Young Guns Face Off In UCD
The Ireland Under-20s, sponsored by PricewaterhouseCoopers, will face a Leinster Development side at UCD this afternoon as part of their preparations for the forthcoming RBS Under-20 6 Nations Championship. The match kicks off at 2.30pm.
***Please note the match has been moved to the all-weather pitch at UCD***
Ireland Under-20 coach Allen Clarke has named a strong squad for the game this afternoon and has included ten replacements with a view to testing as many players as possible as they build up to the 2010 RBS Under-20 6 Nations.
Ireland start their Six Nations campaign at home to Italy Under-20 on Friday, February 5 at Dubarry Park.
The game today will see some interesting match-ups as the likes of Andrew Conway, Brendan Macken and Rhys Ruddock are included in the Ireland squad to face their provincial colleagues captained by Eoin O’Malley.
Ruddock’s older brother Ciaran, a former Ireland Under-20 international, has been named in the Leinster side so family allegiances may be torn on the day.
The Ireland Under-20s will be captained by UL Bohemians clubman Brian O’Hara who makes up an all-Munster back row with Highfield’s Paddy Ryan and Shannon’s Patrick Butler.
Conway and Macken are joined in the back-line by recent Connacht debutant Tiernan O’Halloran, all three of them having lined out for the Ireland Under-19s against Australia earlier this month.
IRELAND UNDER-20 TEAM & REPLACEMENTS (v Leinster Development XV, Tuesday, December 22, Belfield, UCD, 2.30pm):
15 – Andrew Conway (Blackrock College/Leinster)
14 – Tiernan O’Halloran (Galwegians/Connacht)
13 – Brendan Macken (Blackrock College/Leinster)
12 – David McSharry (UCD/Leinster)
11 – Simon Zebo (Cork Constitution/Munster)
10 – Brian Kingston (Blackrock/Leinster)
9 – Michael Heaney (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster)
1 – Denis Buckley (Creggs/Connacht)
2 – Risterard Byrne (UCD/Leinster)
3 – Stewart Maguire (Old Belvedere/Leinster)
4 – Ben Marshall (UCD/Leinster)
5 – Brian Hayes (Cork Constitution/Munster)
6 – Paddy Ryan (Highfield /Munster)
7 – Brian O’Hara (UL Bohemian/Munster (capt)
8 – Patrick Butler (Shannon/Munster)
Replacements:
16 – Brian Cagney (UCC/Munster)
17 – James Robinson (Corinthians/Connacht)
18 – David Doyle (UCD/Leinster)
19 – David O’Callaghan (UCC/Munster)
20 – Rhys Ruddock (UCD/Leinster)
21 – Robin O’Sullivan (Greystones/Leinster)
22 – John Cooney (UCD/Leinster)
23 – James McKinney (Queen’s University/Ulster)
24 – Eoin Griffin (Corinthians/Connacht)
25 – Craig O’Hanlon (Shannon/Munster)
Leinster Development XV: Ian Madigan; Shane Monahan, Eoin O’Malley (capt), Kyle Tonetti, Michael Keating; Ian McKinley, David Moore; Jack McGrath, Jason Harris-Wright, Jack O’Connell, Ciaran Ruddock, Mark Flanagan, Eoin Sheriff, Jordi Murphy, Paul Ryan.
Replacements: Martin Moore, AN Other, Colm Mallon, Richard Bent, Chris Lilly, Darren Hudson, Peter Du Toit/Niall Morris.