Schools Side Off To A Winning Start

Ireland’s Under-18 Schools side has made a winning start to the U-18 Six Nations Festival in Glasgow. They scored a three-try 22-5 win over Italy at Glasgow Hawks’ Old Anniesland ground on Sunday afternoon.

U-18 SIX NATIONS FESTIVAL: Sunday, April 8

IRELAND U-18 SCHOOLS 22 ITALY U-18 5, Old Anniesland, Glasgow Hawks RFC

Scorers: Ireland: Tries: Gary Foley, Ronan O’Mahony, Mark Atkinson; Cons: Ian Madigan 2; Pen: Andrew Burke
Italy: Try: Luca Petillo

Ireland opened the scoring in the sixth-minute with a try from centre Gary Foley, which was converted by out-half Ian Madigan..

The Irish went further ahead through scores from wingers Ronan O’Mahony and Mark Atkinson, with Madigan tacking on the conversion to Atkinson’s 25th-minute try. Peter Melia’s youngsters led 19-0 at half-time.

Italy upped their performance in the second half and limited Ireland to only one score – a penalty from the boot of replacement Andrew Burke. Italy scored a late consolation try through number eight Luca Petillo to make the final score 22-5 in Ireland’s favour.

Ireland’s next outing is against France, who lost 30-16 to Wales at the weekend. That game takes place on Wednesday evening (Old Anniesland, kick-off 7.30pm). Sunday’s other fixture resulted in a 15-6 win for the English U-18s over hosts Scotland.

IRELAND U-18 SCHOOLS TEAM AND REPLACEMENTS (v Italy U-18):

15. Ricky Andrew – Ballymena Academy
14. Mark Atkinson – Grosvenor Grammar School
13. Gary Foley – CBC Monkstown
12. Shane Gahan – Gonzaga
11. Ronan O’Mahony – Castletroy
10. Ian Madigan – Blackrock College
9. Sam Bell – Methodist College
1. Nermin Lovic – Belvedere College
2. Thomas Sexton – Belvedere College
3. Felix Ross – Kings Hospital
4. Kyle O’Dwyer – CBC Cork
5. Patrick McGowan – Ballymena Academy
6. Peter O’Mahony – PBC Cork (capt)
7. Brian O’Hara – PBC Cork
8. James Ryan – Rockwell College

Replacements:

16. Peter Kelleher – PBC Cork
17. Patrick McAllister – Royal School Armagh
18. Adam Macklin – Methodist College
19. James Sandford – Royal School Armagh
20. Chris Nolan – CBC Cork
21. Andrew Burke – Cresent College
22. Richard Reaney – Royal School Armagh
23. Robert Johnson – Blackrock College
24. David Kearney – Clongowes Wood
25. Alex Byrne – St. Michael’s College
26. Stephen Mahony – St. Michael’s College

Management –

Lorcan Balfe (Manager)
Peter Melia (Coach)
Paul Barr (Assistant Coach)
Ossie Fogarty (Doctor)
David Lyons (Physiotherapist)

Ireland U-18 Schools Fixtures –

Wednesday, April 11: France U-18 v Ireland U18 Schools, Old Anniesland, Glasgow Hawks RFC, 7.30pm
Saturday, April 14: England U-18 v Ireland U-18 Schools, Burnbrae, West of Scotland FC, 1pm