Ireland Under-19 Team Named

The Ireland Under-19 team to play defending champions Australia in the IRB Under-19 World Championship at Ravenhill on Thursday has been announced.

The Irish U-19 team, sponsored by PricewaterhouseCoopers, will open their World Championship campaign against the Australians on Thursday.

Charlie McAleese’s Irish side have been grouped with Australia, ninth seeds Scotland and the eighth-ranked South Africans, but the coach is confident his players can rise to the challenge.

“We will prepare as well as we can. We will go in with high hopes. The huge factor of hosting the World Championship and of having the home-base of support behind us is another added string to our bow. We’ll be confident of acquitting ourselves well in the tournament,” he admitted.

You can keep up to date with the tournament on IrishRugby.ie in our dedicated IRB Under 19 World Championship section and you can also follow the games on BBC Northern Ireland, Setanta Sports Ireland and online.

IRELAND U-19 TEAM AND REPLACEMENTS (v Australia U-19, Ravenhill, Belfast, Thursday, April 5, 7.30pm):

15 – Adam Craig (Instonians)
14 – Niall Morris (Blackrock)
13 – Eoin O’Malley (UCD)
12 – Conor Cleary (St. Michael’s College)
11 – Patrick Brophy (St. Michael’s College)
10 – Scott Deasy (Presentation Brothers College, Cork)
9 – Kris Greene (St. Mary’s)
1 – Paul Karayiannis (Royal Belfast Academical Institute/Queen’s)
2 – Stephen Douglas (Ballymena)
3 – Matthew Nelson (Ballynahinch)
4 – Brian Cawley (UCD)
5 – Ian Nagle (Glenstal Abbey, Limerick)
6 – Kieran Essex (Christian Brothers College, Cork/UCC)
7 – Rajan Reilly (St. Michael’s College)
8 – Paul Ryan (Blackrock) (capt)

Replacements:

16 – Michael Sherry (Ard Scoil Ris/Garryowen)
17 – Ian Leonard (St. Michael’s College)
18 – Patrick McCabe (Dublin University FC)
19 – David Foley (UL Bohemians)
20 – Jason Harris Wright (Blackrock College)
21 – Patrick Mallon (St. Michael’s College)
22 – Harry McAleese (Ballynahinch)
23 – Jamie Smith (Ballymena)
24 – Murray Kinsella (Newtown School, Waterford)
25 – Alan Gaughan (Buccaneers)
26 – Tommy Seymour (Down High School)

Coaching Staff –

Coach – Charlie McAleese
Manager – Gerard Slattery
Assistant Coach – Bobby Byrne
Defence coach – Kurt McQuilkan
Physiotherapist – Shane Collins
Physiotherapist – Josh Hoopes
Doctor – Tim O’Flanagan
Fitness Advisor – Ray Egan
Technical Advisor – Derek Suffern

Division A – Ireland Fixtures –

Thursday, April 5 – Australia v Ireland, Ravenhill, 7.30pm (live BBC 2 NI)
Monday, April 9 – Scotland v Ireland, Ravenhill, 7.30pm (live BBC 2 NI)
Friday, April 13 – South Africa v Ireland, Ravenhill, 7.30pm (live BBC 2 NI)