Emerging Ireland Squad Named For Tbilisi Cup

The Emerging Ireland coaching ticket of Allen Clarke and Girvan Dempsey, working in tandem with the Ireland senior management, have named a squad of 27 players to travel to Georgia to compete in the World Rugby Tbilisi Cup next month.

Ulster forwards coach Allen Clarke and Leinster’s Academy Manager Girvan Dempsey take charge of an Emerging Ireland squad who will face off against Emerging Italy, Uruguay and Georgia.

The squad includes five players who have been capped at senior level for Ireland – Stephen Archer (2), James Cronin (2), Rob Herring (1), Noel Reid (1) and Rhys Ruddock (5).
 
Clarke commented: “This competition gives us the opportunity to develop some of the emerging talent from the four provinces with the support of some experienced players in a very challenging tournament format.  

“It’s a great opportunity to see how these players react and perform faced with the challenge of a short preparation.”
 
Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt said: “There are some exciting prospects in this Emerging Ireland squad and the Tbilisi Cup is an ideal challenge for them, especially as both Georgia and Uruguay will be using this tournament to springboard their Rugby World Cup campaigns.”
 
Emerging Ireland will play Emerging Italy in their opening game of the tournament on Saturday, June 13.

Four days later they take on Uruguay with their final game coming against host nation Georgia on Sunday, June 21. Both Uruguay and Georgia will compete in this year’s Rugby World Cup in England.

EMERGING IRELAND SQUAD (2015 World Rugby Tbilisi Cup, Tbilisi, Georgia, June 13-21):

Stephen Archer (Cork Constitution/Munster)
Finlay Bealham (Corinthians/Connacht)
Denis Buckley (Corinthians/Connacht)
Andrew Conway (Garryowen/Munster)
John Cooney (Terenure College/Connacht)
James Cronin (Dolphin/Munster)
Eoin Griffin (London Irish)
JJ Hanrahan (UL Bohemians/Munster)
Matt Healy (Lansdowne/Connacht)
Dave Heffernan (Buccaneers/Connacht)
Rob Herring (Ballynahinch/Ulster)
Billy Holland (Cork Constitution/Munster)
Cian Kelleher (Lansdowne/Leinster)
Dan Leavy (UCD/Leinster)
Ben Marshall (Old Belvedere/Leinster)
Eoghan Masterson (Corinthians/Connacht)
Stuart McCloskey (Ballynahinch/Ulster)
Luke McGrath (UCD/Leinster)
Eoin McKeon (Corinthians/Connacht)
Peter Nelson (Malone/Ulster)
Tiernan O’Halloran (Buccaneers/Connacht)
Noel Reid (Clontarf/Leinster)
Rhys Ruddock (St. Mary’s College/Leinster)
Rory Scannell (Dolphin/Munster)
Lewis Stevenson (Malone/Ulster)
Frankie Taggart (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster)
Andrew Warwick (Ballymena/Ulster)

Emerging Ireland Management Team –

Allen Clarke – Coach
Girvan Dempsey – Assistant Coach
Joey Miles – Manager
Jim McShane – Team Doctor
Karl Denvir – Physio
Sean Mannion – Team Analyst
Aidan O’Connell – S&C Coach
Johnny O’Hagan – Baggage Man
Carmel O’Dwyer – Squad Coordinator
 
2015 WORLD RUGBY TBILISI CUP FIXTURES:

Saturday, June 13 –

Emerging Italy v Emerging Ireland, Avchala Stadium, 5pm local time/2pm Irish time
Georgia v Uruguay, Avchala Stadium, 7pm local time

Wednesday, June 17 –

Uruguay v Emerging Ireland, Avchala Stadium, 5pm local time/2pm Irish time
Georgia v Emerging Italy, Avchala Stadium, 7pm local time

Sunday, June 21 –

Uruguay v Emerging Italy, Avchala Stadium, 5pm local time
Georgia v Emerging Ireland, Avchala Stadium, 7pm local time/4pm Irish time