11 Emerging Ireland changes for tour-ending Cheetahs game

Simon Easterby has made wholesale changes to the Emerging Ireland team as they look to finish their South African tour unbeaten with a win over the Cheetahs. The Irish youngsters followed up their opening-round success over the Currie Cup Pumas with a 29-24 win over Western Force last Sunday.

Now, they will look to defeat the Cheetahs, the tournament hosts, in their Bloemfontein backyard with an XV in which three backs – Andrew Osborne, Hugh Cooney and Sam Prendergast – and one forward – loosehead Alex Usanov – are the four repeat starters from the weekend.

Ben O’Connor, Hugh Gavin, Zac Ward and Cormac Foley have all been added to the back line for Wednesday’s 7pm local time kick-off (6pm Irish), while the pack is bolstered by Stephen Smyth, Jack Aungier, Evan O’Connell, Darragh Murray, Harry Sheridan, Sean Edogbo and skipper James Culhane.

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 (vs Cheetahs, Wednesday)

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)