Ryan To Captain Emerging Ireland In McCarthy’s Absence
Second row and captain Mike McCarthy had been ruled out of the Emerging Ireland squad for the IRB Nations Cup due to a calf injury.
Mike McCarthy will be replaced in the squad by Munster’s Billy Holland. Dominic Ryan, who led Leinster ‘A’ to their second successive British & Irish Cup recently, has been named as captain of the side.
Meanwhile, Ulster pair Ricky Lutton and Stuart McCloskey have been called up to replace Rodney Ah You and Noel Reid who were late additions to the Ireland squad that travelled to Buenos Aires for the summer tour.
There are five players with Test experience in the youthful 26-man panel picked for Romania – Craig Gilroy, Ian Keatley and Paul Marshall in the backs division and Michael Bent and Tommy O’Donnell in the forwards.
The Emerging Ireland team, coached by Dan McFarland and Neil Doak, will take on Russia in their opening game of the tournament in Bucharest on Friday week (June 13).
EMERGING IRELAND Squad (2014 IRB Nations Cup, Romania, June 13-22):
Backs (11) –
Michael Allen (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster) *
Andrew Conway (Blackrock College/Munster) *
Craig Gilroy (Dungannon/Ulster)
Eoin Griffin (Galwegians/Connacht) *
JJ Hanrahan (UL Bohemians/Munster) *
Ian Keatley (Young Munster/Munster)
Brendan Macken (Blackrock College/Leinster) *
Paul Marshall (Ballymena/Ulster)
Stuart McCloskey (Dungannon/Ulster) *
Luke McGrath (UCD/Leinster) *
Johne Murphy (Young Munster/Munster) *
Forwards (15) –
Niall Annett (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster) *
Michael Bent (Dublin University/Leinster)
Callum Black (Malone/Ulster) *
Paddy Butler (Shannon/Munster) *
Bryan Byrne (Clontarf/Leinster) *
Robin Copeland (Cardiff Blues) *
Sean Dougall (Dolphin/Munster) *
David Foley (UL Bohemians/Munster) *
Billy Holland (Cork Constitution/Munster) *
Michael Kearney (Clontarf/Connacht) *
Ricky Lutton (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster) *
Tommy O’Donnell (UL Bohemians/Munster)
Dominic Ryan (Lansdowne/Leinster) * (capt)
John Ryan (Cork Constitution/Munster) *
James Tracy (UCD/Leinster) *
* Denotes uncapped player
EMERGING IRELAND FIXTURES:
Friday, June 13 –
EMERGING IRELAND v Russia, Stadionul National Arcul de Triumf, 4pm local time/2pm Irish time
Wednesday, June 18 –
EMERGING IRELAND v Uruguay, Stadionul National Arcul de Triumf, 4pm local time/2pm Irish time
Sunday, June 22 –
Romania v EMERGING IRELAND, Stadionul National Arcul de Triumf, 7pm local time/5pm Irish time
Related Links –
McCarthy To Captain Emerging Ireland
Emerging Ireland Heading To Romania For IRB Nations Cup