LEINSTER HAVE CONFIRMED that seven new players will join the Academy ahead of the commencement of the 2022/23 season.
Ben Brownlee (UCD RFC), James Culhane (UCD RFC), Aitzol Arenzana-King (Clontarf FC), Diarmuid Mangan (UCD RFC), Rory McGuire (UCD RFC), Sam Prendergast (Lansdowne FC) and Charlie Tector (Lansdowne FC) have all been inducted to the province’s Academy squad as Year One players.
All bar Prendergast were members of the 2022 Ireland U20 Grand Slam winning side, the Lansdowne FC youngster instead with the U19s earlier this season and currently with the U20s in Italy.
Tector and Arenzana-King are both 20, the rest are aged 19, and all have enjoyed glittering underage careers thus far.
📢 | #LeinsterRugby have confirmed that seven new players will join the Academy ahead of the 2022/23 season.
— Leinster Rugby (@leinsterrugby) July 8, 2022
📰 | Read the full story 👉 https://t.co/1qBaWVvGrf#FromTheGroundUp pic.twitter.com/iGOYDscMpB
Brownlee is a centre by trade, currently playing for UCD RFC. Wicklow No. 8 Culhane does likewise. His father, Paul, captained Ireland U21s and Irish Universities, while he’s also a talented footballer having represented Dublin for two years at the Kennedy Cup.
Arenzana-King is a versatile back who plays his club rugby with Clontarf, having also excelled for the Meath footballers up to inter-county minor level. Mangan can play in the second row or back row, and like Prendergast, is currently with the U20s in Italy.
McGuire grew up in the town of Winnetka, north of Chicago before later attending Blackrock College and now playing his club rugby with UCD RFC. Tector plies his trade at Lansdowne, having impressed for Ireland and Leinster through the years.
You can read more about each player here >
