Cork rugby players chip in as Ireland U18s win first two Six Nations games with England to come

IRELAND’S under-age production line continues to churn out a steady flow of players destined for greater things in the future if the current Six Nations U18 Schools Festival, which concludes in Dublin tomorrow, is any yardstick.

It’s not a championship as such because the tournament is restricted to three games for each of the six participating countries and not the usual five with one of the stipulations that all of the 26-strong squads must start at least once.

Rolling substitutions mean everyone is involved in all three matches at the Festival’s base at Energia Park’s Astro pitch at Donnybrook, where Ireland have certainly made a big impression under the guidance of well-known coach Paul Barr.

He enjoyed success at both PBC at Senior Cup level as well as with Cork Constitution in the AIL before taking up the position of Head Coach at both Terenure College and Terenure College RFC in the AIL last year.

In keeping with the trend of Leinster dominating international squads, the eastern province make up the bulk of the U18s with 17 representatives, Munster have eight, Connacht one with no Ulster players for some reason.

Three Cork players made the cut, centre Gene O’Leary-Kareem, a schools’ senior cup winner with PBC this season, second-row Michael Foy, who was on the CBC team beaten by their great rivals in the final, and out-half Dylan Hicks from Bantry Community College.

There are a couple of cup winners from last season, when Crescent College Comprehensive defeated Pres in the final, full-back Jed O’Dwyer and prop Mark Fitzgerald, while there are two from Ardscoil Ris in Limerick, number 8 Luke Murphy and prop Emmet Calvey, and flanker Oisin Minogue from St Munchin’s.

Ireland’s opening game was against the Scots, who competed well for the most part but couldn’t live with home side once they got into their stride.

Ireland led 22-10 at half-time before running out 36-20 winners in the end, crossing for five tries, one of which was converted by O’Leary-Kareem, who was joined in the starting 15 by O’Dwyer at full-back, Fitzgerald and Calvey in front row, Foy in the second row and Murphy at number 8.

One of the try scorers was Connacht’s lone representative Bryan Walsh from Colaiste Einde in Galway who stands a mere 6ft-9in. He came off the bench to claim his try.

MAKING STRIDES

Italy and France were the other winners on opening day. The Italians, who appear to be making strides at under-age level given their competitiveness in the U20 Six Nations, overcame Wales 29-8 while the French pipped England 23-22.

Ireland’s second game against Wales was far more one-sided with the home side scoring eight tries in a 48-17 rout having been 22-0 in front early on and 27-12 clear by the interval.

The team included O’Leary-Kareem, Hicks, Murphy and Minogue from the start with Bantry’s Hicks catching the eye in the number 10 role, a position he’s battling with the Ireland captain Evan Moynihan from St Mary’s in Dublin.

Murphy was one of the try scorers with Hicks kicking four conversions, including one effort from the touchline, in a dominant Irish performance, which was noteworthy for Moynihan’s role at inside centre, partnering O’Leary-Kareem in the midfield, and crossing twice in the process.

France flexed their muscles with a resounding 50-7 win over the Scots while the English rebounded from their narrow loss to the French by defeating the Italians 26-10.

The Festival wraps-up tomorrow with Ireland taking on England at 4.30pm which is preceded by France-Italy at 2.15pm while Scotland-Wales gets the show underway at 12 noon.

U19

Another Ireland under-age squad, the U19s, were in France for two games against their hosts and the travelling contingent included hooker Danny Sheahan, who was part of the Grand Slam-winning U20 squad this season.

His inclusion in the Munster squad for the final two games in the URC in South Africa once again illustrates the important role played by the schools and club programmes in developing players quickly for both provincial and international teams.

The first-year UCC student is joined by fellow College hooker Scott Buckley, who misses out on the final AIL game against Malone at the Mardyke this afternoon.