AIB Club International Side Named
The AIB Club International team will play their second game of the year when they take on a Scotland clubs’ selection in Watsonians RFC in Edinburgh on Friday evening.
The Ireland side drew their last game against England Counties 13-13 and coach Brian Walsh has kept faith with the starting side from that game.
There are two changes to the replacements bench, however, where Old Belvedere’s Richie Leyden is included in place of Ron Boucher and UCD’s Killian Lett comes in for Niall O’Brien.
The Ireland AIB Club International squad played the Scotland clubs’ selection last year at Donnybrook and eked out a 20-15 victory in a tight and competitive game.
Irish coach Walsh is expecting a similarly close encounter this year.
“All our games against Scotland have been close affairs, so the game against England two weeks ago was good preparation for what we expect this Friday,” he said.
“While England really tested us in all areas and we were relieved not to have lost, I think we still left opportunities behind us to win the game outright and so there was a fair bit of disappointment among the players and management.
“Hopefully that disappointment can translate into our performance and for continuity we have stayed with the same side as I think the players deserved another chance this weekend.
“The AIB Club International side concept is great at giving the players the chance to represent their clubs and Ireland, so they are all really keen to play against a Scotland team that will be tough and eager to win at home.”
IRELAND AIB CLUB INTERNATIONAL TEAM & REPLACEMENTS (v Scotland Clubs XV, Watsonians RFC, Edinburgh, Friday, March 13, kick-off 7.30pm):
15 – Ed Torrie (UL Bohemians)
14 – Cronan Healy (Cork Constitution)
13 – Darragh Fitzpatrick (Blackrock College)
12 – Philip Brophy (St. Mary’s College)
11 – Derek Corcoran (Young Munster)
10 – Barry Keeshan (Dolphin)
9 – Ruairi Cushion (Old Belvedere)
1 – Martin Gately (Highfield)
2 – Brett McNamee (Dungannon)
3 – Kevin Moran (Buccaneers)
4 – Alan Maher (Lansdowne)
5 – Marc Warburton (Old Wesley)
6 – Kevin Croke (UCD)
7 – Barry O’Mahony (Dolphin)
8 – Hugh Hogan (St. Mary’s College) (capt)
Replacements:
16 – Robert Quinn (Lansdowne)
17 – Colum Murphy (Lansdowne)
18 – Alex Dunlop (Terenure College)
19 – Richie Leyden (Old Belvedere)
20 – Sam Cronin (UCC)
21 – Killian Lett (UCD)
22 – Tadhg Bennett (Shannon)