British & Irish Lions
• British & Irish Lions tour Australia in 2013
Ireland Rugby
Squad for Churchill Cup announced
The Churchill Cup is often viewed as a tournament in which the second teams of countries take part and the Ireland A Squad was announced today for this tournament. The event takes place in Colorado in the United States and the squad sees the inclusion of six players that have been capped at senior level.
Despite the impression that this is a second string side tournament, these players are going to benefit from the coaching of the senior staff. It is all part of their plan to increase the number of players that can be considered for the senior team that is set to take part in the 2011 World Cup.
John Muldoon as been selected as the team’s captain and he will be working closely with management to groom players that are less experienced. Isaac Boss and Neil Best are amongst the more experienced players that are in the squad. The group will also later be joined by some players set to take part in the Heineken Cup Final.
The tournament is expected to be a tough one but all the players are looking forward to the opportunity to prove their mettle for selection to the senior side.
Ireland A Churchill Cup Squad (27):
John Andress (Exeter Chiefs) *
Neil Best (Northampton Saints)
Isaac Boss (Ballymena/Ulster)
Tony Buckley (Shannon/Munster)
Fionn Carr (Galwegians/Connacht)*
Sean Cronin (Buccaneers/Connacht)*
James Downey (Northampton Saints) *
Dennis Fogarty (Cork Constitution/Munster)*
Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster)*
Chris Henry (Ballymena/Ulster)*
Trevor Hogan (Blackrock College/Leinster)
Denis Hurley (Cork Constitution/Munster)*
Felix Jones (Old Belvedere/Leinster)*
Simon Keogh (Old Belvedere/Leinster)*
Keith Matthews (Buccaneers/Connacht)*
Fergus McFadden (UCD/Leinster)*
John Muldoon (Buccaneers/Connacht)* Captain
Frank Murphy (Buccaneers/Connacht)*
Johne Murphy (Leicester Tigers)*
Sean O’Brien (Clontarf/Leinster)*
Niall O’Connor (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster)*
Ed O’Donoghue (Instonians/Ulster)*
Niall Ronan (Shannon/Munster)*
Donnacha Ryan (Shannon/Munster)
Jonathan Sexton (St Mary’s College/Leinster)*
Devon Toner (Lansdowne/Leinster)*
Bryan Young (Ballymena/Ulster)