In June 2013,

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

toured North America, playing test matches against

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The tour was part of the second year of the global rugby calendar established by

World Rugby World Rugby is the world governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international rug ...

(known as the International Rugby Board prior to November 2014), which will run until 2019, with Ireland helping to expand Test opportunities for Tier 2 nations in 2013.

Fixtures

Matches

United States

Notes: *This match set a record attendance for a United States home game.

Canada

Notes: *This match set a record attendance for a rugby match on Canadian soil.

Touring squad

Caps and ages are to first test date, 8 June

Notes

Pre tour and post 2013 Six Nations Championship, the then head coach

Declan Kidney Declan Kidney (born 20 October 1959) is an Irish rugby union coach. He was the head coach of the Ireland national rugby union team from 2008 to 2013, where he won the 2009 Six Nations with a Grand Slam, winning the 2009 IRB Coach of the Year aw ...

, was sacked from his role as head coach of Ireland.

Leinster Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of Ir ...

's head coach Joe Schmidt was named as Kidney's replacement, but will be unable to fill the role for Ireland's Summer Tour. Therefore, assistant head coach

Les Kiss Les Kiss (born 9 December 1964) is an Australian professional rugby union coach who is the head coach of London Irish in the Gallagher Premiership. He is a former professional rugby league footballer who played in the Brisbane Rugby League and ...

, was named as interim head coach for the Summer Tour to Canada and United States. The initial squad was named on 19 May 2014, with

Rory Best Rory David Best (born 15 August 1982) is an Irish former rugby union player from Northern Ireland and was the captain of the Ireland national team from 2016 to 2019. He played hooker for Ulster and was registered for Banbridge RFC, having pr ...

as captain. It was a significantly weaker squad due to a number of regular Irish players in the

British & Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national ...

squad for their 2013 tour to Australia. The squad then lost their original captain, Rory Best, on 26 May, due to a call to the Lions squad.

Peter O'Mahony Peter O'Mahony (born 17 September 1989) is an Irish rugby union player. He plays for Munster in the United Rugby Championship and European Rugby Champions Cup and Ireland internationally. During his career, O'Mahony has captained Presentatio ...

was named as his replacement in terms of captaincy, and

Seán Cronin Seán Cronin (29 August 1922 – 9 March 2011) was a journalist and former Irish Army officer and twice Irish Republican Army chief of staff.Brian Hanley and Scott Millar, ''The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers Pa ...

filled the void left in the hookers. Ahead of the test against Canada, Ireland then lost

Simon Zebo Simon Zebo (born 16 March 1990) is an Irish rugby union player for United Rugby Championship and Champions Cup side Munster. He is equally adept as a wing or fullback, having played in both positions often for Ireland, Munster and Racing 92 ...

to the Lions. Zebo who has started in the test against the United States, was not replaced.

References

{{Ireland national rugby union team Ireland national rugby union team tours Ireland national rugby union team tours of Canada Rugby union tours of the United States Ireland tour Ireland tour Ireland tour