Ulster finish IRFU Academy 7s series strongly

7 November 2020

The inaugural IRFU Academy 7s Series concluded at the IRFU High Performance Centre on Saturday, as Ireland Men’s Sevens and the four Provinces produced another competitive day of action to boost players’ game-time and sharpen match intensity despite the disruption to the season caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

In the third and final round of the Series, Ulster were again hugely impressive on the third weekend of action in Dublin as Kieran Campbell‘s side, led by the experienced Greg Jones and boosted by the influential Aaron Sexton and Ireland Under-20 captain David McCann among others, produced some excellent rugby throughout.

Anthony Eddy‘s Ireland once again showed their quality and experience with a string of standout performances, but were pushed all the way by Ulster in the game of the day as the two sides traded blows in an entertaining 19-19 draw.

The value of the Series to the National Sevens squad and four Provinces was evident again as Senior, Academy and National Talent Squad players were given an invaluable opportunity to get back on the pitch and showcase their talents to Provincial and National coaches.

Building on their strong performances from Round 2, Connacht and Munster will travel back to Galway and Limerick respectively with grounds for optimism as they grew in stature and confidence as the Series progressed, while a number of National Talent Squad players were involved for Leinster.

IRFU Academy 7s, Round 3 Results:

Leinster 0-17 Ulster, IRFU High Performance Centre
Ireland 28-0 Connacht, IRFU High Performance Centre
Ireland 40-5 Leinster, IRFU High Performance Centre
Munster 21-0 Ulster, IRFU High Performance Centre
Munster 5-38 Ireland, IRFU High Performance Centre
Connacht 31-12 Leinster, IRFU High Performance Centre
Connacht 17-21 Munster, IRFU High Performance Centre
Ulster 19-19 Ireland, IRFU High Performance Centre
Leinster 12-24 Munster, IRFU High Performance Centre
Ulster 26-19 Connacht, IRFU High Performance Centre.

IRFU Academy 7s, Round 3 Squads:

Ireland: Aaron O’Sullivan, Ian Fitzpatrick, Gavin Mullin, Foster Horan, Jack Kelly, Mark Roche, Billy Dardis, Hugo Lennox, Terry Kennedy, Duran Krummeck, Peter Maher, Jordan Conroy, Eanna Madden.

Connacht: Cathal Forde, Shane Jennings, Sean O’Brien, Colm Reilly, Donnacha Byrne, Declan Adamson, Joshua Dunne, Oisin McCormack, Hubert Costello, Cian Prendergast, Cormac Daly, Eoin de Builtléar.

Leinster: Marcus Hanan, Lee Barron, Jack Boyle, Charlie Tector, Marcus Kiely, Jamie Osborne, Chris Cosgrave, Karl Martin, Joe McCarthy, Alex Soroka, Niall Comerford.

Munster: Nick Greene, Conor Moloney, Alan Flannery, Cian Hurley, Alex Kendellen, Jack Daly, Sean French, Jack Crowley, Jake Flannery, Alex McHenry, Liam Coombes, Scott Buckley, Mark Donnelly.

Ulster: David McCann, Azur Allison, Greg Jones, Jude Postlethwaite, Ben Carson, Conor McKee, Lewis Finlay, Bruce Houston, Conor Rankin, Aaron Sexton, Hayden Hyde, Ben Moxham.