Academy Year: One 

Garryowen lock/flanker Joe Finn is a former Cistercian College Roscrea student who started out at Ballina-Killaloe RFC.

Remarkably, he becomes the fifth player from Ballina-Killaloe to earn an Academy contract in the past four years, following in the footsteps of Ruadhán Quinn, Oisín Minogue, Gordon Wood and Tom Wood.

Finn was another prominent performer for the Ireland U20s this year and started on his debut against South Africa in November before playing all five games of the Six Nations.

Along with his international exploits, he also made 11 appearances for Garryowen this season.