England U18 name squad for FIRA/AER European Championship in France

Posted on Mar 21, 2013 in England U18

England Under 18 coaches John Fletcher, Peter Walton and Ian Peel have named their squad for the 2013 FIRA/AER European Championship, held in Grenoble.

Defending champions England face Portugal in their first game on Friday March 22 (KO 7pm local time) before readying themselves for a potential semi-final and final.  

Head Coach Fletcher said: “We’ve got a good squad for this tournament but we know that it will be a challenge. We’re missing a few lads; Alfie Barron, Max Clark, Brett Herron and Will Owen are injured unfortunately, but it gives an opportunity for guys to come in and impress.

"Our aim is to build on the recent performances against Scotland and Wales and improve through the three games"

Forwards

Andrew Boyce (Worcester Warriors & Kings Worcester)
Andrew Hughes (Sale Sharks & Hartpury College)
Charlie Ewels (Bath Rugby & Bryanston School)
Charlie Hewitt (Exeter Chiefs & Ivybridge College)
Lewis Boyce (Leeds Carnegie & Prince Henry’s Grammar)
Jack Walker (Leeds Carnegie & Prince Henry’s Grammar)
James Chisholm (Harlequins & Brighton College)
Jordan Onjoaife (Northampton Saints & Stowe School)
Josh Peters (Northampton Saints & Oundle School)
Matt Bolwell (Exeter Chiefs & Truro College)
Luke Chapman (Exeter Chiefs & Truro College)
Neale Farthing (Leicester Tigers  & Wyggeston & Queen Elizabeth College)
Paul Hill (Leeds Carnegie & Prince Henry’s Grammar)
Sam James (Saracens & Bishops Stortford)

Backs

George Perkins (Saracens & Oaklands College)
Howard Packman (Northampton Saints & Moulton College)
James Mitchell (Sale Sharks & Lymm School)
Josh Sharp (Saracens & Oaklands College)
Josh Skelcey (Northampton Saints & Moulton College)
Louis Clayton-Molloy (London Wasps & Harrow School)
Nick Tompkins (Saracens & Oaklands College)
Stuart Townsend (Exeter Chiefs & Ivybridge College)
Tom Fowlie (London Irish & St Pauls Catholic College)
Tom Howe (London Wasps & Shiplake College)
Lucas Slowik (Bristol Rugby & Filton College)
Rory Jennings (Bath Rugby & Bryanston School)

Ireland team to play Italy

Posted on Mar 14, 2013 in Ireland

The Ireland team to play Italy in the RBS 6 Nations Championship this Saturday has been named.

The side shows two changes to the starting fifteen from the last outing, with both changes being made to the backline. Craig Gilroy, who missed the game against France with a groin strain, returns on the right wing in place of Fergus McFadden who is unavailable due to a rib injury.

Ireland outside half Jonathan Sexton has been ruled out of the game.

Sexton, who had recovered from the hamstring injury that had kept him out and was named in the starting XV earlier today, went over on his foot in training.

A scan has confirmed that he has torn a tendon in his left foot and is therefore ruled out this weekend.

Paddy Jackson will start the game, earning his 3rd cap. Ian Madigan, who made his debut against France last weekend,comes in to the replacements.

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Ireland Women’s Team to play Italy Women

Posted on Mar 14, 2013 in Ireland Women

The Ireland Women’s team to play Italy has been named.

Doyle has named two changes to the starting line-up that overcame France last week. Niamh Kavanagh and Grace Davitt return to the starting XV.

Davitt has been named in the centre replacing Jenny Murphy who picked up a hamstring injury in the game against France. Kavanagh comes in on the wing replacing Ashleigh Baxter who takes her place on the bench.

Heather O’Brien and Shannon Houston have also been included in the replacements.

The Irish side face into this fixture on the back of four wins from four in the tournament so far and have already secured the 2013 championship.

Speaking ahead of the game, Coach Philip Doyle said

“It’s a testament to Ross Callaghan’s strength and conditioning of the squad that we have got this far without injury. Unfortunately Jenny Murphy picked up a knock in the last game and she is missing this weekend but it’s great that we have the depth in the squad that we can call on Grace Davitt to easily slip into the starting lineup. “

“We know it’s a huge task ahead of us this weekend an there is a lot of expectation on our shoulders but at the end of the day it’s a game of rugby that we have to go out to win and it will be treated as another international match that the team are well up for.”

“Italy has shown in their past matches that they are very resilient and without doubt will be a huge task for our girls to break them down.”

Sunday’s game will be broadcast live from Milan Park on RTE Two with coverage starting at 13.45hrs GMT.

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Ireland team to play France

Posted on Mar 6, 2013 in Ireland

The Ireland team to play France in the RBS 6 Nations has been named.

There are three confirmed changes from the last outing, with Mike McCarthy and Cian Healy coming into the forwards in place of Donncha O’Callaghan and Tom Court respectively.

Craig Gilroy has failed to recover sufficiently from his groin strain and has been ruled out of the game with Fergus McFadden coming into the team on the right wing in his place.

An opening has been left in the match 23 for the starting and replacement out half positions as Paddy Jackson has a tight hamstring which was being carefully monitored during training this morning.

Declan Fitzpatrick has also been ruled out of the game due to a calf strain and his position among the replacements will be confirmed later in the week.

The Ireland Team to play France on Saturday 9th March 2013 in Aviva Stadium, Dublin in the RBS 6 Nations Championship, K.O. 5:00 pm, is:

(Player/club/province/international caps):

15 – Rob Kearney (UCD/Leinster/44)
14 – Fergus McFadden (Old Belvedere/Leinster/16)
13 – Brian O’Driscoll (UCD/Leinster/123)
12 – Luke Marshall (Ballymena/Ulster/1)
11 – Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster/37)
10 – A.N. Other 
9 – Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster/17)
1 – Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster/37)
2 – Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster/65)
3 – Mike Ross (Clontarf/Leinster/27)
4 – Mike McCarthy (Buccaneers/Connacht/8)
5 – Donnacha Ryan (Shannon/Munster/26)
6 – Peter O’Mahony (Cork Constitution/Munster/12)
7 – Sean O’Brien (UCD/Leinster/25)
8 – Jamie Heaslip (Dublin University/Leinster/55) Captain

Replacements:
16 – Sean Cronin (St. Mary’s College/Leinster/24)
17 – David Kilcoyne (UL Bohemians/Munster/5)
18 – A.N. Other
19 – Donncha O’Callaghan (Cork Constitution/Munster/93)
20 – Iain Henderson (Ballynahinch/Ulster/3)
21 – Eoin Reddan (Lansdowne/Leinster/49)
22 – A.N. Other
23 – Luke Fitzgerald (Blackrock College /Leinster/24)

Wales name squad for Italian job

Posted on Feb 19, 2013 in Wales

Wales have announced their full 23-man squad for the RBS 6 Nations fixture against Italy on Saturday. Interim head coach Rob Howley confirmed last week that an unchanged line-up will take to the field at the Stadio Olimpico as reward for their 16-6 victory over France.

Howley has today named his full squad for the trip to Rome which features just two changes, both of which occur on the bench with the return from injury of Sam Warburton and Alun Wyn Jones. The experienced duo replace Aaron Shingler and Lou Reed respectively, with the make-up of the rest of the replacements unchanged from the victory in Paris.

“We announced last week that we would reward the starting XV that beat France by keeping faith with the same line-up for this weekend’s game,” said Howley.“The side is fit and raring to go and on the bench we have brought in Sam and Alun Wyn, who have both returned from injury which is a boost to the squad.

“In France the players showed real determination and resilience and we will need that again in Rome.  Italy have already showed so far in this campaign what they are capable of, so we know the challenge we will be facing on Saturday.”

WALES SQUAD

Leigh Halfpenny, Alex Cuthbert, Jonathan Davies, Jamie Roberts, George North, Dan Biggar, Mike Phillips; Gethin Jenkins, Richard Hibbard, Adam Jones, Andrew Coombs, Ian Evans, Ryan Jones (C), Justin Tipuric, Toby Faletau.

REPLACEMENTS: Ken Owens, Paul James, Craig Mitchell, Alun Wyn Jones, Sam Warburton, Lloyd Williams, James Hook, Scott Williams.