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The Connacht Eagles management team have named their starting XV for tomorrow's inaugural Cara Cup clash with the New England Free Jacks in Massachusetts (k/o 3pm local, 7pm Irish time)
Joe Maksymiw will captain the side, with the Derby native partnered in the second row by fellow pro player Cillian Gallagher. The front row is made up of Conan O'Donnell, Jonny Murphy and Conor Kenny, while the pack is completed by number 8 Neal Moylett and flankers Cian Huxford and Sean Masterson.
The half-back pairing consists of scrum-half Stephen Kerins and out-half Luke Carty, while Kieran Joyce and Sean O'Brien have been named at inside and outside centre respectively. Mark Balaski and Hugh Lane will fill the winger positions while Colm de Buitlear lines out at full-back.
A squad of 26 travelled to Weymouth on Wednesday for the competition which sees ‘A’ sides from the four provinces compete in a six game tournament spread across four weeks. Following Saturday's tournament opener, the Eagles will then face Ulster A in an inter-pro clash at the same venue on Wednesday night (7pm local, 11pm Irish time).
CONNACHT EAGLES XV VS NEW ENGLAND FREE JACKS (Saturday 16 March @ Union Point Sports Complex, Weymouth MA)
Joe Maksymiw will captain the side, with the Derby native partnered in the second row by fellow pro player Cillian Gallagher. The front row is made up of Conan O'Donnell, Jonny Murphy and Conor Kenny, while the pack is completed by number 8 Neal Moylett and flankers Cian Huxford and Sean Masterson.
The half-back pairing consists of scrum-half Stephen Kerins and out-half Luke Carty, while Kieran Joyce and Sean O'Brien have been named at inside and outside centre respectively. Mark Balaski and Hugh Lane will fill the winger positions while Colm de Buitlear lines out at full-back.
A squad of 26 travelled to Weymouth on Wednesday for the competition which sees ‘A’ sides from the four provinces compete in a six game tournament spread across four weeks. Following Saturday's tournament opener, the Eagles will then face Ulster A in an inter-pro clash at the same venue on Wednesday night (7pm local, 11pm Irish time).
CONNACHT EAGLES XV VS NEW ENGLAND FREE JACKS (Saturday 16 March @ Union Point Sports Complex, Weymouth MA)
15. Colm de Buitlear
14. Hugh Lane
13. Sean O'Brien
12. Kieran Joyce
11. Mark Balaski
10. Luke Carty
9. Stephen Kerins
1. Conan O'Donnell
2. Jonny Murphy
3. Conor Kenny
4. Joe Maksymiw (c)
5. Cillian Gallagher
6. Cian Huxford
7. Sean Masterson
8. Neal Moylett
Replacements
16. Declan Adamson
17. Jordan Duggan
18. Peter Claffey
19. James Connolly
20. Robin Copeland
21. James Mitchell
22. Conor Dean
23. Corey Reid
