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| The Ireland coaching group has named a 38 player squad for the 2017 Guinness Series which sees Ireland take on South Africa, Fiji and Argentina in the Aviva Stadium in November.
The South Africa fixture on Saturday 11th November is a sell-out but there are limited tickets available for Fiji (45,000+ sold) and Argentina (50,000+ sold). Ireland face the Springboks for the first time since the 2016 Summer Tour where Ireland recorded a first ever victory on South African soil at Newlands but ultimately lost the series decider. Earlier this month the Boks came within a point of beating the All Blacks in their final game of this year’s Rugby Championship having twice drawn with Australia and recorded victories home and away against the Pumas. The Bok squad will be led by the 63 time capped lock Eben Etzebeth with their full European tour travelling party set to be named after the Currie Cup final. Fiji come to Ireland as the reigning Pacific Nations Cup champions and have secured qualification for Rugby World Cup 2019 by virtue of being the top team in the region over the course of the past two seasons. There are a number of familiar names within their squad such as Newcastle Falcons’ Vereniki Goneva, Racing 92’s Leone Nakarawa and Toulon’s Josua Tuisova while Montpellier’s Nemani Nadolo could also feature for the Flying Fijians. The final game of the Guinness Series sees Ireland square off against Argentina. The two sides have not met since the RWC quarter-final in Cardiff in October 2015. The Pumas have recently added Mario Ledesma to their backroom team. The hooker who was capped 84 times for his country joins from the Wallabies backroom team and played under Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt at Clermont Auvergne. Ireland Head Coach, Joe Schmidt, commented, “In what we anticipate will be an incredibly physical Guinness Series plenty will be demanded of the squad. We have retained a core of experienced players but have also included a number of promising players that we hope will acquit themselves well.” 2017 Guinness Series Squad
Supporters can get all the news from the Ireland camp via the IRFU’s website and social media channels. Follow us on. 2017 Guinness Series Fixtures IRELAND v South Africa IRELAND v Fiji IRELAND v Argentina
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