Emerging Ireland Squad Departs For Bloemfontein
The Emerging Ireland squad have completed a three-day camp in the IRFU High Performance Centre in Dublin and will depart this evening for Bloemfontein ahead of their participation in the Toyota Challenge.
Ciarán Frawley has been ruled out with a shoulder injury picked up playing for Leinster against Benetton Rugby in the United Rugby Championship on Friday night.
Connacht’s Cathal Forde has been with the Emerging Ireland squad since Friday and will now travel to South Africa. Forde represented the Ireland Under-20s in 2021 and made his Connacht debut against Glasgow Warriors last season.
Caolin Blade picked up an injury playing for Connacht against the DHL Stormers yesterday and has been ruled out of the tour Leinster scrum half Ben Murphy, who was a member of Ireland’s 2020 U-20 Six Nations squad, has joined the group travelling to South Africa.
Unfortunately, Munster back rower Alex Kendellen and Leinster’s Alex Soroka have also both been ruled out of travelling to Bloemfontein. Kendellen will complete his return-to-play process, while Soroka aggravated an existing foot issue.
Ulster’s David McCann joined the Emerging Ireland squad on Friday. He was a member of the 2019 U-20 Six Nations Grand Slam-winning side before captaining the Ireland U-20s during the 2020 season.
The squad will depart for South Africa this evening and arrive in Bloemfontein on Tuesday ahead of their first game against the Windhoek Draught Griquas at Toyota Stadium on Friday (kick-off 1.45pm local time/12.45pm Irish time).
It is hoped that all three Emerging Ireland fixtures will be available via a livestream on IrishRugby.ie – details to follow.
EMERGING IRELAND SQUAD – TOYOTA CHALLENGE 2022:
Backs (15) –
Robert Baloucoune (Enniskillen/Ulster)
Jack Crowley (Cork Constitution/Munster)
Shane Daly (Cork Constitution/Munster)
Nathan Doak (Banbridge/Ulster)
Cathal Forde (Galway Corinthians/Connacht)
Jake Flannery (Ballynahinch/Ulster)
Antoine Frisch (Munster)
Michael McDonald (Ulster)
Ethan McIlroy (Ballynahinch/Ulster)
Stewart Moore (Malone/Ulster)
Chay Mullins (Connacht/IQ Rugby)
Ben Murphy (Clontarf/Leinster)
Calvin Nash (Young Munster/Munster)
Jamie Osbourne (Naas/Leinster)
Andrew Smith (Clontarf/Leinster)
Forwards (19) –
Tom Ahern (Shannon/Munster)
Diarmuid Barron (Garryowen/Munster)
Thomas Clarkson (Dublin University/Leinster)
James Culhane (UCD/Leinster)
Max Deegan (Lansdowne/Leinster)
Brian Deeny (Clontarf/Leinster)
John Hodnett (UCC/Munster)
Sam Illo (Buccaneers/Connacht)
Cormac Izuchukwu (Ballynahinch/Ulster)
David McCann (Banbridge/Ulster)
Joe McCarthy (Dublin University/Leinster)
Michael Milne (UCD/Leinster)
Scott Penny (UCD/Leinster)
Cian Prendergast (Connacht)
Callum Reid (Banbridge/Ulster)
Roman Salonoa (Shannon/Munster)
Tom Stewart (Ballynahinch/Ulster)
Dylan Tierney-Martin (Galway Corinthians/Connacht)
Josh Wycherley (Young Munster/Munster)
Emerging Ireland Toyota Challenge 2022 Fixtures:
Windhoek Draught Griquas v Emerging Ireland
Toyota Stadium, Bloemfontein
Friday, September 30, kick-off 1.45pm local time/12.45pm Irish time
Airlink Pumas v Emerging Ireland
Toyota Stadium, Bloemfontein
Wednesday, October 5, kick-off 5pm local time/4pm Irish time
Toyota Cheetahs v Emerging Ireland
Toyota Stadium, Bloemfontein
Sunday, October 9, kick-off 3pm local time/2pm Irish time