SYDNEY SEEMS DETERMINED to welcome Angus Bell back to Australia with some classic Irish weather.
While the sun is out in Ireland, the rain has been falling intermittently amid wintry conditions in Sydney, but Wallabies loosehead Bell is happy to be on home soil again after an enjoyable seven-month stint with Ulster.
The return of Bell is a big boost for Joe Schmidt’s Wallabies, with the dynamic prop well established as a key man for the team.
The 25-year-old will find himself playing against some very familiar faces next weekend at the sold-out Allianz Stadium as Australia host Andy Farrell’s Ireland in their opening game of the new Nations Championship.
Bell is set to come up against the likes of Stuart McCloskey, Tom O’Toole, and Robert Baloucoune in his first game back in Australia, having called them his team-mates only a few weeks ago.
The spell in Belfast was short, but Bell enjoyed every minute of it.
“They’re very similar to Australians, very similar people, very similar cultures,” said Bell in Sydney today.
“You know, they love a beer, they love going to the pub, they love hanging out. It’s very similar to what the Australian identity is, even around the change room, very similar as well.
“I’ve made friends for life from Northern Ireland and in Belfast, so it’d be interesting playing those boys.
“We’ve been talking over the past three or four weeks because I only came back a week ago. So it’s going to be interesting going up against them, but they’re top fellas.
“I couldn’t speak any more highly of them, just like I couldn’t speak any higher of the boys here at the Wallabies squad too.”
Bell added that he misses the Ulster group already.
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While enjoying his time off the pitch, the dynamic front row also appreciated getting an insight into Irish rugby while he was with Ulster.
Bell is back on Wallabies duty in Sydney. Tom Maher / INPHO
Tom Maher / INPHO / INPHO
Again, he found plenty of overlaps, particularly given Schmidt’s history in Ireland.
“The coaching over there, I think Joe from his time in Irish rugby has really rubbed off on them,” said Bell.
“I think our Ulster shape is pretty similar to what we do here in Australia in every team.
“It’s pretty cool to see that sort of transition and the way that rugby works. But yeah, they’ve got some really good players, really good individuals.
“How many boys are now from Ulster in that Irish team? You’ve got the Ward brothers, Cat [Baloucoune], Tom O’Toole, Stu McCluskey, Jacob Stockdale.
“Then you throw in all the Leinster lads and a few others scattered around Connacht and Munster, and they’ve got an amazing team, which is why they’ve been so competitive.
“It’s an exciting time for Australian rugby to go out there at home at Allianz, hopefully pack down a crowd and win.”
Bell believes he got everything he wanted from the experience in Ireland, pointing to the different scrum battles in the URC and Challenge Cup as having been good for him.
It ended in disappointing fashion for Bell and Ulster, though, with the province missing out on the URC play-offs and losing the Challenge Cup final to Montpellier, which meant also missing out on Champions Cup qualification.
Bell wishes he could have played in the URC knock-outs with Ulster, but it did mean the end of his season being a little less busy.
Given that he went straight from a busy 2025 campaign with the Waratahs and Wallabies into the second half of Ulster’s season in the Northern Hemisphere, now back into Wallabies camp in 2026, there are concerns in some quarters in Australia about Bell overplaying.
The man himself has no such worries.
“I had a bit of a break after the URC stuff and obviously the final game in Bilbao, the Challenge Cup final,” said Bell.
“So I’ve had a good break now and ready to get into some work. They looked after me really well over there, which was good, so I’m feeling refreshed and ready for the new challenge.
“A bit of a silver lining, we didn’t make the URC finals, which was tough to swallow but then concentrated on the Europe stuff versus Montpellier in the final.
“It was disappointing not making it further in that competition but, silver lining, I got a bit of a break, which was great to get away and do some of my own training and stuff like that, so back now and I’m ready and refreshed, so it’ll be good.”
Bell during the Challenge Cup final against Montpellier. James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
Returning to Wallabies camp along with Bell is experienced loosehead prop James Slipper, their most capped player.
The 37-year-old has been lured back out of retirement by Schmidt and Bell is happy to have his nous and leadership in Wallabies camp.
After a poor autumn campaign last year, the Australians know they need to find better form as they prepare to take on Ireland.
They were hammered 46-19 by Farrell’s side in Dublin last November, so there is a point to prove.
“Look, we’ve got a fresh squad, different players coming in and out, and I just feel like as a team we’re building towards getting those performances that we really love, and that we deserve because we do work really hard in here and you guys have seen glimpses of it,” said Bell.
“We’ve just got to try and tighten our best performances, which would maybe be South Africa in Ellis Park [where the Wallabies won last year], to our more poor performances where it goes wrong.
“We just need to tighten that gap, because we know as individual players we’ve definitely got the talent in the room to compete with the best teams in the world.
“But we just need to put one foot in front of the other this week, train really hard and go from there and just put our best foot forward to try and beat the Irish.”
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'I’ve made friends for life in Belfast' - Bell back with Wallabies after Ulster stint
SYDNEY SEEMS DETERMINED to welcome Angus Bell back to Australia with some classic Irish weather.
While the sun is out in Ireland, the rain has been falling intermittently amid wintry conditions in Sydney, but Wallabies loosehead Bell is happy to be on home soil again after an enjoyable seven-month stint with Ulster.
The return of Bell is a big boost for Joe Schmidt’s Wallabies, with the dynamic prop well established as a key man for the team.
The 25-year-old will find himself playing against some very familiar faces next weekend at the sold-out Allianz Stadium as Australia host Andy Farrell’s Ireland in their opening game of the new Nations Championship.
Bell is set to come up against the likes of Stuart McCloskey, Tom O’Toole, and Robert Baloucoune in his first game back in Australia, having called them his team-mates only a few weeks ago.
The spell in Belfast was short, but Bell enjoyed every minute of it.
“They’re very similar to Australians, very similar people, very similar cultures,” said Bell in Sydney today.
“You know, they love a beer, they love going to the pub, they love hanging out. It’s very similar to what the Australian identity is, even around the change room, very similar as well.
“I’ve made friends for life from Northern Ireland and in Belfast, so it’d be interesting playing those boys.
“We’ve been talking over the past three or four weeks because I only came back a week ago. So it’s going to be interesting going up against them, but they’re top fellas.
“I couldn’t speak any more highly of them, just like I couldn’t speak any higher of the boys here at the Wallabies squad too.”
Bell added that he misses the Ulster group already.
While enjoying his time off the pitch, the dynamic front row also appreciated getting an insight into Irish rugby while he was with Ulster.
Again, he found plenty of overlaps, particularly given Schmidt’s history in Ireland.
“The coaching over there, I think Joe from his time in Irish rugby has really rubbed off on them,” said Bell.
“I think our Ulster shape is pretty similar to what we do here in Australia in every team.
“It’s pretty cool to see that sort of transition and the way that rugby works. But yeah, they’ve got some really good players, really good individuals.
“How many boys are now from Ulster in that Irish team? You’ve got the Ward brothers, Cat [Baloucoune], Tom O’Toole, Stu McCluskey, Jacob Stockdale.
“Then you throw in all the Leinster lads and a few others scattered around Connacht and Munster, and they’ve got an amazing team, which is why they’ve been so competitive.
“It’s an exciting time for Australian rugby to go out there at home at Allianz, hopefully pack down a crowd and win.”
Bell believes he got everything he wanted from the experience in Ireland, pointing to the different scrum battles in the URC and Challenge Cup as having been good for him.
It ended in disappointing fashion for Bell and Ulster, though, with the province missing out on the URC play-offs and losing the Challenge Cup final to Montpellier, which meant also missing out on Champions Cup qualification.
Bell wishes he could have played in the URC knock-outs with Ulster, but it did mean the end of his season being a little less busy.
Given that he went straight from a busy 2025 campaign with the Waratahs and Wallabies into the second half of Ulster’s season in the Northern Hemisphere, now back into Wallabies camp in 2026, there are concerns in some quarters in Australia about Bell overplaying.
The man himself has no such worries.
“I had a bit of a break after the URC stuff and obviously the final game in Bilbao, the Challenge Cup final,” said Bell.
“So I’ve had a good break now and ready to get into some work. They looked after me really well over there, which was good, so I’m feeling refreshed and ready for the new challenge.
“A bit of a silver lining, we didn’t make the URC finals, which was tough to swallow but then concentrated on the Europe stuff versus Montpellier in the final.
“It was disappointing not making it further in that competition but, silver lining, I got a bit of a break, which was great to get away and do some of my own training and stuff like that, so back now and I’m ready and refreshed, so it’ll be good.”
Returning to Wallabies camp along with Bell is experienced loosehead prop James Slipper, their most capped player.
The 37-year-old has been lured back out of retirement by Schmidt and Bell is happy to have his nous and leadership in Wallabies camp.
After a poor autumn campaign last year, the Australians know they need to find better form as they prepare to take on Ireland.
They were hammered 46-19 by Farrell’s side in Dublin last November, so there is a point to prove.
“Look, we’ve got a fresh squad, different players coming in and out, and I just feel like as a team we’re building towards getting those performances that we really love, and that we deserve because we do work really hard in here and you guys have seen glimpses of it,” said Bell.
“We’ve just got to try and tighten our best performances, which would maybe be South Africa in Ellis Park [where the Wallabies won last year], to our more poor performances where it goes wrong.
“We just need to tighten that gap, because we know as individual players we’ve definitely got the talent in the room to compete with the best teams in the world.
“But we just need to put one foot in front of the other this week, train really hard and go from there and just put our best foot forward to try and beat the Irish.”
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