Ireland Under-18 Schools Team Named

Ireland coach Paul Barr has named his Under-18 Schools squad for their second game of the U-18 Five Nations Festival. In keeping with the rules of the competition, every player in the squad must play at least once so only four players remain from the team that beat Wales last Sunday.

The Paul Barr and Kenny Hooks-coached Ireland Schools, sponsored by PricewaterhouseCoopers, notched up a 22-15 win over Wales in the opening game of the Five Nations Festival. Read the match report here.

The Irish now face a physical Italian team that will be hoping to bounce back from a bruising 61-5 loss to England in their opener.

Stephen Leckey has been forced to withdraw due to injury. Emmet McMahon of St. Michael’s College has been called up to the squad in his place and will make his first start immediately in the game against Italy today.

IRELAND UNDER-18 SCHOOLS TEAM (v Italy U-18, Under-18 FIve Nations Festival, Parma, 4.30pm local time):

15 – Ferdia Doherty (Gonzaga College/Leinster)
14 – Chris Colvin (Royal School Armagh/Ulster)
13 – Tiarnan O’Halloran (Cistercian Roscrea/Leinster)
12 – Ben Sargent (Crescent CC/Munster) 
11 – Sam Coughlan Murray (Newbridge College/Leinster)
10 – James McKinney (Campbell College/Ulster)
9 – Harry Doyle (Royal School Armagh/Ulster)
1 – Rory Harrison (Methodist College/Ulster)
2 – Niall Scannell (Presentation College/Munster) (capt)
3 – Conor Carey (Methodist College/Ulster)
4 – David O’Mahony (Presentation College/Munster)
5 – Shane Buckley (Rockwell College/Munster)
6 – Emmet McMahon (St. Michael’s College/Leinster)
7 – David Doyle (Gonzaga College/Leinster)
8 – Colin Mallon (St. Michael’s College/Leinster)

Replacements (from): Niall Annett (Methodist College/Ulster), Andrew Conway (Blackrock College/Leinster), Peter du Toit (King’s Hospital/Leinster), Alex Kelly (St. Michael’s College/Leinster), Brendan Macken (Blackrock College/Leinster), Paddy Marks (RBAI/Ulster), Luke Marshall (Ballymena Academy/Ulster), Martin Moore (Castleknock College/Leinster), Jordi Murphy (Blackrock College/Leinster), Gareth Quinn McDonagh (Crescent CC/Munster), Aaron Spring (Sligo Grammar School/Connacht), James Tracy (Newbridge College/Leinster).

Management –

Manager – Lorcan Balfe
Coach – Paul Barr
Assistant Coach – Kenny Hooks

Ireland Under-18 Schools Result/Fixtures –

Sunday, April 12: Wales 15 Ireland 22, Parma
Wednesday, April 15 (Italy v Ireland) Parma kick-off 4.30pm
Saturday, April 18 (England v Ireland) Colorno kick-off 4pm