Eddy Finalises Squad For European U-18 Men’s Sevens Championship

There is a big Munster representation with six players called up from the province, including recent Munster Academy recruit James McCarthy, who has made the move from Wales, and the sub-Academy’s Kieran Dunne, who switched across from Sale.

Centre Dunne, Oran McNulty and Aaron Sexton were all try scorers for the Ireland Under-18 Clubs & Schools team in April when they claimed back-to-back wins over England U-18 Counties. Millfield School student McNulty is part of the IRFU’s IQ Rugby programme which was launched earlier this year to develop, identify and manage overseas Irish qualified talent.

There will be additional IQ Rugby involvement with the Ireland squad in Heidelberg this weekend as Joe Lydon, IQ Rugby’s Head of International Talent ID and Development, and IQ Rugby Talent ID coach Wayne Mitchell will support Anthony Eddy as assistant coach and team manager respectively.

Bangor Grammar pupil Sexton is a dual international in rugby and athletics, with his sprinting exploits on the track this year seeing him win intermediate 100m and 200m gold at the All-Ireland Schools Championships and a brilliant 200m gold at July’s Commonwealth Youth Games in the Bahamas.

Sexton’s Ulster colleague Angus Kernohan, a member of last season’s Ireland U-18 Schools team, has been selected as squad captain, while the travelling party is completed by CBC Cork duo Eoghan Barrett and Eoin Monahan, current Munster U-18 Schools team-mates Tim Duggan and Ronan Quinn, and the Leinster trio of Sean Galvin, Hugo Lennox and Elliott Ryan.

Talented Skerries half-back Lennox was part of the Leinster Under-19 squad that edged out Munster 13-12 in Cork last weekend, with McCarthy and Dunne both starting in the hosts’ back-line. Galvin impressed on the wing for Gonzaga during last season’s Leinster Senior Schools Cup, while Pres Bray scrum half Elliott Ryan was an U-18 Schools Interprovincial title winner with Leinster at the start of the 2016/17 campaign.

The Rugby Europe U-18 Men’s Sevens Championship, which Ireland won last September in Bucharest, brings together the continent’s leading 16 teams in four pools of four. Eddy’s youngsters have been drawn in Pool A with Georgia, Luxembourg and host nation Germany.

The Ireland head coach said: “The squad has had limited preparation and they are still learning the game of Sevens, however we have some really exciting players and this stage is a great opportunity for them to show what they can do.

“It will certainly be a different experience for the boys and the quicker we can adapt to the rigours of a Sevens tournament the better we will be.”

IRELAND UNDER-18 SEVENS Squad (2017 Rugby Europe Under-18 Men’s Sevens Championship, Fritz-Grunebaum-Sportpark, Heidelberg, Germany, Saturday, September 9-Sunday, September 10):

Eoghan Barrett (CBC Cork/Munster)
Kieran Dunne (Shannon RFC/Munster)
Tim Duggan (Crescent College Comprehensive/Munster)
Sean Galvin (Gonzaga College/Lansdowne FC/Leinster)
Angus Kernohan (Ballymena Academy/Ballymena RFC/Ulster) (capt)
Hugo Lennox (Skerries RFC/Leinster)
Eoin Monahan (CBC Cork/Munster)
James McCarthy (Munster Academy/Munster)
Oran McNulty (Millfield School/IQ Rugby)
Ronan Quinn (Glenstal Abbey School/Munster)
Elliott Ryan (Presentation College Bray/Leinster)
Aaron Sexton (Bangor Grammar School/Ulster)

IRELAND UNDER-18 SEVENS Management:

Head Coach – Anthony Eddy
Assistant Coach – Joe Lydon
Team Manager – Wayne Mitchell
Physiotherapist – Lorcan McGee

IRELAND UNDER-18 SEVENS Fixtures –

Day 1 – Saturday, September 9:

Pool A –

Ireland U-18s v Georgia U-18s, 12.12pm local time/11.12am Irish time
Ireland U-18s v Luxembourg U-18s, 3.52pm local time/2.52pm Irish time
Ireland U-18s v Germany U-18s, 7.10pm local time/6.10pm Irish time

Day 2 – Sunday, September 10:

Play-Offs

The U-18 Sevens Championship matches will be streamed live on www.rugbyeurope.eu. The full tournament fixtures and pools are available to view on the Rugby Europe website.