Ireland U-18 Clubs Squad Announced For Paris Tournament

The Ireland Under-18 Clubs side’s most recent outing saw them defeat Italy 26-9 in Colorno, and their preparations for the upcoming tournament involved two training camps.

Wayne Mitchell’s youngsters will take on tournament hosts France in their opening game on Saturday, April 12, before playing England on Wednesday, April 16.

Number 8 Neil Reilly from Ardee RFC will captain Ireland, with the 24-man squad including Tralee’s Josh Barnes, a younger brother of former Munster player Danny Barnes, and Newcastle out-half Brett Connon who kicked 11 points against Italy.

Bristol’s Josh Daly comes into the panel as does Peter Howard from Cill Dara, Dundalk’s Tadgh McElroy, Mullingar’s Conor O’Brien and Joe White from Clonakilty.

O’Brien was the starting out-half for the Ireland U-18 Clubs team last year, and scored a try in their 30-15 win over England in Ashbourne twelve months ago.

Head coach Mitchell is joined in the management team by Jamie Turkington (backs coach), Brendan O’Connor (forwards coach), Seamus Twomey (scrum coach) and team manager Tom Nyhan.

IRELAND UNDER-18 CLUBS Squad (Three Nations Tournament, Marcoussis, Paris):

Vakhtang Abdaladze (Coolmine RFC/Leinster)
Josh Barnes (Tralee RFC/Munster)
Ben Betts (Young Munster RFC/Munster)
Jake Byrne (Northampton Saints/Exile)
Brett Connon (Newcastle Falcons/Exile)
Matthew Cosgrove (Sligo RFC/Connacht)
Josh Daly (Bristol RFC/Exile)
Brian Fanning (Bruff RFC/Munster)
Conor Farrell (Navan RFC/Leinster)
Andrew Feeney (Suttonians RFC/Leinster)
Ciaran Frawley (Skerries RFC/Leinster)
Cameron Fulton (Coleraine RFC/Ulster)
Conor Hand (Navan RFC/Leinster)
Peter Howard (Cill Dara RFC/Leinster)
Kieran Joyce (Silhillians RFC/Exile)
Adam McBurney (Randalstown RFC/Ulster)
Tadgh McElroy (Dundalk RFC/Leinster)
Conor O’Brien (Mullingar RFC/Leinster)
Sean O’Leary (Midleton RFC/Munster)
Philip Poillot (Clonakilty RFC/Munster)
Neil Reilly (Ardee RFC/Leinster) (capt)
Hugh Sloan (Bath RFC/Exile)
Ronan Wallace (Mullingar RFC/Leinster)
Joe White (Clonakilty RFC/Munster)

Management Team –

Wayne Mitchell – Head Coach
Tom Nyhan – Team Manager
Jamie Turkington – Backs Coach
Brendan O’Connor – Forwards Coach
Seamus Twomey – Scrum Coach
Adam Sheehan – Strength & Conditioning Coach
Damien Mordon – Physiotherapist
Padraig Sheeran – Team Doctor
Ross Martin – Video Analyst
Mo Dempsey – Baggage Master

U-18 THREE NATIONS TOURNAMENT FIXTURES:

France v IRELAND U-18 CLUBS XV
Saturday, April 12
Marcoussis, 3pm local time/2pm Irish time

IRELAND U-18 CLUBS XV v England
Wednesday, April 16
Marcoussis, 3pm local time/2pm Irish time