Ireland Students v French Universities Team News & Live Stream

The Irish Universities Rugby Union (IURU), in conjunction with the IRFU and Student Sport Ireland (SSI), is delighted to announce the team to play the French Universities in their annual International Fixture v France, sponsored by Maxol.

The fixture will be held in The Mardyke, to mark the 150^th anniversary of UCC RFC, on Friday 10^th February at 3pm. Ten of the squad return from last year’s thrilling 10-53 away victory in Jonzac and there is a significant level of Energia AIL experience in the side.

The team will be captained by Trinity’s Anthony Ryan and is coached by Head Coach Tony Smeeth (DUFC) and Assistant Coach Conor Twomey (UCC).

Hosts UCC have arranged for a live stream of the game:

IRELAND  STUDENTS ( v French Universities, The Mardyke, UCC, Cork, Friday 9th February, 2023, KO 15:00 (IST))

15. Louis Bruce, University College Cork (UCC RFC)
14. Harry Donnelly, University College Dublin (UCD RFC)*
13. Killian Coghlan, University College Cork (UCC RFC)*
12. Gavin Jones, Dublin University (DUFC)
11. Ronan Quinn, Dublin University (DUFC)
10. Aran Egan, Dublin University (DUFC)
9. Louis O’Reilly, Dublin University (DUFC)
1. Jerry Cahir, Dublin City University (DUFC)*
2. Mark Nicholson, Technological University Dublin (DUFC)
3. Thomas Connolly, Dublin University (DUFC)
4. Aidan Brien, University College Cork (UCC RFC)*
5. Ruairi Clarke, Dublin City University (Lansdowne FC)
6. Anthony Ryan, Dublin University (DUFC) (Captain)
7. Bill Burns, University College Dublin (UCD RFC)*
8. Sean O’Brien, University College Dublin (UCD RFC)*

Replacements:
16. Cathal Duff, Maynooth University (MU Barnhall RFC),
17. Hugo O’Malley, University College Dublin (UCD RFC)*
18. Ryan McMahon, University College Dublin (UCD RFC)*
19. Jake McCay, Queens University Belfast (QUB RFC)*
20. Patrick McBarron, University College Cork (UCC RFC)*
21. Michael Moloney, University College Dublin (UCD RFC)*
22. James Tarrant, University College Dublin (UCD RFC)*
23. Jonny Hunter, Queens University Belfast (QUB RFC)*

* denotes new cap

Recent Results

2016 v English Students – Lost 30-57 Home in TCD

2017 v English Students – Drew 36-36 Away

2018 v Scottish Students – Won 17-33 Away

2019 v Scottish Students – Won 31-3 Home in QUB

2022 v French Universities – Won 10-53 Away