Frankie Sheahan's nephews called up to Irish squad for U20 Six Nations Championship

DANNY and Jacob Sheahan are the sole representatives from Cork in the Ireland squad for the upcoming 2023 U20 Six Nations.

The brothers, who featured on the PBC team that lost the 2022 Munster Senior Cup final to Crescent College, will continue a fine tradition of UCC students putting on the green jersey in the prestigious tournament.

Ireland have just two home games this year in the championship and they will play those at Musgrave Park in Cork.

The first game will be against France on February 10th and that will be followed by England’s visit on March 19th.

The brothers are the nephews of Munster legend Frankie Sheahan, who played for PBC and won the biggest trophies in club rugby with the province.

Waterford-born Ike Anagu, who plays his club rugby under Ronan O’Gara at La Rochelle, is also named in the squad. The winger moved to South Africa from Ireland when he was just eight years old and he featured for the Golden Lions provincial side before joining La Rochelle in 2021.

Evan O’Connell, the nephew of Munster legend Paul, has also been called up to serve the national team. The lock was recently selected for the replacements bench for New Year’s Day’s meeting with Ulster at Ravenhill.

With such a talented group, Head Coach Richie Murphy cannot wait for the kick-off against Wales on February 3.

“We have been working hard for a number of weeks and it’s an exciting time for these young players, who have the honour of representing the wider group in the Six Nations,” he said.

“We as coaches have pushed the players over the last number of months and I have been impressed by their work-rate, commitment and application. Now our focus turns to performance and the opening game against Wales, which we know will be a big challenge first up.

“We are looking forward to the opportunities over the coming weeks and are excited by the prospect of an Ireland U20s team returning to Six Nations action at Musgrave Park in Cork, where we always have huge support.” 

Forwards (17):

George Morris (Lansdowne/Leinster) George Hadden (Clontarf/Leinster) Gus McCarthy (UCD/Leinster)(captain) Conall Henchy (DUFC/Munster) Danny Sheahan (UCC/Munster) Ronan Foxe (Leinster/Old Belvedere) Fiachna Barrett (Corinthians/Connacht) Paddy McCarthy (DUFC/Leinster) Conor O’Tighearnaigh (DUFC/Leinster) Charlie Irvine (Queen’s University/Ulster) Evan O’Connell (UL Bohemians/Munster) Joe Hopes (Queen’s University/Ulster) Jacob Sheahan (UCC/Munster) Diarmuid Mangan (UCD/Leinster) Ruadhán Quinn (Old Crescent/Munster) James McNabney (Ballymena/Ulster) Brian Gleeson (Garryowen/Munster) 

Backs (15):

Jack Oliver (Garryowen/Munster) Oscar Cawley (Naas/Leinster) Fintan Gunne (Terenure/Leinster) Sam Prendergast (Lansdowne/Leinster) Matthew Lynch (DUFC/Leinster) Harry West (Buccaneers/Connacht) Sam Berman (DUFC/Leinster) Hugh Gavin (Galwegians/Connacht) Hugh Cooney (Clontarf/Leinster) John Devine (Corinthians/Connacht) Ike Anagu (La Rochelle/IQ Rugby) James Nicholson (UCD/Leinster) Rory Telfer (Queen’s University/Ulster) Henry McErlean (Terenure/Leinster) Noah Sheridan (Clontarf/Leinster)