Ireland ‘A’ head coach Mike Prendergast has named a 29-player squad for next Sunday’s clash against England ‘A’ at Ashton Gate (kick-off 1pm).
Leinster’s Max Deegan will captain the team as one of six players – alongside forwards Fineen Wycherley, Oli Jager, Tom O’Toole and backs Harry Byrne and Shane Daly – who have been capped at Test level. Twelve players were part of the Emerging Ireland Tour to South Africa last September.
The squad will assemble at the IRFU High Performance Centre on Monday before flying to Bristol on Friday.
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“I am hugely excited to work with such a talented group of players and coaches and we’re all looking forward to the opportunity to represent our country in Bristol this weekend,” said Prendergast announcing his selection.
“The squad will assemble on Monday and we’ll need to hit the ground running to ensure that everyone is up to speed.
“It is an experienced group with a number of capped senior internationals named alongside players who have featured for Emerging Ireland and for their provinces in recent months. The standard, whenever you pull on an Ireland jersey, is to perform to the best of your ability and we believe that we have a good blend of talented players who will look to take this opportunity to impress the national and provincial coaches.”
The match will be streamed live for free on RugbyPass TV.
Ireland ‘A’ squad
Forwards:
Jack Aungier (Clontarf FC/Connacht), Diarmuid Barron (Garryowen/Munster), James Culhane (UCD RFC/Leinster), Max Deegan (Lansdowne/Leinster, capt), Brian Gleeson (Garryowen FC/Munster), Oli Jager (Munster), Sean Jansen (Connacht), Alex Kendellen (UCC RFC/Munster), Paddy McCarthy (Dublin University FC/Leinster), Darragh Murray (Buccaneers RFC/Connacht), Evan O’Connell (UL Bohemian RFC/Munster), Conor O’Tighearnaigh (UCD RFC/Leinster), Tom O’Toole (Ballynahinch/Ulster), Stephen Smyth (Old Wesley RFC/Leinster), Alex Soroka (Clontarf FC/Leinster), Fineen Wycherley (Young Munster/Munster).
Backs:
Shayne Bolton (Connacht), Harry Byrne (UCD/Leinster), Hugh Cooney (Clontarf/Leinster), Shane Daly (Cork Constitution/Munster), Cathal Forde (Corinthians/Connacht), Hugh Gavin (Galwegians RFC/Connacht), Fintan Gunne (Terenure College RFC/Leinster), Ben Murphy (Clontarf/Connacht), Ben O’Connor (UCC RFC/Munster), Tommy O’Brien (UCD RFC/Leinster), Andrew Osborne (Naas RFC/Leinster), Jude Postlethwaite (City of Armagh RFC/Ulster), Zac Ward (Ballynahinch RFC/Ulster).
Management:
Mike Prendergast (head coach/attack coach), Jimmy Duffy (forwards), Sean O’Brien (defence), Mark Sexton (backs/assistant attack coach), Colm Tucker (scrum/breakdown).
