The Ireland Wolfhounds (also known as Ireland A and Ireland B) are the second national rugby union team of Ireland, behind the Ireland national team . They previously competed in the Churchill Cup together with the England Saxons , the national teams of Canada and the United States , as well as a selection of other nations' 1st, 2nd and 3rd representative sides (including Scotland A and the New Zealand Māori ). They also played against other Six Nations countries' A sides during the Six Nations. They have intermittently played touring sides, namely South Africa in 2000, the All Blacks in 2001 and Australia in 2006. On the 21 June 2009, Ireland A won their first Churchill 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. They were once again renamed the Ireland Wolfhounds in January 2010. This name was inspired by a nomadic invitational side, which competed between 1956 and 1987 against other club sides throughout Ireland. The Wolfhounds have not competed in a competition since the IRFU declined to compete in the 2016 Tbilisi Cup. Ireland A played their first match in over seven years against the All Blacks XV in November 2022 at the RDS losing 19–47.
6-561: The Ireland Wolfhounds 23-man match day squad which was selected to play All Blacks XV on 4 November 2022 included: Home sides are listed first. Above is the Ireland Wolfhound's home record in each stadium. Up to date as of 4 November 2022. 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
12-609: A touring side or when on tour, and against non-top tier rugby nations. The NZ Juniors (U23s), popularly known as the Junior All Blacks , had been active from 1958 to 1984 playing 7 international matches. They were disbanded in 1984 and replaced by a non-age restricted team called the New Zealand Emerging Players . The Emerging Players were active in 1985 and 1986 but only played internal tours in fixtures against New Zealand provincial sides. In 2006,
18-801: The Maori All Blacks played in this tournament. The Junior All Blacks were put into a hiatus shortly after the 2009 tournament. The side was then reinstated in 2019, but their first set of games were delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022 the team was re-branded once again as the All Blacks XV for matches against Ireland A and the Barbarians. The All Blacks XV squad for their 2024 Northern Tour with matches against Irish provincial side Munster and Georgia , as updated on 30 October 2024. Players in bold are players capped by
24-567: The New Zealand Māori , as well as some club sides. Up to date as of 4 November 2022 All Blacks XV The All Blacks XV is the second national rugby union team of New Zealand, after the All Blacks . New Zealand's second national team has had numerous names in its history: Junior All Blacks, New Zealand XV, New Zealand A, New Zealand B, All Blacks XV. Matches played as the 'All Blacks XV' are not test matches, usually against
30-409: The team was formally reintroduced and repurposed as the second national team when they competed in the inaugural Pacific Nations Cup . In 1991 a New Zealand XV played both Romania and USSR in the 'test' fixtures of their tours to New Zealand. In 1991 a New Zealand B team played Australia B during their short tour . In 1992 a New Zealand XV team beat England B in a pair of non-cap games during
36-522: The tourists' 8-game tour. In 1998 a New Zealand A team lost 10-18 to the England touring side at Hamilton. In 2005 a New Zealand A team played two matches against Australia A . In 2006, the second team was re-branded as the Junior All Blacks, inheriting the nickname of the previous New Zealand U23 team. This second XV participated in the 2006, 2007 and 2009 Pacific Nations Cup . In 2008
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