2009 Ireland rugby union tour of North America

Ireland toured North America in May 2009, playing a Test match against Canada and the United States. Ireland won both matches, despite most of their first string players away on the 2009 Lions tour to South Africa.^[1]

2009 Ireland rugby union tour of North America
Coach(es)	Declan Kidney
Tour captain(s)	Rory Best
Top test point scorer(s)	Ian Keatley (17)
Top test try scorer(s)	Ian Whitten (2)
Summary	P W D L
Test match	02 02 00 00
Opponent	P W D L
Canada	1 1 0 0
United States	1 1 0 0
Tour chronology
Previous tour	New Zealand and Australia 2008
Next tour	New Zealand and Australia 2010

Matches

23 May 2009 14:00 PTZ (UTC-07)

Canada	6–25	Ireland
Pen: Pritchard (2/2) 38', 43'	Report[2]	Try: Murphy 18' c Whitten 63' c Buckley 69' m Con: Keatley (2/3) Pen: Keatley (2/3) 57', 61'

Thunderbird Stadium, Vancouver, British Columbia Attendance: 7,280 Referee: Chris White (England)

Team details

FB 15 Pritchard RW 14 Dean van Camp OC 13 Ciaran Hearn IC 12 Ryan Smith LW 11 D. T. H. van der Merwe FH 10 Dave Spicer SH 9 Ed Fairhurst N8 8 Aaron Carpenter OF 7 Adam Kleeberger BF 6 Chauncey O'Toole RL 5 Mike Burak LL 4 Tyler Hotson TP 3 Scott Franklin HK 2 Pat Riordan (c) LP 1 Kevin Tkachuk Replacements: HK 16 Andrew Tiedemann LK 17 Luke Tait LK 18 Jebb Sinclair FL 19 Nanyak Dala FL 20 Sean-Michael Stephen SH 21 Phil Mack FH 22 Ander Monro Coach: Kieran Crowley FB 15 Gavin Duffy RW 14 Barry Murphy OC 13 Darren Cave IC 12 Ian Whitten LW 11 Ian Dowling FH 10 Ian Keatley SH 9 Peter Stringer N8 8 Denis Leamy OF 7 Niall Ronan BF 6 John Muldoon RL 5 Mick O'Driscoll LL 4 Bob Casey TP 3 Tony Buckley HK 2 Rory Best (c) LP 1 Tom Court Replacements: HK 16 Seán Cronin PR 17 Mike Ross LK 18 Ryan Caldwell FL 19 Donnacha Ryan SH 20 Eoin Reddan FH 21 Niall O'Connor FB 22 Denis Hurley Coach: Declan Kidney

31 May 2009 13:00 PTZ (UTC-07)

United States	10–27	Ireland
Try: Suniula 65' c Con: Malifa (1/1) Drop: Malifa (1/1) 63'	Report[3][4][5]	Try: Casey 13' m Whitten 40'+2' m Penalty try 53' c Best 70' c Con: Keatley (2/4) Pen: Keatley (1/2) 24'

Buck Shaw Stadium, Santa Clara, California Attendance: 10,000 Referee: Chris White (England)

Team details

FB 15 Chris Wyles RW 14 Kevin Swiryn OC 13 Junior Sifa IC 12 Roland Suniula LW 11 Justin Boyd FH 10 Mike Hercus (c) SH 9 Mike Petri N8 8 Nic Johnson OF 7 Peter Dahl BF 6 Louis Stanfill RL 5 Hayden Smith LL 4 John van der Giessen TP 3 Will Johnson HK 2 Chris Biller LP 1 Mike MacDonald Replacements: HK 16 Joe Welch PR 17 Mate Moeakiola LK 18 Courtney McKay N8 19 JJ Gagiano SH 20 Tim Usasz FH 21 Ata Malifa CE 22 Alipate Tuilevuka Coach: Eddie O'Sullivan FB 15 Gavin Duffy RW 14 Barry Murphy OC 13 Darren Cave IC 12 Ian Whitten LW 11 Ian Dowling FH 10 Ian Keatley SH 9 Peter Stringer N8 8 Denis Leamy OF 7 Niall Ronan BF 6 John Muldoon RL 5 Mick O'Driscoll LL 4 Bob Casey TP 3 Mike Ross HK 2 Rory Best (c) LP 1 Tony Buckley Replacements: HK 16 Seán Cronin PR 17 Tom Court LK 18 Ryan Caldwell LK 19 Donnacha Ryan SH 20 Eoin Reddan FH 21 Niall O'Connor FB 22 Denis Hurley Coach: Declan Kidney

Touring party

Ireland named their 25-man tour squad on 17 May 2009, which included 13 previously uncapped players.^[6]

• Manager: Declan Kidney
• Captain: Rory Best

Rory Best (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster) Tony Buckley (Shannon RFC/Munster) Ryan Caldwell (Dungannon RFC/Ulster) Bob Casey (London Irish) Tom Court (Malone RFC/Ulster) Sean Cronin (Buccaneers RFC/Connacht) Ian Dowling (Shannon RFC/Munster) Gavin Duffy (Galwegians RFC/Connacht) Chris Henry (Ballymena RFC/Ulster) Denis Hurley (Cork Constitution/Munster) Ian Keatley (Galwegians RFC/Connacht) Denis Leamy (Cork Constitution/Munster) Keith Matthews (Buccaneers RFC/Connacht) John Muldoon (Galwegians RFC/Connacht) Barry Murphy (UL Bohemians/Munster) Niall O'Connor (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster) Mick O'Driscoll (Cork Constitution/Munster) Eoin Reddan (London Wasps) Niall Ronan (Shannon RFC/Munster) Mike Ross (Harlequins RFC Donnacha Ryan (Shannon RFC/Munster) Peter Stringer (Shannon RFC/Munster) Ian Whitten (Ballymena RFC/Ulster) Bryan Young (Ballymena RFC/Ulster)

See also

• History of rugby union matches between Ireland and United States
• 2009 mid year rugby union tests