Team News | Munster ‘A’ Side To Face Connacht Eagles

The Munster ‘A’ side has been named for Friday’s Interprovincial Championship clash against Connacht Eagles at Creggs RFC (2pm).

Academy back-row Ruadhán Quinn captains the side with fellow Academy members Darragh McSweeney, Evan O’Connell, Jake O’Riordan, Dylan Hicks, Gordon Wood, Fionn Gibbons and Shay McCarthy all starting.

Senior players Mark Donnelly, Cian Hurley, Brian Gleeson, Liam Coombes and Patrick Campbell all start with Academy players Kieran Ryan, Michael Foy, Luke Murphy, Gene O’Leary Kareem and Ben O’Connor named among the replacements. Senior player Andrew Smith is also named among the replacements.

Campbell starts at full-back with Coombes and McCarthy on the wings. The centre partnership is made up of Wood and Gibbons with O’Riordan and Hicks starting in the half-backs.

Up front, Donnelly starts at loosehead and he will be joined in the front-row by McSweeney at tighthead and Old Crescent’s Jonathan Byrne at hooker. UCC’s Conor Ryan joins O’Connell in the second-row while the back-row is made up of Hurley, Quinn and Gleeson.

Also among the replacements are Young Munster’s Arron Roulston, Highfield’s Conor Kennelly, Shannon’s Oisin Minogue, UCC’s Andrew O’Mahony, Garryowen’s Tom Wood and Cork Constitution’s Eoghan Smyth.

Munster: Patrick Campbell; Shay McCarthy, Fionn Gibbons, Gordon Wood, Liam Coombes; Dylan Hicks, Jake O’Riordan; Mark Donnelly, Jonathan Byrne, Darragh McSweeney; Conor Ryan, Evan O’Connell; Cian Hurley, Ruadhán Quinn, Brian Gleeson.

Replacements from: Arron Roulston, Kieran Ryan, Conor Kennelly, Michael Foy, Oisin Minogue, Luke Murphy, Andrew O’Mahony, Tom Wood, Eoghan Smyth, Gene O’Leary Kareem, Ben O’Connor, Andrew Smith.