Ireland Under-20 head coach Richie Murphy has named his 34-man squad to travel to the upcoming Six Nations Championship in Cardiff, with six of last year’s squad again involved.
Munster backrow Alex Kendellen has been named as team captain ahead of Ireland’s opening fixture against Scotland at Cardiff Arms Park on Saturday, June 19th.
Alex Soroka and Tim Corkery, who both recently made their senior Leinster debuts, are two of the six players involved at this age-grade for a second season, alongside Ulster duo Conor McKee and Ben Moxham, Connacht’s Cathal Forde and Ben Murphy of Leinster.
Head coach Murphy and his assistants Denis Leamy and Colm Tucker had to make a number of difficult selection decisions following a series of squad camps at the IRFU high performance centre in recent weeks: “We have been working hard for a number of weeks and it’s an exciting time for these young players, who have the honour of representing the wider group in Cardiff.
“It has been a challenging year but the players have come in, worked hard and bonded well, and I have been impressed by their work-rate, commitment and application. Now our focus turns to performance and Saturday’s opening game against Scotland, which we know will be a big challenge first up.
“We are looking forward to the opportunities over the coming weeks and are excited by the prospect of an Ireland Under-20s team returning to Six Nations action.”
After playing Scotland on Saturday week, Ireland will take on hosts Wales the following Friday. Murphy’s side will then go head-to-head with England on Thursday, July 1st, and their Championship will conclude with ties against Italy the following Wednesday and France on Thursday, July 13th.
Ireland squad
Forwards
George Saunderson (Sullivan Upper School/Queen's University Belfast RFC/Ulster)
Jack Boyle (St Michael's College/UCD RFC/Leinster)
Temi Asewunmi Lasisi (CBS Enniscorthy/Lansdowne FC/Leinster)
Mark Donnelly (CBC Cork/Garryowen RFC/Munster)
Eoin de Buitléar (Scoil Chuimsitheach Chiáran/An Ghaeltacht/Corinthians RFC/Connacht)
Lee Barron (St Michael's College/Dublin University FC/Leinster)
Ronan Loughnane (Cistercian College Roscrea/UCD RFC/Leinster)
Sam Illo (Wesley College/Old Wesley RFC/Leinster)
Darragh Murray (Colaiste Chiaran/Buccaneers RFC/Connacht)
Harry Sheridan (Sullivan Upper School/Dublin University FC/Ulster)
Mark Morrisey (Blackrock College/UCD RFC/Leinster)
Alex Soroka (Belvedere College/Clontarf RFC/Leinster)
Oisin McCormack (Garbally College/Buccaneers RFC/Connacht)
Alex Kendellen (PBC Cork/UCC RFC/Munster)(Captain)
Reuben Crothers (Wallace High School/Ballynahinch RFC/Ulster)
Donnacha Byrne (Summerhill College/Sligo RFC/Connacht)
Jack Kelleher (PBC Cork/UCC RFC/Munster)
Daniel Okeke (Ard Scoil Ris/Shannon RFC/Munster)
Liam Bishop (Trent College/Nottingham University/IQ Rugby)
Backs
Conor McKee (Sullivan Upper School/Queen's University Belfast RFC/Ulster)
Nathan Doak (Wallace High School/Banbridge RFC/Ulster)
Ben Murphy (Presentation College Bray/Old Wesley RFC/Leinster)
Tim Corkery (Kilkenny College/UCD RFC/Leinster)
James Humphreys (Dean Close School/Queen's University Belfast RFC/Ulster)
Cathal Forde (Colaiste Iognaid/Corinthians RFC/Connacht)
Ben Carson (Wallace High School/Banbridge RFC/Ulster)
Shane Jennings (Garbally College/Buccaneers RFC/Connacht)
Ben Moxham (Larne High School/Ballymena RFC/Ulster)
Conor Rankin (Campbell College Belfast/Ballynahinch RFC/Ulster)
Chay Mullins (SGC Filton/Bristol Bears/IQ Rugby)
Josh O'Connor (St Peter's College/UCD RFC/Leinster)
Jamie Osborne (Naas CBS/Naas RFC/Leinster)
Chris Cosgrave (St Michael's College/UCD RFC/Leinster)
Jude Postlethwaite (RBAI/Banbridge RFC/Ulster).
Fixtures
(All games at Cardiff Arms Park)
Scotland v Ireland, Saturday June 19th, 2pm
Wales v Ireland, Friday June 25th, 8pm
Ireland v England, Thursday July 1st, 8pm
Italy v Ireland, Wednesday July 7th, 2pm
Ireland v France, Tuesday July 13th, 4.45pm
