Borthwick out of England EPS

Posted on Jul 1, 2010 in Rugby News

England today named the 32-man Senior and Saxons Elite Player Squads for the 2010/11 season.

The changes made to the Senior EPS since the last announcement in January include the elevation of forwards David Attwood, George Chuter, Dan Cole, Paul Doran-Jones, Hendre Fourie and Tom Palmer. The backs promoted are Chris Ashton, David Strettle, Mike Tindall, Dominic Waldouck and Ben Youngs.

Players who appeared in the 2010 RBS 6 Nations stepping down into the Saxons EPS include Steve Borthwick, who led the side against Wales, Italy, Ireland and Scotland, Ugo Monye, Mathew Tait and Louis Deacon.

England Team Manager Martin Johnson said: “This was undoubtedly the most difficult EPS selection we’ve had to make in my time in the job. I think we’ve picked the best players and the fact that some experienced guys have missed out goes to show the depth we’ve now got.

“Leaving Steve Borthwick out was a very hard decision. He’s done a fantastic job for England over the last couple of years and it’s the most difficult call we’ve had to make. It is very tough on Steve but it goes to show the depth of talent we’ve got in that area.

“We want to build on what we’ve done this summer and a Southern Hemisphere tour that was hugely beneficial and a really positive experience for the group. We were able to give lots of opportunities to players and expose them to a high level of rugby.”

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Ireland to play Baa-baas

Posted on Dec 9, 2009 in Rugby News

The Irish Rugby Football Union today confirmed that Ireland will play the Barbarians for The MasterCard Trophy at Thomond Park, Limerick on Friday 4th June 2010 – Kick off 7.45pm. This match will form part of Ireland’s 2010 Southern Hemisphere tour preparations and the Barbarians’ Summer Tour, with a fixture against England the week before.

This will be the first time that Ireland has played the Barbarians in Ireland since 2000. The most recent meeting between the two sides also coincided with the last Southern Hemisphere tour Ireland undertook in 2008 when Ireland played the Barbarians in Gloucester, winning the game 39-14.

Following the Baa-Baa’s game in Limerick, the Ireland squad will depart to New Zealand and Australia where they are currently scheduled to play two games on the tour against the All Blacks on June 12th and the Wallabies on June 26th.

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Ireland Under-19 side to take on Australia

Posted on Nov 26, 2009 in Rugby News

The Ireland Under-19 side will take on their Australian counterparts in their first fixture of the season. The game will take place on Tuesday the 2nd of December in Cork IT under floodlights with a 7.30pm kick-off.

Ireland Under 19′s are coached by Allen Clarke who is assisted by Colin McEntee and Jonathan Bell. The side will be captained by Blackrock’s Jordi Murphy.

Speaking ahead of the game, coach Allen Clarke said “The Under 19′s is an integral part of the National Representative Pathway. As a nation it is our first combined age grade side.”

“The match against Australia provides a unique occasion to measure our young Irish talent against the best from the Southern Hemisphere whilst offering Irish Rugby the opportunity to benchmark the quality of our Elite Player Development Programs and the quality of this year group leading into next seasons Under 20′s Six Nations and Junior World Championship tournaments.”

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