Irish teams to face off in aviva friendly showdown later this year
THE Republic of Ireland will play Northern Ireland in a friendly match at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on November 15.
It will be the first senior men’s game between the two countries since May 2011 and will be the first time that Michael O’neill and Martin O’neill have met as rival international managers.
The match falls on a UEFA Nations League game day, but with neither country having a competitive fixture on that date the friendly will be used instead by both teams to prepare for the final round of Group B games the following DANIEL Craig wishes he were 007 inches taller as he meets England’s Six Nations rugby stars in their dressing room.
At 5ft 10in, the Bond actor
With Jack Nowell, left, and Jonathan Joseph weekend. Northern Ireland host Austria at the National Football Stadium at Windsor Park on November 18, while the Republic travel to Denmark the following day.
Martin O’neill’s side will also return to Poland for the first time since Euro 2016 qualifying for a friendly on September 11.
Northern Ireland manager Michael is dwarfed by flanker Maro Itoje, 6ft 4in and lock George Kruis, 6ft 6in. The action hero, 49, also looked up to flanker Chris Robshaw, 6ft 2in. O’neill said: “UEFA have made mandatory we play a friendly on that date and when we looked at the options across Europe, travelling to Dublin to play the Republic of Ireland made a lot of sense.
“It means that we can stay on the island for the it week, train in our usual environment and play a game that will be a good test for us ahead of the Austria match. “Both countries qualified for Euro 2016 and both narrowly missed out on qualification for Russia, so it will be an evenly matched and hard-fought contest. From a personal point of view I am looking forward to managing a team against Martin, a manager who I hugely respect and admire.”