DHL Exiles Sevens At Carrick And Kinsale
For those who are ‘reverse Exiles’ this coming weekend, i.e. spending the Bank Holiday in Ireland, the choice of following Exiles rugby is open, both north and south.
This season the Exiles DHL Sevens will have a squad playing in the Heineken Kinsale Sevens for the first time, whilst another squad competes in the Guinness Carrick Sevens.
Having Ireland’s two major Sevens tournaments take place during the same weekend is a challenge, but the Exiles, who have won the Carrick Sevens Premier tournament for the last two seasons, have a strong loyalty to the Carrick competition and want to ensure they defend their title.
The Exiles are fortunate that so many of their players are brought up in a strong sevens tradition from schooldays, hence, there are no perceived weaknesses in the two squads going to Ireland. Indeed, most of the Exiles’ recent Under-18, Under-19 and Under-21 internationals will be featuring.
Players to look out for include Matt Williams, who was an ever-present in the last Ireland Under-21 World Cup side, and Tchad Collins-Francois, the powerful and pacy Ireland Under-18 winger in the recent FIRA-AER competition.
The Exiles Sevens’ initiative is only made possible by their main sponsor DHL Global Forwarding and kit sponsor OB Sport of Dublin. Without their support the development of the young Exiles player through the Sevens pathway would not be possible.