Nine Munster U20s Heading To World Cup

Georgia and the World Championships beckons for nine of Munster’s brightest talents, as they were announced in the Irish U20 squad taking part in this summer’s tournament.

Ireland U20 Head Coach Peter Malone has named the nine from the southern province in the Ireland Under-20 Squad, for the World Rugby U20 Championships in Georgia.

The tournament takes place from the 31^st May – 18^th June, with Ireland playing their Pool games in Kutaisi, before moving to Tbilisi for the knock-out stages.

Ireland share Pool B with Italy, New Zealand and Scotland.

The 28 man squad will be captained by Lansdowne’s Paul Boyle.

There are some new faces in the squad, with Garryowen’s David McCarthy, and Young Munster fly-half Alan Tynan joining Jordan Duggan, Angus Curtis, Michael Sylvester in the squad of 28.

There’s no shortage of experience amongst the Munster ranks, with Shannon’s John Foley, Young Munster’s Calvin Nash and Bantry native Fineen Wycherley making their Senior debuts for the province this year, while Gavin Coombes, David McCarthy, Jack Stafford and Alan Tynan all played a part in Munster ‘A’ winning the British & Irish Cup this year.

Bill Johnston misses out due to injury, and can consider himself extremely unlucky following a breakout season for the fly-half.

On confirmation of the squad Peter Malone said:

“It’s an exciting time for these players, as they will all be experiencing a World Championship for the first time. It’s a great opportunity for them, to go out and pit themselves against their peers from around the world.

We’ve lost a number of players who were involved during the Six Nations through injury, so it’s very unlucky for those guys not to be involved, but it gives other players the chance to wear the green jersey on the world stage.

We’re in a really strong pool with Italy and Scotland who made us work really hard for wins during the Six Nations, and then New Zealand who will have a number of players back from last year’s tournament so they will be a huge test for us.”

Ireland will open their campaign against Six Nations rivals Italy on Wednesday 31st May in the Kutaisi Stadium. They will then meet Scotland on Sunday 4^th June and their final Pool B game takes place against New Zealand, who Ireland defeated for the first time during last year’s Championship, on Thursday the 8^th of June.

Ireland Squad for the World Rugby U20 Championship 2017

Forwards
Paul Boyle (Lansdowne FC/Leinster) Captain
Charlie Connolly (Dublin University FC/Leinster)
Joey Conway (UL Bohemians RFC/Munster)
Gavin Coombes (Young Munster RFC/Munster)
Peter Cooper (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster)
Caelan Doris (St. Mary’s College RFC/Leinster)
Oisin Dowling (Lansdowne FC/Leinster)
Jordan Duggan (Naas RFC/Leinster)*
John Foley (Shannon RFC/Munster)
Ronan Kelleher (UCD RFC/Leinster)
Sean Masterson (Corinthians RFC/Connacht)
Tadgh McElroy (Lansdowne FC/Leinster)
Greg McGrath (Lansdowne FC/Leinster)
Marcus Rea (Queen’s University Belfast RFC/Ulster)
Jack Regan (UCD RFC/Leinster)
Fineen Wycherley (Young Munster RFC/Munster)

Backs
Angus Curtis (Queen’s University Belfast RFC/Ulster)*
Conor Dean (UCD RFC/Leinster)*
Ciaran Frawley (UCD RFC/Leinster)
Colm Hogan (Dublin University FC/Munster)
Jack Kelly (Dublin University FC/Leinster)
David McCarthy (Garryowen FC/Munster)*
Gavin Mullin (UCD RFC/Leinster)
Calvin Nash (Young Munster/Munster)
Jack Stafford (Shannon RFC/Munster)
Jonathan Stewart (Queen’s University Belfast RFC/Ulster)
Michael Silvester (Dublin University FC/Leinster)*
Alan Tynan (Young Munster/Munster)*

Unavailable due to injury
Cillian Gallagher
Bill Johnston
Jordan Larmour
Johnny McPhillips
Tommy O’Brien

Ireland U20 World Rugby U20 Championships Fixtures
Pool B – Ireland v Italy
Kutaisi Stadium, Kutaisi
Wednesday 31^st May, 2017
KO: 15:30 (local) / 12:30 (Irish)

Ireland v Scotland
Kutaisi Stadium, Kutaisi
Sunday 4^th June, 2017
KO: 13:00 (local) / 10:00 (Irish)

Ireland v New Zealand
Kutaisi Stadium, Kutaisi
Thursday 8^th June, 2017
KO: 15:30 (local) / 12:30 (Irish)

Semi-Finals
Avchala Stadium OR Mikheil Meskhi Stadium
Tuesday 13^th June 2017

Play-Offs
Avchala Stadium OR Mikheil Meskhi Stadium
Sunday 18^th June 2017

Ireland’s Pool B fixtures will be shown live on Eir Sport.
The tournament will also be shown on ITV and streamed via World Rugby.