Nations Championship 2026: No more injuries for Ireland ahead of Australia Test in Sydney

Forwards coach Paul O’Connell has confirmed there are no further injury concerns for Ireland ahead of their Nations Championship opener against Australia in Sydney next Saturday.

Having missed out on reclaiming the Six Nations title in March, Ireland will play Australia’s Wallabies and Japan and New Zealand in Auckland on July 4, 11 and 18.

Head coach Andy Farrell’s preparations Important players have been injured Along with fly-half Jack Crowley, prop Andrew Porter and captain Callan Dorris.

With Munster forward Tadhg Beirne and Ulster center Stuart McCloskey struggling with injuries, O’Connell confirmed “everyone is fine”.

“Everybody’s been training and trained hard and trained well, so everybody’s doing well,” he said.

While the inaugural Nations Championship is not a traditional summer tour, Ireland have the chance to claim the scalps of next year’s World Cup hosts Australia and rivals New Zealand, who have won the last three meetings with Farrell’s side.

Ireland’s second batch of Nations Championship games will host Argentina, Fiji and South Africa in November before a potential finals weekend at Twickenham’s Allianz Stadium.

And O’Connell hopes the next four weeks will prove as effective as the recent summer tour, which includes a historic 2022 series win in New Zealand.

“It really feels like a summer tour. I think it’s exciting to have a competition. And we definitely want to be at the business end of it in November, but it feels like a tour,” added O’Connell.

“And that’s what we’re trying to do. I think you learn a lot about each other as a group. You develop a little bit more on tour because you’re not going home for the weekend.

“You’re not seeing your family on the weekends. You’re together all the time. So, we tend to work a lot when we’re on tour.

“I think we tend to take big steps as a team in trying to improve and evolve. So, even though it’s a competition, it feels like and we’re probably treating it like a tour.”

Ireland Nations Championship Fixtures (bar BST)

4 July: Australia v Ireland, Allianz Stadium, Sydney, 11:10 BST

July 11: Japan v Ireland, McDonald Jones Stadium, Newcastle, 11:10 BST

July 18: New Zealand v Ireland, Eden Park, Auckland, 08:10 BST