PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) — As surprises from Andy Farrell go, it was top drawer. Even Rassie Erasmus didn't see it coming.
Jamie Osborne will debut for Ireland against world champion South Africa on Saturday, out of position at fullback.
Osborne can expect a baptism of fire at altitude in a hostile Loftus Versfeld from scientific Springboks halves Faf de Klerk and Handre Pollard.
Ireland coach Farrell expects him to handle it.
According to Farrell, he told Osborne, a center, he would be his starting 15 — ahead of Jimmy O'Brien, Erasmus' choice — a day before they flew out of Ireland last week.
“He's a quiet lad and he comes across as quite shy but he's not. He's confident in his own ability,” Farrell said. "He's bright, he gets on the ball a lot in an organising way. His communication is very good and he's accurate. He's obviously got nice, soft hands and can play that way but also he can hit a line.
“To add to that, he's deceptively very quick, good in the air, very athletic and he's got a big left boot on him. It's a privilege for us to be able to name somebody in the starting lineup for their debut, especially on an occasion like this.”
The occasion is huge: No. 1 vs. No. 2. The back-to-back World Cup champion against the back-to-back Six Nations champion. A chance for the Irish to achieve a first series win against the Springboks that they couldn't complete in 2016, when they were five minutes away from clinching a 2-0 lead in that three-test series.
The Springboks haven't beaten Ireland since that 2016 series — three straight losses — and have been sniping from afar.
Center Damian de Allende said last month “it is about getting respect back, not their respect, but our own respect. We don't need to, but we really want to beat Ireland.” Lock Eben Etzebeth accused Ireland in April of being “arrogant” when players told him after winning their World Cup pool clash 13-8 in Paris last September, “See you guys in the final.” But Ireland fell in the quarterfinals to New Zealand.
Erasmus has said this two-test series is not about revenge.
“It's never, ‘We’ve got a score to settle.' I'd rather take a World Cup, two World Cups and a British and Irish Lions series, and take the three losses,” he said.
Erasmus has picked an entire XV of world champions, 20 of them in his matchday 23, the second most experienced Boks lineup ever.
Farrell had to make two enforced changes after fullback Hugo Keenan made the Olympic sevens squad and scrumhalf Jamison Gibson-Park stayed home because of a hamstring injury. Craig Casey will start as he played more like Gibson-Park than veteran backup Conor Murray. Osborne replaced Keenan.
Farrell said injuries have prevented them from using Osborne until now. “His skillset is very interesting for us,” he said. “He's going to add to our performance.”
Lineups:
South Africa: Willie le Roux, Cheslin Kolbe, Jesse Kriel, Damian de Allende, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Handré Pollard. Faf de Klerk; Kwagga Smith, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Siya Kolisi (captain), Franco Mostert, Eben Etzebeth, Frans Malherbe, Bongi Mbonambi, Ox Nche. Reserves: Malcolm Marx, Gerhard Steenekamp, Vincent Koch, Salmaan Moerat, RG Snyman, Marco van Staden, Grant Williams, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.
Ireland: Jamie Osborne, Calvin Nash, Robbie Henshaw, Bundee Aki, James Lowe, Jack Crowley, Craig Casey; Caelan Doris, Josh van der Flier, Peter O’Mahony (captain), Tadhg Beirne, Joe McCarthy, Tadhg Furlong, Dan Sheehan, Andrew Porter. Reserves: Ronan Kelleher, Cian Healy, Finlay Bealham, James Ryan, Ryan Baird, Conor Murray, Ciaran Frawley, Garry Ringrose.
AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby
South Africa's Jesse Kriel, left, celebrates scoring during the rugby union cup match between Wales and South Africa at Twickenham Stadium, London, Saturday June 22, 2024. (Andrew Matthews/PA via AP)
BRUSSELS (AP) — President Joe Biden and his NATO counterparts are meeting in Washington this week to mark the 75th anniversary of the world’s biggest security organization just as Russia presses its advantage on the battlefield in Ukraine.
The three-day summit, which begins Tuesday, will focus on ways to reassure Ukraine of NATO’s enduring support and offer some hope to its war-weary citizens that their country might survive the biggest land conflict in Europe in decades.
Much of what NATO can do for Ukraine, and indeed for global security, is misunderstood. Often the alliance is thought of as the sum of all U.S. relations with its European partners, from imposing sanctions and other costs on Russia to sending arms and ammunition.
But as an organization, its brief is limited to the defense by military means of its 32 member countries — the sacred Three Musketeers-like vow of all for one, one for all — and a commitment to help keep the peace in Europe and North America.
That also means not being dragged into a wider war with nuclear-armed Russia. Here's a look at NATO and how it's aiding Ukraine:
Founded in 1949, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization was formed by 12 nations to counter the threat to European security posed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Dealing with Moscow is in its DNA.
NATO’s ranks have grown since the Washington Treaty was signed 75 years ago — to 32 countries after Sweden joined this year, worried by an increasingly aggressive Russia.
NATO’s collective security guarantee — Article 5 of the treaty — underpins its credibility. It's a political commitment by all member countries to come to the aid of any member whose sovereignty or territory might be under attack. Ukraine would meet those criteria, but it is only a partner, not a member.
NATO’s doors are open to any European country that wants to join and can meet the requirements and obligations. Importantly, NATO takes its decisions by consensus, so every member has a veto.
The United States is the most powerful member. It spends much more on defense than any other ally and far outweighs its partners in terms of military muscle. So Washington drives the agenda.
NATO’s day-to-day work is led by its secretary-general — former Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, until he is replaced on Oct. 1 by outgoing Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte.
NATO’s top civilian official chairs almost weekly meetings of ambassadors in the North Atlantic Council at its Brussels headquarters. He chairs other “NACs” at ministerial level and summits of heads of state and government. Stoltenberg runs NATO HQ. He does not order the allies around. His job is to encourage consensus and speak on behalf of all 32 members.
NATO’s military headquarters is based nearby in Mons, Belgium. It is always run by a top U.S. officer. The current supreme allied commander Europe is Army Gen. Christopher Cavoli.
Even though most allies believe that Russia could pose an existential threat to Europe, NATO itself is not arming Ukraine. As an organization, NATO possesses no weapons of any kind. Collectively, the alliance provides only non-lethal support — fuel, combat rations, medical supplies and body armor, as well as equipment to counter drones or mines.
But members do send arms on their own or in groups.
NATO is helping Ukraine’s armed forces shift from Soviet-era military doctrine to modern thinking. It’s also helping strengthen Ukraine’s defense and security institutions.
In Washington, NATO leaders will endorse a new plan to coordinate the delivery of equipment to Ukraine and training for its armed forces. The leaders will renew a vow that Ukraine will join the alliance one day, but not while it’s at war.
While some allies have left open the possibility of sending military personnel to Ukraine, NATO itself has no plans to do this.
But a key part of the commitment for allies to defend one another is to deter Russian President Vladimir Putin, or any other adversary, from launching an attack in the first place. Finland and Sweden joined NATO recently over concern about this.
With the war in its third year, NATO now has 500,000 military personnel on high readiness to counter any attack, whether it be on land, at sea, by air or in cyberspace.
The alliance has doubled the number of battle groups along its eastern flank, bordering Russia and Ukraine. Allies are almost continuously conducting military exercises. One of them this year, Steadfast Defender, involved around 90,000 troops operating across Europe.
Due to high U.S. defense spending over many years, America’s armed forces benefit not only from greater troop numbers and superior weapons but also from significant transport and logistics assets.
Other allies are starting to spend more though. After years of cuts, NATO members committed to ramp up their national defense budgets in 2014 when Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula.
The aim was for each ally to be spending 2% of gross domestic product on defense within a decade. A year ago, with no end to the war in sight, they agreed to make 2% a spending floor, rather than a ceiling.
A record 23 countries are expected to be close to the spending target this year, up from only three a decade ago.
FILE - Belgium's Premier and Foreign Minister Paul-Henri Spaak, seated center, tests a new pen before signing the North Atlantic Pact in Washington, DC, April 4, 1949, flanked by Belgium's Ambassador to the U.S., Baron Silvercruys, left, and John W. Foley of the U.S. State Department. Seated behind, from left, are Britain's Ernest Bevin, Norway's Halvard Lange, Luxembourg's Joseph Bech, Iceland's Bjarni Benediktsson, Denmark's Gustav Rasmussen, U.S. President Harry S. Truman, U.S. Secretary of State Dean Acheson; Canada's Lester Pearson, France's Robert Schuman, Italy's Count Carlo Spforza, Holland's Dirk Stikker and Portugal's Jose Caeiro Da Matta. Founded in 1949, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization was formed by 12 nations to counter the threat to European security posed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - A man walks among flags of member countries as protocol prepare for a flag raising ceremony to mark the accession of Sweden at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Monday, March 11, 2024. U.S. President Joe Biden and his NATO counterparts are meeting in Washington this week to mark the 75th anniversary of the world's biggest security organization just as Russia presses its advantage on the battlefield in Ukraine. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert, File)
FILE - President Joe Biden listens as Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks during a meeting on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, Wednesday, July 12, 2023. U.S. President Joe Biden and his NATO counterparts are meeting in Washington this week to mark the 75th anniversary of the world's biggest security organization just as Russia presses its advantage on the battlefield in Ukraine. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)
FILE - From left, Lithuania's President Gitanas Nauseda, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, President Joe Biden, Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pose during a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council during a NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, July 12, 2023. U.S. President Joe Biden and his NATO counterparts are meeting in Washington this week to mark the 75th anniversary of the world's biggest security organization just as Russia presses its advantage on the battlefield in Ukraine. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin, File)
FILE - Ukrainian soldiers of the 71st Jaeger Brigade fire a M101 howitzer towards Russian positions at the frontline, near Avdiivka, Donetsk region, Ukraine, Friday, March 22, 2024. Much of what NATO can do for Ukraine, and indeed for global security, is misunderstood. Often in the public mind, the alliance is thought of as the sum of all U.S. relations with its European partners, from imposing sanctions and other costs on Russia to sending arms and ammunition. But as an organization its brief is limited to the defense by military means of its 32 member countries and a commitment to help keep the peace in Europe and North America. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File)
FILE - Supreme Allied Commander Europe, General Christopher Cavoli addresses a media conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024. NATO's military headquarters is based in Mons, Belgium. It is always run by a top U.S. officer. The current supreme allied commander Europe (SACEUR) is Army Gen. Christopher Cavoli. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo, File)
FILE - French sailors form a chain to load supplies on board of the French navy frigate Normandie during a port call in a Norwegian fjord, north of the Arctic circle, as part of exercises codenamed Steadfast Defender, Friday March 8, 2024. With the war in its third year, NATO now has 500,000 military personnel on high readiness to counter an attack, whether it be on land, at sea, by air or in cyberspace. Allies are almost continuously conducting military exercises. One of them this year, Steadfast Defender, involved around 90,000 troops operating across Europe. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus, File)
FILE - 155 mm M795 artillery projectiles are stacked during manufacturing process at the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant in Scranton, Pa., Thursday, April 13, 2023. The 155 mm howitzer round is one of the most requested artillery munitions of the Ukraine war. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
FILE - NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, right, speaks with United States President Joe Biden during a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council during a NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, July 12, 2023. U.S. President Joe Biden and his NATO counterparts are meeting in Washington this week to mark the 75th anniversary of the world's biggest security organization just as Russia presses its advantage on the battlefield in Ukraine. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin, File)
FILE - NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, left, greets Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte during arrivals for a NATO summit at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Monday, June 14, 2021. The United States is the most powerful member of NATO. It spends much more on defense than any other ally and far outweighs its partners in terms of military muscle. NATO's day-to-day work is led by its secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg, until he is replaced on Oct. 1, 2024 by Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte. (AP Photo/Francois Mori, Pool, File)
