Exile off to Argentina

Our congratulations go to Stuart Philpott (the Saracens hooker), who has been selected for the Ireland U21 squad, which will play in the World Cup in Argentina next month. Stuart featured in the Six Nations in the past season, starting against both Scotland and England. Stuart is a former England U18 international and has the advantage of being an U20; hence, he will be available again for Ireland U21s next season.

Our commiserations go to the following two players:
Brett McNamee (the Northampton Saints blind-side flanker) picked up a knee injury at the end of the season, which has ruled him out. Brett was ever-present throughout the Six Nations, captaining Ireland U21s v. England. Some consolation for Brett is that he has been given a full-time first team contract by the Saints for the coming season.
Dan Smith (the Bath lock and former Ireland U19 international) recently suffered a serious illness, which has ruled him out. He is currently slowly recovering and we wish him well in that. Dan now moves into his second season of a full-time first team contract at Bath and we trust that future Ireland honours will come his way, to compensate for the above.