PwC Men’s Age-Grade Interprovincial Matches To Kick Off On August 10

The PwC Under-18 Men’s Interprovincial Championships will spring into life next month, with Connacht and Leinster defending their respective U-18 Clubs and Schools titles from last year.

The IRFU is delighted to confirm the fixtures for the upcoming age-grade tournaments, while the PwC Under-19 Men’s Interprovincial Series will also take place during an action-packed August and September period.

The U-18 Clubs and U-19 Men’s matches will be run off as double-headers at the same venues each week, apart from Sunday, August 18 when the Leinster and Munster teams at all three levels will battle it out against each other.

The U-18 Schools Interpros are in a double round-robin format, with Leinster, Munster, and Ulster having two home matches each to decide the destination of the trophy for 2024/25.

Coached by Jonny Graham, the Ulster U-18 Schools team have an opening trip to Virgin Media Park to play Munster on Saturday, August 10. That is followed by back-to-back home games in Belfast, and then a final round date with Leinster in Donnybrook.

The Leinster sides will want to make the most of home advantage when staging that August 18 triple header at Energia Park. Brett Igoe (U-18 Schools), Damien McCabe (U-18 Clubs), and Adam Griggs (U-19s) have the coaching reins again for the eastern province’s selections.

The Connacht squads have been busily training away at their Atlantic Technological University base, with Michael Harding, who guided Galway Corinthians to promotion in the Energia All-Ireland League, and Darin Claasen coming in as the new U-19 and U-18 head coaches respectively.

Aiden McNulty, the former Ireland Women’s Sevens head coach, is in charge of this year’s Munster Under-19 group, while Matt Brown and Gerry Casey, father of Munster and Ireland scrum half Craig, are at the helm of their respective U-18 Schools and Clubs squads.

Daryl Maxwell (U-18 Clubs) and Ricky Andrew (U-19s) complete the trio of Ulster head coaches, with 62% of the players in the province’s summer training squads coming from non-seeded high schools, clubs, and schools who enter the Schools competitions at the pool stages.

The U-18 Schools Interprovincial Championship will culminate with Munster hosting Leinster at Virgin Media Park on Wednesday, August 28, and then four days later, Igoe’s Leinster charges will entertain Ulster at Energia Park in the tournament’s final fixture.

Connacht, the reigning U-18 Clubs champions, have one home game at Creggs RFC, hosting Leinster on Saturday, August 24, either side of trips to Kingspan Stadium and Virgin Media Park.

PWC MEN’S AGE-GRADE INTERPROVINCIAL CHAMPIONSHIPS & SERIES:

PWC UNDER-18 SCHOOLS INTERPROVINCIAL CHAMPIONSHIP:

ROUND 1 –

Saturday, August 10:
MUNSTER U-18 SCHOOLS v ULSTER U-18 SCHOOLS, Highfield RFC, 2pm

Wednesday, August 14:
ULSTER U-18 SCHOOLS v LEINSTER U-18 SCHOOLS, Kingspan Stadium, 2pm

ROUND 2 –

Sunday, August 18:
LEINSTER U-18 SCHOOLS v MUNSTER U-18 SCHOOLS, Energia Park, 1pm

Saturday, August 24:
ULSTER U-18 SCHOOLS v MUNSTER U-18 SCHOOLS, Newforge Sports Complex, 2pm

ROUND 3 –

Wednesday, August 28:
MUNSTER U-18 SCHOOLS v LEINSTER U-18 SCHOOLS, Virgin Media Park, 2pm

Sunday, September 1:
LEINSTER U-18 SCHOOLS v ULSTER U-18 SCHOOLS, Energia Park, 2.30pm

PWC UNDER-18 CLUBS INTERPROVINCIAL CHAMPIONSHIP:

ROUND 1 –

Saturday, August 17:
ULSTER U-18 CLUBS v CONNACHT U-18 MEN, Kingspan Stadium, 4.30pm

Sunday, August 18:
LEINSTER U-18 CLUBS v MUNSTER U-18 CLUBS, Energia Park, 3pm

ROUND 2 –

Saturday, August 24:
CONNACHT U-18 MEN v LEINSTER U-18 CLUBS, Creggs RFC, 1pm

Sunday, August 25:
MUNSTER U-18 CLUBS v ULSTER U-18 CLUBS, Virgin Media Park, 1.30pm

ROUND 3 –

Saturday, August 31:
LEINSTER U-18 CLUBS v ULSTER U-18 CLUBS, Energia Park, 3pm

Sunday, September 1:
MUNSTER U-18 CLUBS v CONNACHT U-18 MEN, Virgin Media Park, 1pm

PWC UNDER-19 MEN’S INTERPROVINCIAL SERIES:

ROUND 1 –

Saturday, August 17:
ULSTER U-19 MEN v CONNACHT U-19 MEN, Kingspan Stadium, 6.30pm

Sunday, August 18:
LEINSTER U-19 MEN v MUNSTER U-19 MEN, Energia Park, 5pm

ROUND 2 –

Saturday, August 24:
CONNACHT U-19 MEN v LEINSTER U-19 MEN, Creggs RFC, 3.30pm

Sunday, August 25:
MUNSTER U-19 MEN v ULSTER U-19 MEN, Virgin Media Park, 3pm

ROUND 3 –

Saturday, August 31:
LEINSTER U-19 MEN v ULSTER U-19 MEN, Energia Park, 5pm

Sunday, September 1:
MUNSTER U-19 MEN v CONNACHT U-19 MEN, Virgin Media Park, 3pm