Opening Day Wins For U19s And U18 Clubs

Munster’s underage sides made it four wins from four in their Interprovincial series’ at the weekend as the U19s and U18 Clubs teams both recorded victories.

The U19s, sponsored by Bank of Ireland, scored five converted tries in a convincing 35-0 win over Connacht at Thomond Park to make the perfect start to their campaign.

Three tries in the first half from James Taylor, Jack O'Sullivan and Peter Sylvester laid the foundations for the win with Taylor accurate with the conversions as Munster led 21-0 at the break.

Further scores from Aaron Rice and Daniel Hurley made sure of the victory with Taylor again on target with both conversions.

Noel O'Meara's men host Ulster in CIT at 3pm next Saturday as part of a double-header at the Cork venue that sees the U18 Schools team also face their northern counterparts in a 1pm kick-off.

The U18 Clubs side, coached by Brendan O'Connor, also made an excellent start to their campaign at the weekend as they emerged with a 19-14 win away in Ulster.

Hosts Ulster were 14-3 up after a dominant first-half performance with Munster's only score coming from an early Conor Hayes penalty.

The comeback started just five minutes after the interval as full-back Hayes touched down to make it 14-8.

Hooker Derry Gleeson scored Munster's second try later in the half as Munster moved to within a point and out-half Harry Byrne showed nerves of steel to kick two late penalties and complete a magnificent turnaround.

Winning up in Ulster is no mean feat and O'Connor will be hopeful his charges can repeat the trick as they host Leinster in Thomond Park next Sunday at 2pm.

Munster U19 Clubs (v Connacht): Jordan Higgins (Shannon); Paul Buckley (PBC), David McCarthy (Skibbereen), Peter Sylvester (PBC), Liam Barrett (Bruff); James Taylor (CBC), Aaron Rice (St. Munchins College); James French (Bandon Grammar School), Diarmuid Barron (Rockwell College), Bryan O'Connor (PBC); Conor O'Flynn (Capt.) (PBC), Seán English (Castletroy College); Seán Duffy (CBC), Jack Daly (Castleisland), Jack O'Sullivan (PBC).
Replacements: Tadgh McCarthy (Bantry Bay), Jack Mullany (Dungarvan), Ciaran McHugh (CBC), Colm Heffernan (Tullamore), Odhran Ring (Ardscoil Rís), Alex Molloy (Waterpark), Seán Hudson (Bandon Grammar School), Daniel Hurley (Crescent College Comp.), Richard Thompson (CBC).

Munster U18 Clubs (v Ulster): Conor Hayes (Young Munster); Ikem Ugwuru (Ennis), Joe O'Connor (Tralee), Evan O'Gorman(Capt.) (Young Munster), Joe Quilter (Tralee); Harry Byrne (Garryowen), Aaron Hehir (Shannon); Aaron Hennessy (Ennis), Derry Gleeson (Garryowen), Fionn Flanagan); Charlie Murphy (Dungarvan), Evan Murphy (Nenagh); Alan McInerney (Young Munster), Shane Brosnahan (Young Munster), John Hodnett (Clonakilty).
Replacements: Seán O'Connell (Cashel), Paudie McCarthy (Bantry), Cian Maguire (Clonmel), Sam Kroupa (Nenagh), Ross McCormack (Fethard), Nick O'Donoghue (Waterpark), Ben Daly (Waterpark), Tom Hanley (Charleville).

Interprovincial Fixtures and Results 2016
Munster Combined U20 & Development Squad
Friday, 9th September, Munster v Ulster, Thomond Park, ko 7pm
Friday, 16th September, Leinster v Munster, Donnybrook, ko 7pm

Munster U19s
Munster 35-0 Connacht
Saturday, 10th September, Munster v Ulster, CIT, ko 3pm
Saturday, 17th September, Leinster v Munster

Munster U18 Clubs
Ulster 14-19 Munster
Sunday, 11th September, Munster v Leinster, Thomond Park, ko 2.30pm
Saturday, 17th September, Connacht v Munster

Munster U18 Schools
Munster 18-15 Ulster
Munster 8-3 Leinster
Saturday, 10th September, Munster v Ulster, CIT, ko 1pm
Saturday, 24th September, Leinster v Munster, Donnybrook 3pm