Munster Development XV and Ireland U20s sides named for fixture

THE Munster Development and Ireland U20s sides which play a fixture at Musgrave Park today Friday, 1pm, have been named.

Senior second-row Eoin O’Connor will captain the Munster Development side which includes five Greencore Munster Rugby Academy players in the starting line-up – Kieran Ryan, Darragh McSweeney, Ethan Coughlan, Fionn Gibbons and Conor Phillips.

Three players named in the starting XV recently lined out for Ireland U20s in a friendly against Italy before Christmas – Danny Sheahan, Ihechi Oji and Brian Gleeson.

Munster Rugby Academy duo Ryan and McSweeney start in the front-row where they are joined by Sheahan. Ryan and McSweeney play their club rugby with Shannon while Sheahan plays with UCC.

O’Connor captains the side in the second-row where he is joined in the engine room by Cashel’s Fearghail O’Donoghue.

Cork Constitution’s Jack Kelleher, UCC’s Jacob Sheahan and Garryowen’s Brian Gleeson make up the back-row for tomorrow’s fixture.

In the half-backs, Munster Rugby Academy’s Coughlan starts at scrum-half where he is joined by Jeff Williams at out-half. The number 10 lined out for Bandon Grammar in the Schools Senior Cup last season and is now playing his club rugby with UCD.

The centre duo sees Highfield’s Liam McCarthy partner Munster Rugby Academy’s Gibbons in midfield while the back-three is made up of UL Bohs’ Oji, Shannon’s Josh Costello and Munster Rugby Academy’s Phillips.

The replacements include senior players Chris Moore and Oli Morris while the Academy’s Mark Donnelly is also included.

There is a strong Munster representation in the Ireland U20s squad for the game. Jack Oliver, of Garryowen and Munster, starts the game at scrum-half while another past pupil of Castletroy College, Evan O'Connell, of UL-Bohemian and Munster, is named in the second-row. Included in the Ireland U20 replacements for the fixture is Ruadhan Quinn, of Old Crescent and Munster.

The Ireland U20s are continuing with their preparations for the 2023 U20 Six Nations Championships. 

Richie Murphy’s squad played a frenetic friendly fixture against their Italian counterparts at Castle Avenue just before Christmas coming out on the wrong side of a 50-47 scoreline.  They will finish off this series of preparation games against a Leinster Development side next week.

Three players named in the starting Munster Development XV recently lined out for Ireland U20s in that friendly against Italy before Christmas – Danny Sheahan, Ihechi Oji and Brian Gleeson.

Ireland U20s: 15. Henry McErlean (Leinster/Terenure), 14. Ike Anagu (IQ Rugby/La Rochelle), 13. Hugh Gavin (Connacht/Galwegians), 12. John Devine (Connacht/Corinthians), 11. Noah Sheridan (Leinster/Clontarf), 10. Harry West (Connacht/Buccaneers), 9. Jack Oliver (Munster/Garryowen), 1. Paddy McCarthy (Leinster/Dublin University), 2. Matt Victory (Leinster/Dublin University), 3. Fiachna Barrett (Connacht/Corinthians), 4. Conor O’Tighearnaigh (Leinster/UCD), 5. Evan O’Connell (Munster/UL Bohemians), 6. Diarmuid Mangan (Leinster/UCD), 7. Ruadhan Quinn (Munster/Old Crescent), 8. James McNabney (Ulster/Ballymena). Replacements: 16. Gus McCarthy (Leinster/UCD), 17. George Hadden (Leinster/Clontarf), 18. Ronan Foxe (Leinster/Old Belvedere), 19. Joe Hopes (Ulster/QUB), 20. George Shaw (IQ Rugby/Cardiff Univ.), 21. Oscar Cawley (Leinster/Naas), 22. Sam Prendergast (Leinster/Lansdowne), 23. Rory Telfer (Ulster/QUB), 24. Charlie Irvine (Ulster/QUB), 25. Sam Berman (Leinster/Dublin University), 26. James Doyle (Leinster/Lansdowne)

Munster Development: Conor Phillips (Young Munster), Josh Costello (Shannon), Fionn Gibbons (Young Munster), Liam McCarthy (Highfield), Ihechi Oji (UL Bohemian), Jeff Williams (UCD), Ethan Coughlan (Shannon); Kieran Ryan (Shannon), Danny Sheahan (UCC), Darragh McSweeney (Shannon), Fearghail O’Donoghue (Cashel), Eoin O’Connor (c) (Young Munster), Jack Kelleher (Cork Constitution), Jacob Sheahan (UCC), Brian Gleeson (Garryowen). Replacements: Chris Moore (Young Munster), Mark Donnelly (Garryowen), Danny McCarthy (UCC), Oisin Toland (Old Crescent), Ronan O’Sullivan (Young Munster), Kyle Read (Midleton), Aaron Quirke (UCC), Cian O’Halloran (Shannon), Oli Morris (Garryowen), Shay McCarthy (Young Munster), Daniel Hurley (Cork Constitution), George Coomber (Cork Constitution).