Five Connacht players named for U20 WRC

The Ireland Under-20 Squad, sponsored by PwC, has been announced for the World Rugby Under-20 Championship. The tournament is taking place in Parma, Italy from the 2nd – 22nd of June.

Head Coach, Nigel Carolan, has named a squad of 28 with just two players who were not involved in the 2015 RBS 6 Nations U20 Championship added to the squad, Sean McNulty and Charlie Rock. McNulty, who featured in the 2014 RBS 6 Nations, comes back into the panel having recovered from injury and is joined by the uncapped Rock.

Connacht’s Ciaran Gaffney and Rory Molony are two of eight members of the squad that have previous Under-20 Championship experience (previously known as the Junior World Championship) having played in last year's tournament in New Zealand, where the Irish side finished in fourth position.

Connacht sub Academy players Cian Romaine, Stephen McVeigh and Conan O’Donnell have all retained their place in the squad after their 6 Nations campaign.

Ireland share pool C with Argentina, Scotland and New Zealand and open their tournament against Argentina on Tuesday, 2nd June in Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi, Parma.

Ireland U-20 Squad (World Rugby, Under-20 Championship Squad 2015)

Sam Arnold (Ballynahinch/Ulster)

Ross Byrne (UCD/Leinster)

Joey Carbery (UCD/Leinster)

Fergal Cleary (Lansdowne/Leinster)

Billy Dardis (UCD/Leinster)

Lorcan Dow (QUB/Ulster)

Jack Dwan (UCD/Leinster)

Stephen Fitzgerald (Shannon/Munster)

Ciaran Gaffney (Galwegians/Connacht)

Oisin Heffernan (Terenure/Leinster)

Jeremy Loughman (UCD/Leinster)

Zack McCall (QUB/Ulster)

Nick McCarthy (UCD/Leinster)

Sean McNulty (UCD/Munster)

Stephen McVeigh (Buccaneers/Connacht)

Rory Moloney (Buccaneers/Connacht)

Josh Murphy (UCD/Leinster)

Conán O'Donnell (Sligo/NUIG/Connacht)

David O'Connor (St.Mary's/Leinster)

Conor Oliver (St.Mary's/Leinster)

Jack Owens (Queens University/Ulster)

Andrew Porter (UCD/Leinster)

Garry Ringrose (UCD/Leinster)

Charlie Rock (Old Belvedere/Leinster)*

Cian Romaine (Buccaneers/Connacht)

Jacob Stockdale (QUB/Ulster)

Alex Thompson (Queens University/Ulster)

Nick Timoney (St. Mary's/Leinster)

* Denotes uncapped player at International Under-20 level.

 

World Rugby Under-20 Championship 2015

POOL A - England, France, Wales, Japan

POOL B - South Africa, Australia, Samoa, Italy

POOL C - New Zealand, Ireland, Argentina, Scotland

 

Ireland Fixtures -

Ireland Under-20s v Argentina Under-20s, Parma, Tuesday, June 2, kick-off 4.30pm local time/3.30pm Irish time

Ireland Under-20s v Scotland Under-20s, Calvisano, Saturday, June 6, kick-off 4.30pm local time/3.30pm Irish time

New Zealand Under-20s v Ireland Under-20s, Viadana, Wednesday, June 10, kick-off 8.30pm local time/7.30pm Irish time

 

Match Day 4: Play-offs and semi-finals, Monday, June 15

Match Day 5: Play-offs and final, Saturday, June 20