LEINSTER HAVE NAMED a youthful ‘A’ squad for their two-game trip to Boston for the final games of the inaugural Cara Cup development competition.
Four of the recent Ireland U20 squad are included in the travelling party which departed for America yesterday, ahead of games against Munster ‘A’ and the New England Free Jacks.
Ryan Baird, Giuseppe Coyne, Aaron O’Sullivan and Rob Russell were all part of Noel McNamara’s squad for the Grand Slam-winning championship campaign, and will be keen to kick on now for their province.
Prop Vakh Abdaladze, who has made six senior Leinster appearances, is joined by academy players Oisín Dowling, Jimmy O’Brien, Ronan Kelleher, Jack Kelly, Gavin Mullin and Paddy Patterson, all of whom have featured in the Pro14 this season.
Clontarf number eight Ruadhan Byron, who led Belvedere College to Leinster Senior Schools Cup glory two years ago, is also named in the 22-man panel, as is tighthead prop Roman Salanoa, who is a former high school American football player from Hawaii.
Leinster face Munster at Union Points Sports Complex on Wednesday before playing US outfit New England Free Jacks at Harvard Mignone Field in Massachusetts on Sunday.
Last weekend, Munster kicked off their mini-tour with a 38-19 victory over the Free Jacks, thanks to tries from Alan Tynan, Alex Wootton, Gavin Coombes, captain Duncan Williams, Sean O’Connor and James McCarthy.
Leinster ‘A’: Vakh Abdaladze, Jack Aungier, Ryan Baird, Ruadhan Byron, Giuseppe Coyne, Oisín Dowling, Mark Flemming, Gerard Hill, Ronan Kelleher, Conor Kelly, Jack Kelly, Gavin Mullin, Shane Murphy, Jimmy O’Brien, Brian O’Donnell, Max O’Reilly, Aaron O’Sullivan, Paddy Patterson, Rob Russell, Roman Salanoa, Dan Sheehan, James Tarrant.
Fixtures:
Wednesday, 10 April:
- Leinster ‘A’ v Munster ‘A’, Union Point Sports Complex, 1am Irish time
Sunday, 14 April:
- New England Free Jacks v Leinster ‘A’, Harvard Mignone Field, 11pm Irish time.
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