Soldier Field to host Ireland and All Blacks again
Ireland will play New Zealand at Soldier Field in Chicago on 1 November.The meeting is a repeat of the 2016 fixture at the same venue when Ireland ended an 111-year wait for a first men's Test victory over the All Blacks. Ireland have also played Italy at the home of the National Football League (NFL)'s Chicago Bears, winning 54-7 against the Azzurri in 2018."We are delighted to see international rugby return to Chicago for this historic 'Rematch' between Ireland and New Zealand," said Kevin Potts, chief executive of the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU)."The 2016 encounter at Soldier Field is one of the greatest moments in Irish rugby history, and the rivalry that has grown between our two teams since then is a testament to the quality, passion, and the respect that Ireland and New Zealand have for each other."The game is expected to be a return to the Ireland coaching box for Andy Farrell after he leads the British and Irish Lions in a three-Test tour of Australia this summer.Assistant coach Simon Easterby is currently in charge of the team for the Six Nations and will be interim head coach again for Test matches in July. Ireland have not yet confirmed opposition or dates for those games, or the remainder of their autumn schedule.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
24 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
THE MOUSE WHO ROARED! McLauchlan shone from Tarbolton to Dunedin... and back again
There was an added sense of poignancy that news of Ian 'Mighty Mouse' McLauchlan's sad passing should arrive just as the latest batch of British and Irish Lions were jetting off on this summer's adventure to Australia. McLauchlan, who died on Friday aged 83, was considered one of the toughest and feistiest players to ever pull on a Scotland jersey, something he did 43 times between 1969 and 1979. It was his performances for the Lions, however, that elevated the Ayrshire-born prop's reputation and brought him to wider recognition, something he did with distinction over two tours of duty. The first came in 1971 when a group that included Welsh great JPR Williams and Irish icon Willie John McBride won two games out of four and drew the final one to secure what remains the Lions' only series victory in New Zealand. McLauchlan played a pivotal role in the first Test in Dunedin, charging down an attempted All Blacks clearance to score the only try of the game. Perhaps surprisingly for a player who scored frequently in the club game, it also turned out to be the only Test try of his career. McLauchlan was back in the fold three years later when the touring party, now captained by McBride, won 21 of the 22 matches they played in South Africa and drew the last one to earn the nickname 'The Invincibles'. It was a physically bruising, often violent tour but the Lions proved too strong for their Springbok hosts as they clinched the Test series by three matches to one. McLauchlan was again pivotal, playing in every Test match just as he had done in New Zealand, making him one of just five players to be ever-present across the two victorious series. International rugby had come late to the man from the Ayrshire village of Tarbolton, not a renowned stronghold for the sport. When he made his Scotland debut a month short of his 27th birthday in an 8-3 Five Nations loss to England at Twickenham in March 1969, he became the first former pupil of Ayr Academy and ex-Jordanhill College student to be capped for his country. 'Much of that day is a haze but I remember sitting in the changing room at 2.50pm,' he wrote in his autobiography, Mighty Mouse. ''Open the doors', I thought. 'Let me get out there and at them'. I had waited all my life for that moment.' McLauchlan wasn't big for a loosehead at under 15 stone and just 5ft8 tall but what he lacked in physical stature he made up for with tenacity and determination, in the scrum especially where he would regularly give his tighthead opponent a difficult afternoon. His club performances for Jordanhill and West of Scotland brought him belatedly to the attention of the Scotland selectors — six years after his first trial — starting a decade-long period of international recognition where he'd go on to establish himself in the team before becoming captain in 1973. He would lead his country 19 times, an achievement that stood as a record until it was later surpassed by David Sole. On one of those occasions, another Calcutta Cup clash with the Auld Enemy, he captained the team despite having broken a bone in his leg against Ireland just a fortnight earlier. Although he came from a corner of the country where football, racing pigeons and whippets were the favoured pastimes, McLauchlan would become a rugby obsessive. 'I was hooked straight away,' he admitted. 'I loved the physicality, the brutality and the camaraderie of it. Before long, the game had become the be-all and end-all of my life. 'I never wanted to give up. I played every minute I could play. I used to go down to Wales mid-week and play. I'd go to Ireland at the weekends and play on the Sunday. At that time Scottish Rugby had a ban on Sunday rugby but it didn't seem to matter too much in Ireland. It was quite good. You'd play in Glasgow and get the six o'clock plane to Dublin and come back on the Sunday night.' The 1970s were not a hugely memorable period for Scottish rugby overall, with the unlikely five-way tie in 1973 the only championship Scotland celebrated throughout the decade. The feeling was, though, that it could have been even worse had McLauchlan not done his best to lift the level through both word and deed until his international retirement in 1979, again with another Test match against the All Blacks, this time at Murrayfield. He worked as a PE teacher at Broughton High School in Edinburgh, launched his own marketing firm and even had a brief spell in journalism but rugby remained in the blood, making it little surprise that he would continue to contribute to the sport later in life. He served as president of Scottish Rugby from 2010 to 2012 and remained on the board until 2019. 'I've always been involved in rugby in one way or another,' he said at the time. 'I suppose it kind of appealed to my sense of humour, the thought of being on the board. 'It's like everything else. I just wanted to do something to help rugby. It's a plain, simple fact: if you don't do anything, you don't get much from it — but if you try to do something you get a great deal of self-satisfaction and reward comes from effort.' McLauchlan would fill other rugby roles, too, chairing the British and Irish Lions Trust, becoming a director of European Professional Club Rugby, chair of the Murrayfield Injured Players Foundation and a director of the Hearts & Balls rugby charity. In 2013 he was inducted into Scottish Rugby's Hall of Fame and four years later received an OBE for services to rugby. Later in life he moved from the Corstorphine area of Edinburgh to settle on Islay where his wife Eileen, who died in 2023, hailed from. News of McLauchlan's sad passing prompted tributes from all across the rugby world, including from former team-mate — and another Lions and Scotland legend — Andy Irvine. 'He was some character and some player,' said Irvine. 'He was smaller than most props he came up against but I never saw anyone get the better of him. He was so tough, almost indestructible. What a fantastic career he had for Scotland and the Lions. It's very, very sad.' The sad news broke just as Lions head coach Andy Farrell and his players were boarding the plane to Australia ahead of their Test series against the Wallabies. They paid tribute to one of their own: 'Our thoughts are with the friends and family of former Scotland captain and Lions great Ian McLauchlan.'
BBC News
31 minutes ago
- BBC News
Dublin edge battling Cork to reach All-Ireland last eight
Dublin held off a battling Cork side to win 1-19 to 1-16 at Croke Park and progress to the All-Ireland recovered from a poor start to lead 1-8 to 0-9 at half-time with Chris Og Jones scoring their goal with a composed were much improved in the second half with the forward trio of Cormac Costello, Paddy Small and Sean Bugler helping the hosts to a win after Brian Howard's goal had got them back in the wait for a first championship win over Dublin in 15 years goes on, as they fell agonisingly short against a more experienced Dubs were dealt a blow before throw-in as three-time All Star Con O'Callaghan, who was named to start after returning from injury in the win against Derry, dropped out of the squad. They started well as Paddy Small got an early point after 30 seconds, weaving through and tapping over when it looked like a goal chance would open fisted over another, again after driving directly at the Cork defence, with points from Ciaran Kilkenny and Bulger stretching the dominant Dubs' grew into the game and responded in ruthless fashion as Og Jones curled home their first point on eight minutes before their top scorer Mark Cronin added a Jones then rattled home a goal on 11 minutes, firing past Stephen Cluxton after Cork opted to take a quick sideline ball as the Rebels moved a point Hurley came to life with two well-taken points sandwiched in between John Small registering Dublin's first score in 13 two sides exchanged a few points before Og Jones squandered the chance of a second goal as his low effort from a tight angle was denied by then hit two-pointer as the half was drawing to a close to cut the gap to two points at the break. Dessie Farrell's side knew they needed to raise the tempo in the second half to stay in the competition and they managed to level five minutes after the restart after another fast momentum truly swung in their favour on 45 minutes as Howard drove inside before rifling into the roof of the net for his first championship goal as Dublin led for the first time since the fourth lead was swiftly wiped out as Cork reacted well to the goal, kicking three points in a Lordan also blocked a goal chance from Lee Gannon, before Sean Walsh registered another point to edge the John Cleary's men back in Costello levelled, and the two sides swapped scores for a period as the tight affair remained on a was until the influential Costello re-established a two-point lead for Dublin with a long-range McDonnell squandered the chance to level the game for the seventh time as his two-pointer attempt from a free dropped Breathnach had an impact from the bench as he curled over a late insurance point as Dublin moved into the last eight.
BBC News
41 minutes ago
- BBC News
Tipp ease past Galway to set up Cats semi-final
Tipperary proved too strong for Galway in Saturday's second All-Ireland Hurling quarter-final with a 1-28 to 2-17 victory setting up a last-four encounter against six of Tipp's forwards scored in the first half at the Gaelic Grounds in Limerick to give the Premier County a 0-16 to 0-11 lead at the break. Galway hit back early in the second half with a superb individual goal from Colm Molloy bringing the Leinster side back to within two points. However, Tipperary were not to be denied and kept the scoreboard ticking over before substitute Oisin O'Donoghue's 60th-minute goal killed the game as a contest. Corner-forward Jason Forde top-scored for Tipp with 0-7, while Jake Morris and Andrew Ormond hit 0-5 apiece. Cathal Mannion scored 0-13 for Galway, for whom substitute Declan McLoughlin scored a late consolation goal. Tipperary, who are chasing a 29th All-Ireland title, will face Leinster champions Kilkenny in a repeat of the 2019 final on 6 July for a place in this year's who stunned Limerick earlier on Saturday, face Cork in the other semi-final on 5 July.
