Simon Easterby believes the Wallabies pose a big threat to Ireland ahead of Saturday’s Nations Championship opener in Sydney
Ireland Rugby Press Conference, InterContinental Hotel, Sydney, Australia 30/6/2026
Defence Coach Simon Easterby
Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/Ben Brady
Ireland rugby team have won their last five encounters, dating back to 2018, with the Wallabies.
But what’s remarkable is that the winning margins in the two 2018 matches, and the 2022 and 2024 games remained similar: five, four, three and three points respectively before a big Ireland hit out, 46-19, in Dublin in 2025.
Indeed, that was a record Ireland win over Australia and which didn’t look on the cards as the side split for half-time at 19-14.
The game’s signature was a first half-hour hat-trick from Mack Hansen, with further tries from Caelan Doris, Ryan Baird and Robbie Henshaw in the last 10 minutes
The contest was a lot tighter than the scoreline suggests and, indeed, none of Hansen, Doris and Baird are with the Ireland squad this summer; all three are injured.
“We’ve actually, a lot of us as coaches anyway, have certainly had a bit of time against them, last summer and then in November,” notes Ireland’s Assistant Coach Simon Easterby of Saturday’s challenge.
“They are a physical team who will look to try and impose themselves on the opposition.
“And, something that we were well aware of, their threats and attack, and their ability to attack in a way that can create opportunities and those are the things that we’ve spoken about in a bit of detail today.
“Just expecting a side who, playing at home for the first time in a while, have probably got a chance to go and lay down a bit of a marker leading into a World Cup year.”
There are five uncapped players in the squad. looseheads Billy Bohan and Sam Illo, back-row Sean Jensen and the two last call ups, Ulster brothers Zac and Bryn Ward.
At the same time they are blending with half-a-dozen players who have 70 caps or more in Garry Ringrose, Robbie Henshaw, Tadhg Furlong, Tadhg Beirne, James Ryan and Josh van der Flier.
“It’s been a great mix. I think sometimes players miss out for whatever reason—injury or non-selection—and you get the opportunity to work with other players.
“They’ve all slotted in really well and I think it’s testament to the group that everyone’s ready.
“We have had no one drop out of training, we haven’t had to look after anyone, they’ve worked hard and they’ve hit the ground running and it’s going to be an interesting few weeks in terms of selection.
“Because, you know, some of the more experienced players are training well but also some of the younger guys have made their mark as well,
The good news is that there is has been no need to unpack any of the ‘extra’ training bibs, those withh the red cross which signifies ‘do not tackle’ or of a differnt/third colour signifying ‘go easy’.
This has made for some fast-paced, frenetic sessions – everyone’s hand is up for a place against Australia in the first of the Nations Championship outings.
“It’s been good, all 36 players are training and enjoyed recovering from the jet lag and, yeah, we’ve really hit the ground running.
“So it’s been a pretty great week of reconnecting and we’ve had great facilities in West Tigers Ground and it’s been a excellent seven days.”
Meanwhile the early signs are that Ireland fans have got hold a significant number of tickets and should form a decent ‘pocket’ in the 42,500 capacity Allianz Stadium in Sydney.
A ground which, coincidentally, is the venue for Ireland’s Pool D game with Portugal (Oct 4th, 2027) at next year’s Rugby World Cup.
Added Easterby: “Yeah, I think we expect to see a lot of green. It’ll hopefully be a good night for us, but yes, certainly in terms of an experience, having been here last summer, the amount of Irish that were out with the Lions was phenomenal.
“I’m sure a lot of those will turn up again on the weekend.”
IRELAND SQUAD (Club/Province/Caps): Fixtures
Saturday, 4 July: Australia v Ireland, Allianz Stadium, Sydney, 8.10pm local time/11.10am Irish time
Saturday, 11 July: Japan v Ireland, McDonald Jones Stadium, Newcastle, 8.10pm local time/11.10am Irish time
Saturday, 18 July: New Zealand v Ireland, Eden Park, Auckland, 7.10pm local time/8.10am Irish time(70)
IRELAND SQUAD *Forwards (20): Tadhg Beirne (Lansdowne/Munster):Billy Bohan (Corinthians/Connacht)* Thomas Clarkson (Blackrock College/Leinster)(13) Jack Conan (Old Belvedere/Leinster)(59), Tadhg Furlong (Clontarf/Leinster)(86) Sam Illo (Buccaneers/Connacht)* Cormac Izuchukwu (Ballynahinch/Ulster)(4) Sean Jansen (Connacht)* Rónan Kelleher (Lansdowne/Leinster)(48) Jeremy Loughman (Garryowen/Munster)(8) Joe McCarthy (Dublin University/Leinster)(24) Darragh Murray (Buccaneers/Connacht)(3) Tom O’Toole (Ballynahinch/Ulster)(21) Cian Prendergast (UCD/Connacht)(11) James Ryan (UCD/Leinster)(80) Dan Sheehan (Lansdowne/Leinster)(39) captain, Tom Stewart (Ballynahinch/Ulster)(5) Nick Timoney (Queen’s University/Ulster)(11) Josh van der Flier (UCD/Leinster)(79), Bryn Ward (Ballinahinch/Ulster)*
*Backs (16):* Bundee Aki (Galwegians/Connacht)(69) Rob Baloucoune (Enniskillen/Ulster)(8) Harry Byrne (Lansdowne/Leinster)(4) Craig Casey (Shannon/Munster)(28) Nathan Doak (Banbridge/Ulster)(1) Ciaran Frawley (UCD/Leinster)(12) Jamison Gibson-Park (Leinster)(51) Robbie Henshaw (Buccaneers/Leinster) (84) Hugo Keenan (UCD/Leinster)(46) Stuart McCloskey (Bangor/Ulster)(28) Jimmy O’Brien (Naas/Leinster)(11)Jamie Osborne (Naas/Leinster)(15) Sam Prendergast (Lansdowne/Leinster)(15) Garry Ringrose (UCD/Leinster)(74) Jacob Stockdale (Lurgan/Ulster)(42), Zac Ward (Ballinahinch/Ulster)*
* _denotes uncapped