| Eagles to take on Munster A in Limerick | ||||
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Connacht Eagles to take on Munster A in Limerick Eagles Head Coach, Nigel Carolan, announced that “due to a lot of our development players on duty in Glasgow this weekend we have tapped into the talent pool of the Club game for tomorrow’s match. This is a great opportunity for club representatives to compete at this level and for the coaches to have a look at various possibilities in advance of the British & Irish Cup which kicks off mid-October.” Scrum half Marcus Walsh played with the Connacht U20s last season and has just been contracted to the Connacht Academy earlier in the week. Finn Gormley, of Corinthians, has played with all Connacht age grade teams up through the years and lines out with the Eagles tomorrow at Inside Centre. Elsewhere in the pack, former Irish U20s International Finlay Bealham starts again as Loosehead Prop. Bealham, who is in year 1 of the Connacht Academy, made his senior debut against Exeter during the summer and was also in the squad 23 for Connacht’s opening league game against Cardiff Blues. Flanker and former Munster Academy Player of the Year Eoghan Grace joined Connacht last season from pre-season rivals Exeter Chiefs. Grace was a member of the Ireland 7's side that travelled to the 2009 World Cup in Dubai. He was also a member of Eric Elwood's famous U20 grand slam winning team. Grace is joined in the back row by Senior player TJ Anderson, who captains the Eagles tomorrow, and Academy player Dave Heffernan. Other Senior players to join the Eagles tomorrow include prop JP Cooney and winger Matt Healy. Another well-known name in the starting XV is Conor Finn, who appears on the wing. Conor was part of the Irish under 20’s squad that finished 5th in the Junior World Championship in South Africa during the summer. Head Coach Nigel Carolan is looking forward to tomorrow’s game and the start of the British & Irish Cup: “I’m very excited about the season ahead. The B&I Cup will provide some great opportunities for a lot of the academy members to play with the Connacht Eagles. We have some exceptional talent coming through the ranks and it’s up to us to help nurture and develop those players so they can make the most of the challenges that await them.” Kick-off is at 5pm tomorrow Thursday 20th September at Garryowen RFC, Limerick. The first game of the British & Irish cup will take place in Rodney Parade on Saturday 13th October when the Connacht Eagles take on Newport RFC. KO 2.30pm. Connacht Eagles XV 15 Steve Macauley 14 Conor Finn 13 Jerome Harimate 12 Finn Gormley 11 Matt Healy 10 Tadhg Leader 9 Marcus Walsh 1 Finlay Bealham 2 Kurt Haupt 3 JP Cooney 4 Jonathan Gardiner 5 Danny Qualter 6 TJ Anderson (Captain) 7 Eoghan Grace 8 Dave Heffernan Replacements (from): 16 Peter Reilly 17 Jamie Dever 18 Robert Sweeney 19 Conor Kindregan 20 Aaron Conneely 21 Chris Lilly 22 Sam Johnson 23 Callum Boland |
