Leinster Academy 2021-22

[mildlyinterested]

LH Prop
Michael Milne(Roscrea/UCD) - u22, Y3

TH Prop
Tom Clarkson(Blackrock/DUFC) - u21, Y2

Hooker
John McKee(Campbell/Old Belvedere) - u21, Y1

Lock
Charlie Ryan(Blackrock/UCD) - u22, Y2
Brian Deeny(Wexford RFC/Clontarf) - u21, Y2
Joe McCarthy(Blackrock/DUFC) - u20, Y1

Backrow
Martin Moloney(Athy RFC/Clontarf) - u22, Y2
Sean O’Brien(Blackrock/UCD) - u21, Y1
Alex Soroka(Belvedere/Clontarf) - u20, Y1

Scrumhalf
Patrick Patterson(Blackrock/UCD) - u23, Y3
Cormac Foley(St. Gerards/Lansdowne) - u22, Y2

Outhalf
David Hawkshaw(Belvedere/Clontarf) - u22, Y3

Centre
Liam Turner(Blackrock/DUFC) - u22, Y2

Back Three
Michael Silvester(Clongowes/DUFC) - u23, Y3
Aaron O’Sullivan(Exile/Blackrock) - u22, Y3
Max O’Reilly(St. Gerards/DUFC) - u21, Y1
Niall Comerford(Blackrock/UCD) - u21, Y1
Andrew Smith(St. Michaels/Clontarf) - u21, Y1



The Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) has finalised plans to facilitate the return of academy players following the return of senior squads in June.

All four provincial academy squads will return to their designated High Performance Centre on 20 July and follow the established COVID protocols to safeguard their return to rugby.

Academy players will complete an eight week pre-season before joining senior squad members to compete in a series of A fixtures in late September and early October.

There will also be three interprovincial 7s tournaments during this period which will see academy selections compete with the Ireland 7s squad.

Provincial Representative Season Outline

12 September 2020

Provincial A Fixtures Round 1

19 September 2020

Provincial 7s Tournament Round 1

26 September 2020

Provincial A Fixtures Round 2

3 October 2020

Provincial 7s Tournament Round 2

10 October 2020

Provincial A Fixtures Round 3

17 October 2020

Provincial 7s Tournament Round 3

12 December 2020

Provincial A Fixtures Round 4

16 January 2021

Provincial A Fixtures Round 5

3 April 2021

Provincial A Fixtures Round 6

[mildlyinterested]

Academy Y3
Michael Milne(21/LH Prop/Birr RFC-Roscrea/UCD)
Paddy Patterson(21/Scrumhalf/Blackrock/UCD) - 7's exp
David Hawkshaw(21/Outhalf/Belvedere/Clontarf)
Michael Silvester(22/Fullback/Clongowes/DUFC) - 7's exp
Aaron O'Sullivan(20/Wing/Exile/Blackrock) - 7's exp

Academy Y2
Tom Clarkson(20/TH Prop/Blackrock/DUFC)
Charlie Ryan(21/Lock/Blackrock/UCD)
Brian Deeny(20/Lock/Wexford RFC/Clontarf) - 7's exp
Martin Moloney(20/Openside/Athy RFC/Clontarf)
Cormac Foley(20/Scrumhalf/St. Gerards/Lansdowne)
Liam Turner(21/Centre/Blackrock/DUFC) - 7's exp

Academy Y1

[mildlyinterested]

Possible 7's players

Brian Deeny(20/Lock/Wexford RFC/Clontarf)
Paddy Patterson(21/Scrumhalf/Blackrock/UCD)
Cormac Foley(20/Scrumhalf/St. Gerards/Lansdowne)
Michael Silvester(22/Fullback/Clongowes/DUFC)
Liam Turner(21/Centre/Blackrock/DUFC)
Luis Faria(20/Centre/Wanderers/DUFC)
Rob Russell(21/Fullback/St. Michaels/DUFC)
Aaron O'Sullivan(20/Wing/Exile/Blackrock)
Max O'Reilly(20/Fullback/St. Gerards/DUFC)
Andrew Smith(20/Wing/St. Michaels/Clontarf)
Niall Comerford(20/Wing/Blackrock/UCD)
Josh O'Connor(19/Wing/Wexford RFC/UCD)

[mildlyinterested]

Possible 1st year academy players

LH Prop
Marcus Hanan(u21/Clane RFC/Old Belvedere) - 6'0, 104kg
Jack Boyle(u19/St. Michaels) - 6'0

Will Hanan get an academy offer? I'd expect him to be involved in preseason in the hopes to earn an academy place. Boyle could join academy straight from school, although unlikely.

TH Prop
Ben Griffin(u20/Castleknock) - 6'2
Aaron Rowan(u20/Athy RFC-Blackrock) - 6'1

Both will be in the sub-academy, don't see a new place for a TH prop in the official academy this summer.

Hooker
John McKee(u21/Campbell/Old Belvedere) - 6'0, 103kg
Bobby Sheehan(u21/Clongowes/UCD) - 6'5, 111kg
Lee Barron(u20/St. Michaels) - 6'3

Expect all three to be around academy/sub-academy, possibly competing for the same academy place during preseason.

Lock
Joe McCarthy(U20/Blackrock/DUFC) - 6'6, 110kg

Could be in sub-academy or full academy this summer, wait and see.

Backrow
Sean O'Brien(U21/Blackrock/UCD) - 6'4, 100kg
Mark Hernan(U21/St. Michaels/Lansdowne) - 6'2, 92kg
Alex Soroka(U20/Belvedere/Clontarf) - 6'5, 100kg
Will Hickey(U20/St. Michaels) - 6'3

Expected that SOB and Soroka will join official academy when it's announced, Hernan will likely need to earn a place during preseason. Hickey could join academy straight from school, but looks unlikely.

Scrumhalf
Ben Murphy(u20/Pres Bray/Clontarf) - 5'10, 75kg
Rob Gilsenan(u20/St.Michaels/UCD) - 6'1

Both will be in the sub-academy, don't see a new place for a scrumhalf in the official academy this summer.

Outhalf
Tim Corkery(u20/Kilkenny RFC/UCD) - 5'10, 85kg
Charlie Tector(u19/Kilkenny) - 6'1

Both will be in the sub-academy, don't see a new place for a outhalf in the official academy this summer.

Centre
Marcus Kiely(u20/Newbridge) - 6'3
Karl Martin(u19/Boyne RFC/Old Belvedere) - 6'2

Both will be in the sub-academy, don't see a new place for a centre in the official academy this summer.

Back Three
Andrew Smith(u21/St. Michaels/Clontarf) - 6'0, 85kg
Niall Comerford(U21/Blackrock/UCD) - 6'0, 85kg
Max O'Reilly(U21/St. Gerards/DUFC) - 6'1, 85kg
Josh O'Connor(u20/Wexford RFC/UCD) - 6'0
Jamie Osborne(u20/Naas RFC) - 6'3
Chris Cosgrave(u20/St.Michaels) - 6'0

Smith will be in academy when it's announced, i'd be surprised if Comerford or O'Reilly were. Might one of the u20 prospects join this summer? I guess it's possible after the preseason.

[wixfjord]

Some guys with interesting size profiles coming through there in Sheehan, Soroka, McCarthy.

Have heard a lot about Karl Martin, worthy of the hype?

[mildlyinterested]

Some guys with interesting size profiles coming through there in Sheehan, Soroka, McCarthy.

Have heard a lot about Karl Martin, worthy of the hype?

Still just 18, has a lot of athletic potential and rugby skill.. heard he needs to be more consistent game to game, but he was too good for his club age grade, and moved to play u20 rugby in Belvo as a u18 last season.. so certainly an exciting prospect.

played leinster u19 last season as a u18.
played two seasons of leinster u18 as a u16 and u17.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Some guys with interesting size profiles coming through there in Sheehan, Soroka, McCarthy.

Have heard a lot about Karl Martin, worthy of the hype?

Saw him in a trial game a couple of years ago and he ran the show from 12. Even then he was a serious unit and I had no idea he was that young until I discovered who he was afterwards. He really reminds me of Jauzion in the way he was able to bump tackles so easily and he always did it on his terms so that he could get offloads away if didn't manage to break free. Really good handling in close quarters or when he had made breaks and looked to link with people too. Also has a great boot on him. A real all rounder although my one worry would be that he didn't seem very quick.

I was disappointed that he wasn't heavily involved in games at that tournament in France last year, seemed to let the games pass him by a bit but when he did get involved he was brilliant.

[wixfjord]

Academy announcement coming 'early this week' according to Cummiskey in the IT.

[johng]

They put up an announcement last week that the Academy will be back training next Monday. So makes sense

[MadiganSquareGarden]

I understand that Joe McCarthy and Niall Comerford made the academy.

[mildlyinterested]

I understand that Joe McCarthy and Niall Comerford made the academy.

McCarthy wouldn't be a surprise, while Comerford would be as he didn't play for Ireland u20, of course that was more down to bad luck than anything else.

[mildlyinterested]

Leinster Academy to be announced today, Noel Mc to give interview at 11.30am: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4k_D0Z90z0

[mildlyinterested]

Leinster Rugby Academy – Year Three 2020/21:

David Hawkshaw(Outhalf/Belvedere/Clontarf) - u22
Michael Milne(LH Prop/Roscrea/UCD) - u22 (8 caps)
Aaron O’Sullivan(Wing/Exile/Blackrock) - u22
Patrick Patterson(Scrumhalf/Blackrock/UCD) - u23 (3 caps)
Michael Silvester(Fullback/Clongowes/DUFC) - u23

Leinster Rugby Academy – Year Two 2020/21:

Tom Clarkson(TH Prop/Blackrock/DUFC) - u21
Brian Deeny(Lock/Wexford RFC/Clontarf) - u21
Cormac Foley(Scrumhalf/St. Gerards/Lansdowne) - u22
Martin Moloney(Openside/Athy RFC/Clontarf) - u22
Charlie Ryan(Lock/Blackrock/UCD) - u22
Liam Turner(Centre/Blackrock/DUFC) - u22

Leinster Rugby Academy – Year One 2020/21:

John McKee(Hooker/Campbell/Old Belvedere) - u21
Joe McCarthy(Lock/Blackrock/DUFC) - u20
Alex Soroka(Backrow/Belvedere/Clontarf) - u20
Sean O’Brien(Backrow/Blackrock/UCD) - u21
Max O’Reilly(Fullback/St. Gerards/DUFC) - u21
Niall Comerford(Wing/Blackrock/UCD) - u21
Andrew Smith(Wing/St. Michaels/Clontarf) - u21

[mildlyinterested]

LH Prop
Michael Milne(Roscrea/UCD) - u22, Y3

TH Prop
Tom Clarkson(Blackrock/DUFC) - u21, Y2

Hooker
John McKee(Campbell/Old Belvedere) - u21, Y1

Lock
Charlie Ryan(Blackrock/UCD) - u22, Y2
Brian Deeny(Wexford RFC/Clontarf) - u21, Y2
Joe McCarthy(Blackrock/DUFC) - u20, Y1

Backrow
Martin Moloney(Athy RFC/Clontarf) - u22, Y2
Sean O’Brien(Blackrock/UCD) - u21, Y1
Alex Soroka(Belvedere/Clontarf) - u20, Y1

Scrumhalf
Patrick Patterson(Blackrock/UCD) - u23, Y3
Cormac Foley(St. Gerards/Lansdowne) - u22, Y2

Outhalf
David Hawkshaw(Belvedere/Clontarf) - u22, Y3

Centre
Liam Turner(Blackrock/DUFC) - u22, Y2

Back Three
Michael Silvester(Clongowes/DUFC) - u23, Y3
Aaron O’Sullivan(Exile/Blackrock) - u22, Y3
Max O’Reilly(St. Gerards/DUFC) - u21, Y1
Niall Comerford(Blackrock/UCD) - u21, Y1
Andrew Smith(St. Michaels/Clontarf) - u21, Y1

[mildlyinterested]

No players joining straight from school, which might surprise some.

Notable absentee's:

Prop
Marcus Hanan(U21/Clane RFC/Old Belvedere)
Ben Griffin(U20/Castleknock)
Aaron Rowan(U20/Blackrock)
Jack Boyle(U19/St. Michaels)

Hooker
Bobby Sheehan(U21/Clongowes/UCD)
Lee Barron(U20/St. Michaels)

Lock

Backrow
Mark Hernan(U21/St. Michaels/Lansdowne)
Will Hickey(U20/St. Michaels)

Scrumhalf
Ben Murphy(U20/Pres Bray/Clontarf)
Rob Gilsenan(U20/St. Michaels/UCD)

Outhalf
Tim Corkery(U20/Kilkenny RFC/UCD)

Centre
Marcus Kiely(U20/Newbridge)
Karl Martin(U19/Boyne RFC/Old Belvedere)

Back Three
Josh O'Connor(U20/Wexford RFC/UCD)
Jamie Osborne(U20/Naas RFC)
Chris Cosgrave(U20/St. Michaels)

[erskinechilders]

Back Three
Michael Silvester(Clongowes/DUFC) - u23, Y3
Aaron O’Sullivan(Exile/Blackrock) - u22, Y3
Max O’Reilly(St. Gerards/DUFC) - u21, Y1
Niall Comerford(Blackrock/UCD) - u21, Y1
Andrew Smith(St. Michaels/Clontarf) - u21, Y1

At least this shows Leinster are aware of the need to bolster their back three. You would be slightly worried about our depth in the front row based on the fact there are only 3 in the academy. But I suppose there are some very talented young lads ( Barron & Boyle in particular ).

Next years academy class already has the look of a vintage one with the like of Boyle, Barron, Hickey, Cosgrave ( Michaels still producing ) and the likes of Karl Martin, Ben Murphy etc.

[mildlyinterested]

Back Three
Michael Silvester(Clongowes/DUFC) - u23, Y3
Aaron O’Sullivan(Exile/Blackrock) - u22, Y3
Max O’Reilly(St. Gerards/DUFC) - u21, Y1
Niall Comerford(Blackrock/UCD) - u21, Y1
Andrew Smith(St. Michaels/Clontarf) - u21, Y1

At least this shows Leinster are aware of the need to bolster their back three. You would be slightly worried about our depth in the front row based on the fact there are only 3 in the academy. But I suppose there are some very talented young lads ( Barron & Boyle in particular ).

Next years academy class already has the look of a vintage one with the like of Boyle, Barron, Hickey, Cosgrave ( Michaels still producing ) and the likes of Karl Martin, Ben Murphy etc.

those 5 plus Cosgrave, Osborne and O'Connor coming through.. you'd wonder how supporting 7's factors into it.

[johng]

So We have....

Sean O'Brien. London Irish. Back row.

Sean O'Brien. Connacht. Back Row/2nd Row.

Sean O'Brien. Connacht Academy. Centre. (Brother of Conor)

Sean O'Brien. Leinster Academy. Back Row.

Any more?

[mildlyinterested]

irish u20 stats for academy players:

John McKee - 6'0, 103kg
Joe McCarthy - 6'6, 108kg
Alex Soroka - 6'5, 100kg
Sean O'Brien - 6'4, 98kg
Andrew Smith - 6'0, 86kg
Niall Comerford - 6'0, 84
Max O'Reilly - 6'1, 86kg

[mildlyinterested]

remarkably only 1 player from st. michaels in the academy and 7 from blackrock.

2 from Gerards, 2 from club rugby, 1 from roscrea, 1 from belvedere, 1 from clongowes, 1 exile and 1 from ulster