AARON SEXTON REPRESENTS the fresher faces among a strong Ireland men’s Sevens squad ramping up their World Series preparations with a tournament in Elche this weekend.
Sexton, whose impressive body of sprinting work featured an Ireland schoolboys title in the 200m with a mark of 20.69 seconds, only hung up his spikes over the summer to join Ulster’s academy.
The 19-year-old will be hoping to put his athleticism to use and impress with Ireland’s debut season in the World Series just a month away.
Another teenager, Cormac Izuchukwu, will hope to sustain the excellent form he showed during Ireland’s run to the final of the RugbyX tournament when he was Ireland’s top scorer with five tries.
Anthony Eddy’s men will face Portugal, the Viator 7s side and Scotland from 9.40am on Saturday with the knock-out rounds to follow on Sunday. Stan McDowell’s women’s side will face tough opposition in Spain, Poland, Belgium, France and also an Emerging France outfit.
Lucy Mulhall captains the side, whose World Series began in Glendale last month, with the prolific Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe among the experienced heads.
The IQ-recruited Grace Moore and Ulster’s Lucinda Kinghan hoping to break into the regular rotation.
Ireland squads for Elche 7s, 9 and 10 November
Men
Foster Horan (Lansdowne)
Adam Leavy (Lansdowne)
Harry McNulty (UCD)
John O’Donnell (Lansdowne)
Aaron O’Sullivan (Blackrock College/Leinster)
Cormac Izuchukwu (Old Wesley)
Mark Roche (Lansdowne)
Billy Dardis (Terenure College)(capt)
Greg O’Shea (Shannon)
Iwan Hughes (Ballynahinch/Ulster)
Terry Kennedy (St Mary’s College)
Jordan Conroy (Buccaneers)
Aaron Sexton (Malone/Ulster)
Peter Maher (Old Belvedere)
Hugo Lennox (Clontarf)
Women
Kathy Baker (Blackrock/Leinster)
Claire Boles (Railway Union/Leinster)
Megan Burns (Tullamore/Leinster)
Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe (Railway Union/Munster)
Anna Doyle (Tullow/Leinster)
Katie Fitzhenry (Blackrock/Leinster)
Louise Galvin (UL Bohemians/Munster)
Katie Heffernan (Mullingar/Railway Union/Leinster)
Eve Higgins (Railway Union/Leinster)
Lucinda Kinghan (DCU/Ulster)
Emily Lane (Mallow/Munster)
Maeve Liston (Blackrock/Ulster)
Grace Moore (IQ Rugby)
Lucy Mulhall (Rathdrum)(capt)
Deirbhile Nic a Bhaird (Old Belvedere/Munster)
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