Noonan Honoured at Junior Sports Awards

Irish Schools International Ross Noonan from Cork was one of 20 of Ireland’s leading young sporting talents honoured on Thursday at the 20th annual Irish Examiner national junior sports awards.

Irish Schools International Ross Noonan from Cork was one of twenty of Ireland’s leading young sporting talents honoured on Thursday at the 20th annual Irish Examiner National Junior Sports Stars Awards, in association with tvthree.

Athletes from 20 sporting disciplines between the ages of 15 and 19 received the awards in recognition of their extraordinary achievements in 2003 in their chosen sports. The awards were presented by guest of honour Padraig Harrington at a reception in the Berkeley Court Hotel, Dublin.

Ross Noonan was a major influence in helping Irish Schools to victory in three internationals last season. He was described recently as the “cornerstone” of the Irish pack who went on to demolish France and England and manage to keep Wales under control on their way to successive victories.

Ireland beat France 22-13 at Thomond Park, England 35-26 at Templeville Road and Wales 9-3 at Narberth to go through the season unbeaten. Scotland don’t compete at Schools level but the Irish performances still rank as the equivalent of a Grand Slam within a four-team structure.

There were a number of stars in the team of 2003 including last year’s Irish Examiner Sports Star Awards winner Stephen Grissing, but Noonan was singled out for special mention by coach Bobby Byrne recently when he noted: “He has a huge engine, and will battle on all day in every game.

There were some great players in that side but in my view his contribution was bigger than most. “He is in the same calibre of guys that went before like Stephen Keogh and Denis Leamy, really good tough players with an immense future in the game.”

Next Sunday Noonan will depart for Durban, South Africa as part of the Ireland Under 19 squad who will take part in the U19 World Cup.