens’.”

Unfortunately for Schmidt, that sardine can is so pressurised that it’s likely to explode at any moment, with the Wallabies having lost four of their last five Tests and staring down the barrel of a nasty, 67-year first…

10m agoSat 15 Nov 2025 at 7:44pm

Springboks overcome another red card to claim another win(AP)

The Springboks had a player sent off for the second match in a row, but it didn’t bother them a jolt as they roared to another victory on their European tour, a 32-14 success against Italy in Turin.

Rassie Erasmus seemed to struggle to understand that, no matter how tall a tackling player is, he still can’t plant his shoulder into a ball carrier’s head.

“We are a very proud team in the way we level change and avoid head contact and we’ve received so many red cards,” Erasmus said. “We are really trying hard.”

“Losing two locks in two games now for going lower than they can go, it’s tough to understand.

“We don’t know how to coach guys to go lower, especially for a two-meter-tall guy (de Jager) to face someone who is on his knees (Ramos) is tough. And then to play with 13 men, and them (Italy) with 14 for a while, it was tougher than last week.” 

Everyone else seems to understand it, Rassie…

16m agoSat 15 Nov 2025 at 7:38pm

Wales claim last-gasp victory over Japan(Getty Images)

Before we head over the Irish Sea to Dublin, Wales have won their first international in more than two years, beating Japan with the final kick of the game in Cardiff 24-23.

Jarrod Evans, the replacement from Harlequins, stepped up when it mattered most to nail the nerveless kick in time added on.

Cardiff absolutely erupted at full time, years of anguish and frustration released in one massive outpouring of joy.

They needed that so much.

And even though Japan deserved to win the game, arguably, the Welsh just needed it to go in.

20m agoSat 15 Nov 2025 at 7:34pm

Are Ireland any good?(Getty Images)

I don’t think it’s a controversial opinion to say that this is an Ireland team that is very much on the decline.

Two years ago, Ireland were still the team in the northern hemisphere.

Only a single-point defeat at Twickenham away from claiming back-to-back grand slams, the Irish had won consecutive Six Nations crowns and were the dominant force up north.

And then the level started to drop a little. Not much, admittedly, but enough for the chasing pack to make up some ground.

A 14th Triple Crown (wins against all the other ‘home’ nations, England, Wales and Scotland) was not enough for them to even claim second on the ladder, as France and England overhauled them, the French claiming a brilliant 15-point win in Dublin.

On the Lions tour, when 18 players were Irish, some players just didn’t perform, namely Bundee Aki and, in particular, James Lowe.

Ireland were well beaten in Chicago (Getty Images)

And two very shonky displays to start their Autumn internationals has left coach Andy Farrell a little frustrated.

He had asked the team for a response after being well beaten by New Zealand in Chicago, but said “in short, no” when asked whether his team had delivered it against Japan, despite the 41-10 victory.

“I suppose overall, if you look at where we were, not just scoreboard-wise, but how we were playing in the first half, to come away with 41-10, you’d think you should be pleased, pleasing aspects, but we’ve got to be better obviously with the opposition that’s coming,” he said.

“I thought the game was typified by; we were defending well, but just ‘well’ instead of having a bit of bite.

“Our defence was the best part of our game, by the way, in that stage. Getting off the line and having real intent in our collisions is something that we need to chase down a little bit more.”

What can we read into England’s superb victory over the All Blacks earlier tonight? England were brilliant against the Wallabies – and just as good against New Zealand today.

This New Zealand team were better than Ireland last time out.

23m agoSat 15 Nov 2025 at 7:31pm

Bad blood?(Getty Images)

The Wallabies were left rightly furious during the third Lions Test by the actions of Dan Sheehan, who smashed Tom Lynagh out of a ruck in the rain in Sydney, leaving the Wallabies’ 10 stricken and out of the game.

Sheehan, the Ireland hooker, was not punished on field, but was handed a four-match ban for his “reckless” action retrospectively by World Rugby.

(Getty Images)

“The Committee found that he made head contact with the Australian player, that his action amounted to a high degree of danger and that no mitigation applied,” a World Rugby statement read.

Bad blood can flow both ways though.

In that same game, James Ryan was knocked out badly by a stray knee from Will Skelton, whom the Irish lock was trying to tackle.

(Getty Images)

There was no malice in that incident from Skelton, but Ryan may have had cause to be a bit annoyed with the stadium announcer, who played upbeat tunes for the crowd, including Sweet Caroline, while Ryan was lying prone on the turf for an extended period.

It was in very bad taste and provoked the ire of plenty on social media.

“Sweet Caroline being played again while a Lion is being treated for a head injury – this time while James Ryan lies unconscious on the pitch,” wrote TalkSport presenter Max Scott.

“Totally, but unsurprisingly, distasteful stuff.”

26m agoSat 15 Nov 2025 at 7:27pm

Kit crimes

Morning Simon. Can we be assured the Wallabies will wear proper green and gold and not some mish mash rubbish like the Socceroos keep coming up with?

– Phillip

Urgh, I hear you, Phillip.

Although I think it’s unlikely tonight.

In fact, if the Wallabies wear green today, I will fly to Dublin myself with some spray paint to get the gold out.

Especially as doing so would make Ireland wear white.

Unless the Wallabies host Romania or Brazil in a rugby union Test any time soon, there should be no need for a change jersey.

30m agoSat 15 Nov 2025 at 7:24pmIreland team

Here’s how the hosts will line up today.

(Irish Rugby)

Canberra-born Connacht back Mack Hansen will start at fullback upon his return to action following a foot injury, with James Lowe coming back into the side on one wing, joining man of the match from last week’s Japan victory Tommy O’Brien on the other.

Leinster’s Sam Prendergast starts at 10 for the Irish, replacing Jack Crowley of Munster as the hosts continue to wrestle with who is their best playmaker.

Jamison Gibson-Park, one of Lions’ best earlier this year, returns at scrum half, while the centre partnership will be Stuart McCloskey (Ulster) and Robbie Henshaw (Leinster).

There is a mix of experience and youth in the front row, with 22-year-old Leinster prop Paddy McCarthy earning his first start and just his third cap at loose head, with veterans Dan Sheehan and Tadhg Furlong joining him at the coal face.

More veterans, James Ryan and Tadhg Beirne, start in the second row.

Ryan’s last action against the Wallabies in a Test match was getting knocked spark out by Will Skelton’s knee in the third Lions Test in Sydney, so he’ll want a better outcome today – and likely be pleased that Skelton is not playing, absent with an injury.

Captain Caelan Doris, who missed the Lions tour through injury, will shift from his preferred 8 to start at openside flanker, as Jack Conan anchors the scrum.

31m agoSat 15 Nov 2025 at 7:23pmWallabies team

Here’s how the Wallabies will line up for today’s match, with the musical chairs continuing around selection.

(Wallabies)

James O’Connor is recalled to add some experience at fly half, where the Wallabies have been found badly wanting in recent weeks.

Tane Edmed is the replacement 10, with last week’s starter Carter Gordon dealing with a tight thigh.

Len Ikitau is also back, and will partner Joseph Aukuso-Suaalii in the centres. Max Jorgensen has recovered from a bout of tonsilitis and will play fullback.

Filipo Daugunu will play on the wing, replacing Corey Toole who doesn’t make the squad.

 Allan Alaalatoa replaces the rested Taniela Tupou, although Angus Bell is also fit, making for a established pair either side of Matt Faessler at hooker.

Tom Hooper shifts to lock alongside Jeremy Williams, with Nick Frost dropping to the bench, freeing up space for Rob Valetini to start at blindside flanker, joining Fraser McReight and Harry Wilson in the back row.

What do we make of the squad? ABC sideline commentator Brett McKay has his thoughts…

34m agoSat 15 Nov 2025 at 7:20pm

England out-play All Blacks at Twickenham(Getty Images)

During the night, England secured a superb 33-19 victory over the All Blacks.

Leicester Fainga’anuku and Codie Taylor gave the All Blacks a 12-0 lead early on, despite England’s early dominance.

But then England powered through to claim a famous win.

Ollie Lawrence, Sam Underhill, Fraser Dingwall and Tom Roebuck scored tries for the English, plus a brilliant kicking display from George Ford, who slotted two drop goals before half time, gave England the win.

The All Blacks had spoken about their desire to win the grand slam on this tour.

They had beaten Ireland well in Chicago earlier this month.

47m agoSat 15 Nov 2025 at 7:07pmWhat time is kick off?

Today’s match kicks off at 7:10am (AEDT).

Kick-off in Dublin is at 8:10pm GMT.

You can only watch the game in Australia on Stan Sport – it’s not on Channel 9.

So stick with us and we’ll keep you updated with it all.

50m agoSat 15 Nov 2025 at 7:04pm

Welcome to Dublin(Getty Images)

Is there a better place to be on a Saturday night for a rugby fan than Dublin on an international weekend?

There can’t be many.

Unfortunately, I’m not there and, in all likelihood, neither are you so we’ll just have to make do with wherever you are this Sunday morning!

My name is Simon Smale and it is my absolute pleasure to be here to bring you all the action from over there at the Aviva Stadium on Dublin’s southside this morning, as the Wallabies look to arrest their concerning lack of form against a team that may be listed as number three in the world, but are hardly tearing up trees at the moment with their form.

It’s a homecoming of sorts for Joe Schmidt, a taste of a home left behind for Mack Hansen and a glimpse of a new, temporary home for Angus Bell today – and if that all confused you I hope to enlighten you before kick off, which is not too far away.