Ireland U-18 Men’s Sevens Squad Selected For European Championship

Rainey Old Boys’ Mark Lee, a nominee for the Ulster Youth Player of the Year award, has been chosen as a captain. He lined out for the Ireland U-18 Clubs & Schools team earlier this year, along with Lukas Kenny and Tadhg Brophy.

Finn Treacy, Ben O’Connor, Stephen Kiely and Jake O’Riordan were part of the Ireland U-18 15s squad that took part in the U-18 Men’s Six Nations Festival in Marcoussis in April.

Coached by Mike Pettman and Kieran Hurrell, the twelve-man squad will compete in Pool A with Germany, Spain and Ukraine for the tournament which takes place at the Dolcan Arena in Zabki.

There are two players, Charlie Griffin and Freddie Reader, who have come through the IQ Rugby programme, which identifies and develops young Irish-qualified players overseas.

Head coach Pettman commented: “It’s pleasing to see how willing and keen the players were to play and understand the game in such the short time frame. We are excited by the talent here and, in particular, their skills that have advanced under the programe.

“We want them to have the freedom to play without fear and enjoy themselves, while still being able to put in performances they can be proud of.

“We are seeing this during their training games and hope that they’ll be able to take their learnings and habits back to their 15-a-side game.”

He added: “There were a few unlucky players from the (initial) squad that missed out on the tournament, which is tough.

“Hopefully we will be able to provide more opportunities for them, and other players, to play and develop their rugby skills with a pathway to high performance Sevens in the future.”

Follow the Championship on the Rugby Europe website here. There will be live streaming on www.rugbyeurope.eu.

IRELAND UNDER-18 MEN’S SEVENS Squad (2022 Rugby Europe U-18 Men’s Sevens Championship, Zabki, Poland, July 9-10, 2022):

Lukas Kenny (Campbell College/Ulster)
Ben McFarlane (Methodist College Belfast/Ulster)
Mark Lee (Rainey Old Boys RFC/Ulster) (capt)
Charlie Griffin (Harrow School/IQ Rugby)
Finn Treacy (Presentation College Bray/Leinster)
Jake O’Riordan (St. Munchin’s College/Munster)
Tadhg Brophy (Newbridge College/Leinster)
Gene O’Leary Kareem (PBC Cork/Munster)
Ben O’Connor (PBC Cork/Munster)
Freddie Reader (Stonyhurst College/IQ Rugby)
Stephen Kiely (Castletroy College/Munster)
Jed O’Dwyer (Crescent College Comprehensive/Munster)

2022 Rugby Europe U-18 Men’s Sevens Championship, Poland – Ireland Schedule:

Saturday, July 9 –

POOL B:

• Germany v Ireland, Dolcan Arena, 11.12am local time/10.12am Irish time
• Spain v Ireland, Dolcan Arena, 2.08pm local time/1.08pm Irish time
• Ireland v Ukraine, Dolcan Arena, 5.48pm local time/4.48pm Irish time

Sunday, July 10 –

• Play-Offs