5 Munster Players In Under-20 Opener

Five Munster players have been named in the Ireland Under-20 squad for the Six Nations opener against Scotland on Friday night.

Max Abbott, Rory Burke and Jack O’Donoghue will start with scrum-half Jack Cullen and centre Dan Goggin named on the bench.

Hooker Max Abbott plays his club rugby with Cork Con and is a former PBC player. He has also featured for Munster A this season.

Tight-head prop Rory Burke is a clubmate of Abbott's with Cork Con. Burke is a member of the Greencore Munster academy and has represented Ireland at Under 19 level.

Jack O’Donoghue starts at no.8 and is also a member of the Greencore Munster Academy. O’Donoghue plays his club rugby for UL Bohemians and has represented Munster A in the B&I Cup after making his debut at the age of 18 against Rotherham Titans in December 2012.

Jack Cullen is the youngest member of the Munster academy and played for the Irish Under-18 Club side against Italy, Scotland, England and France in 2013. The Bruff clubman most recently lined out for Ireland Under 19s against Australia Schools before Christmas.

19-year-old Dan Goggin plays for Young Munster and featured in last season’s Munster Schools Senior Cup with St. Munchin’s. Goggin was a member of the Munster Under-20 squad for this season’s interprovincial series and featured off the bench for Munster A against Plymouth at Waterford’s RSC in the B&I Cup last month.

Friday's opening fixture of the U-20 Championship will be broadcast live on RTÉ Two.

Ireland Under-20 Team & Replacements (v Scotland Under-20s, 2014 RBS 6 Nations Championship, Dubarry Park, Friday, January 31, kick-off 7.05pm):

15. David Busby (Queen's University/Ulster)
14. Adam Byrne (UCD/Leinster)
13. Gary Ringrose (UCD/Leinster)
12. Peter Robb (Old Belvedere/Leinster)
11. Ian Fitzpatrick (Lansdowne/Leinster)
10. Ross Byrne (UCD/Leinster)
9. Nick McCarthy (UCD/Leinster)
1. Peter Dooley (Lansdowne/Leinster)
2. Max Abbott (Cork Constitution/Munster)
3. Rory Burke (Cork Constitution/Munster)
4. Sean O'Brien (Galwegians/Connacht)
5. Ross Molony (UCD/Leinster)
6. Peadar Timmins (UCD/Leinster)
7. Dan Leavy (UCD/Leinster) (capt)
8. Jack O'Donoghue (UL Bohemians/Munster)

Replacements:

16. Shane Delahunt (Lansdowne/Leinster)
17. Jacob Walshe (Buccaneers/Connacht)
18. Oisin Heffernan (Lansdowne/Leinster)
19. Joe Joyce (Bristol/Exiles)
20. Rory Moloney (Buccaneers/Connacht)
21. Jack Cullen (Bruff/Munster)
22. Conor McKeon (Lansdowne/Leinster)
23. Dan Goggin (Young Munster/Munster)