Churchill Cup - Ireland A

http://www.barclayschurchillcuprugby.com/

Ireland will be taking on Canada, England, Scotland, New Zeland Maori and the USA in this 6 nations style comp. They start with a match against the US tonight.

Michael Bradley is the coach and has brought a 28 man panel.

IRELAND 'A' 2006 CHURCHILL CUP SQUAD:

Backs (13):
Player / Senior Caps / A Caps
Bryn Cunningham (Dungannon/Ulster) 0 (3)
Ian Dowling (Shannon/Munster) 0 (1)
John Hearty (Galwegians/Connacht) 0 (1)
Eoghan Hickey (UCD/Leinster) 0 (0)
Chris Keane (Buccaneers/Connacht) 0 (2)
Robert Kearney (UCD/Leinster) 0 (1)
Simon Keogh (Harlequins) 0 (0)
Mossie Lawlor (Shannon/Munster) 0 (2)
Kieran Lewis (St. Mary's College/Leinster) 1 (3)
Andrew Maxwell (Ballymena/Ulster) 0 (0)
Tomas O'Leary (Dolphin/Munster) 0 (2)
David Quinlan (Northampton) 2 (1)
Paddy Wallace (Ballymena/Ulster) 0 (8)

Forwards (15):
Brian Blaney (Terenure College/Leinster) 0 (1)
Damien Browne (Northampton) 0 (0)
Tom Court (Ballymena/Ulster) 0 (0)
Declan Fitzpatrick (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster) 0 (0)
John Fogarty (Buccaneers/Connacht) 0 (2)
David Gannon (Buccaneers/Connacht) 0 (0)
Jamie Heaslip (Clontarf/Leinster) 0 (2)
Ray Hogan (Galwegians/Connacht) 0 (2)
Trevor Hogan (Shannon/Munster) 2 (2)
Shane Jennings (Leicester) (Captain) 0 (3)
John Muldoon (Galwegians/Connacht) 0 (0)
Ronan McCormack (UCD/Leinster) 0 (4)
Matt McCullough (Ballymena/Ulster) 4 (3)
Neil McMillan (Ballymena/Ulster) 0 (0)
Roger Wilson (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster) 1 (3)

Ian Dowling is out with illness now.McPhillips from Connacht has replaced him.

IRELAND A TOPS USA, 28-13, IN CHURCHILL OPENER
June 3, 2006

SANTA CLARA, Calif.- A new USA Rugby Men's National Team jumped to a 3-0 lead in the second minute play on the first of Francois Viljoen's two penalty kicks, but Ireland A responded with a 10-0 run to take the game's final lead en route to a 28-13 win in front of an estimated 4,000 fans in the Barclay's Churchill Cup U.S. opener at Buck Shaw Stadium here Saturday.

The Eagles played their first match for new coach Peter Thorburn and had performed admirably despite learning the processes the new coaching staff wants to put into place.

The Eagles were off to a great start with a penalty kick by Francois Villjoen to put the score at 3-0 in the second minute of action. Ireland flyhalf Paddy Wallace would even up the score with a penalty seven minutes later.

Ireland scored twice in the span of six minutes in the first half with rolling mauls. Outside center John Fogarty scored the first of the tries, while hooker John Fogarty scored the second to bring the score to 16-3. Villjoen would add another penalty near the end of the half to make the score 16-6 at the break.

The hookers from both squads, Owen Lentz from the United States and had a bit of a tussle and John Fogarty for the Irish, had a bit of a tussle and were sent to the sin bin in the latter stages of the first half.

The U. S. had a try opportunity that was negated early on into the second half, but the opportunity was set up by great play from Eagles skipper Kort Schubert. Schubert took two Irish with him into the try zone and dished the ball off to Eskika, when the pass was ruled forward.

The Eagles had a great scoring chance early in the second half with a beautiful 30 meter run by flanker Todd Clever and passed the ball off to Mike Palefau, who was brought into touch just meters short of the try line.

Ireland scored twice more in the second half with tries from Fogarty and left wing Andrew Mawell with a few minutes left before Salesi Sika of the U. S. took the ball from a ruck up the middle and scored the Eagles only try on the day just before the final whistle.

Ireland used their physical presence for their scoring, with three out of four tries scored on rolling mauls from lineouts close to the Eagles' try line.

Eagles coach Peter Thorburn thought the team played quite well and said, 'We just need to get players onto the ball carrier.'

Irish captain Shane Jennings thought the Eagles 'were very physical' and they were able to compete with a squad of mostly professional players.

Several players from the Eagles had their first caps including Mark Aylor, Brian Barnard, Patrick Bell, Vahafalau Esikia, Jeff Hullinger, Owen Lentz, Tyson Meek, and Alipate Tuilevuka.

Eagles left wing Jeff Hullinger left the game due to a concussion and his availability for Wednesday's match against the New Zealand Maori will be determined.

The Eagles have three days to prepare to the face New Zealand Maori here on June 7 (7:30 p.m.), while Ireland 'A' has a week off to prepare against the Maori squad on June 10. Both matches will be played at Buck Shaw Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif.

Tickets for the Barclays Churchill Cup matches on June 7 and 10 in San Francisco are still available by calling (408) 554-4660 or online
www.santaclarabroncos.com.

FINAL: United States 13, Ireland 'A' 28 (Halftime, Ireland 'A' 16-6)

IRELAND A 28
Tries: Jennings (1), Quinlan (1), Fogarty (1), Maxwell (1)
Conversions: Wallace (1)
Penalty Goals: Wallace (2)

USA 13
Tries: Sika (1)
Conversions: Villjoen (1)
Penalty Goals: Villjoen (2)

Referee: Phil Smith (Canada); TJ1: Andrew Small (England); TJ2: Peter Allen
(Scotland); No. 4: Bruce
Carter (United States); No. 5: John Coppinger (United States).

UNITED STATES: 15. Francois Viljoen (vice-capt.) (Mike French @54); 14. Mike
Palefau; 13. Salesi Sika (Chris Osentowski @55); 12. Vahafalau Esikia; 11. Jeff
Hullinger (Brian Barnard @71); 10. Alipate Tuilevuka; 9. Tyson Meek (Mose
Timoteo @74); 1. Mike MacDonald; 2. Owen Lentz (Patrick Bell @41); 3. John
Tarpoff; 4. Carl Hansen (Brian Schoener @71); 5. Mike Mangan; 6. Todd Clever;
7. Tony Petruzzella (Mark Aylor @67); 8. Kort Shubert (capt.)

IRELAND A: 15. Robert Kearney (Ronnie McCormack @49); 14. Simon Keogh; 13. John
Hearty (Kieran Lewis @47); 12. David Quinlan; 11. Andrew Maxwell; 10. Paddy
Wallace (Eoghan hickey@78); 9. Tomas O'Leary; 1. Ray Hogan; 2. John Fogarty
(Brian Blaney @67); 3. Tom Court (Declan Fitzpatrick @42); 4. Trevor Hogan
(Damlan Brown @60); 5. Matt McCullough; 6. John Muldoon (Neil McMillan @49); 7.
Shane Jennings (capt.); 8. Jamie Heaslip Leinster.

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