14 Aug Four U17 Stars Represent North-Leinster in Energia Park
The assembly line of young talent at Balreask Old continues to deliver on the provincial stage, as four of our Under-17 players represented the club with distinction in Dublin this week.
On Thursday, 13th August, Evan Lynch, Asanka Varney, Sean Masterson, and Killian Fagan stepped onto the astro pitch at Energia Park, Donnybrook, lining out for a combined North-Leinster Under-17 Clubs selection against a formidable Leinster Schools lineup.
The North-Leinster side, featuring a combination of top age-grade talent from across the Midlands, North-East & Metro areas, faced a sharp, high-intensity test against schoolboy opposition.
In addition, there have been changes to the Under 17 Boys pathway programme, which used to be aligned with the five areas of the BearingPoint Shane Horgan Cup. “We have condensed that into a two-area programme between north and south,” explains Leinster U-18 Boys Clubs Head Coach Ken Moore. “This is designed to be more quality-focused, spending more time, earlier, with our better players.” This also serves to amalgamate the players, bring them closer, earlier into two groups rather than stay with the more adversarial five areas.
Simultaneously on the adjacent pitch, a Leinster-South squad (comprising South-East & North-Midlands area players) took on a second Leinster Schools squad, creating a vibrant showcase of provincial youth rugby in the capital.
Our four Navan lads put in fantastic shifts across the park, demonstrating sharp skills, physical work rate, and excellent team spirit in their first competitive fixture of the season.
This clash marks the opening match of a crucial pre-season preparation block, with two more high-calibre fixtures planned before the end of August.
These matches serve as a primary development step and selection platform as coaches assemble their squads ahead of the season ahead.
Navan Quartet Featured in Energia Park
- Pictured (Left to Right): Evan Lynch, Asanka Varney, Sean Masterson, and Killian Fagan.
It was a great game and a proud day for the players, their families, and their coaches at Balreask Old.
Congratulations to Evan, Asanka, Sean & Killian on a fine performance, keep up the hard work as pre-season continues!