Leinster’s Max Deegan will captain Ireland ‘A’ as one of six players – alongside forwards Fineen Wycherley, Oli Jager, Tom O’Toole and backs Harry Byrne and Shane Daly – included in the squad who have been capped at Test level for Ireland, while 12 players were part of the Emerging Ireland Tour to South Africa last September.
The return of the Ireland ‘A’ side for the visit to Bristol presents players with another opportunity to impress in green, working alongside Head Coach Prendergast, Forwards Coach Jimmy Duffy, Defence Coach Sean O’Brien, Backs/Assistant Attack Coach Mark Sexton and Scrum/Breakdown Coach Colm Tucker.
The squad will assemble at the IRFU High Performance Centre on Monday before flying to Bristol on Friday.
Looking ahead to next Sunday’s game in Bristol, Ireland ‘A’ Head Coach Mike Prendergast said: “I am hugely excited to work with such a talented group of players and coaches and we’re all looking forward to the opportunity to represent our country in Bristol this weekend. The squad will assemble on Monday and we’ll need to hit the ground running to ensure that everyone is up to speed.
“It is an experienced group with a number of capped senior internationals named alongside players who have featured for Emerging Ireland and for their provinces in recent months. The standard, whenever you pull on an Ireland jersey, is to perform to the best of your ability and we believe that we have a good blend of talented players who will look to take this opportunity to impress the national and provincial coaches.
“Sunday’s game presents a huge opportunity against what will be a well-drilled England side who boast a lot of Premiership experience in their ranks. It is a task that we will approach with a positive frame of mind.”
Tickets for next Sunday’s match at Ashton Gate are available to buy here.
The match will be streamed live for free on RugbyPass TV.
Ireland ‘A’ Squad:
(Club/Province/Test caps)
Forwards (16):
Jack Aungier (Clontarf FC/Connacht)
Diarmuid Barron (Garryowen/Munster)
James Culhane (UCD RFC/Leinster)
Max Deegan (Lansdowne/Leinster)(captain)(2)
Brian Gleeson (Garryowen FC/Munster)
Oli Jager (Munster)(1)
Sean Jansen (Connacht)
Alex Kendellen (UCC RFC/Munster)
Paddy McCarthy (Dublin University FC/Leinster)
Darragh Murray (Buccaneers RFC/Connacht)
Evan O’Connell (Young Munster RFC/Munster)
Conor O’Tighearnaigh (UCD RFC/Leinster)
Tom O’Toole (Ballynahinch/Ulster)(16)
Stephen Smyth (Old Wesley RFC/Leinster)
Alex Soroka (Clontarf FC/Leinster)
Fineen Wycherley (Young Munster/Munster)(1)
Backs (13):
Shayne Bolton (Connacht)
Harry Byrne (UCD/Leinster)(4)
Hugh Cooney (Clontarf/Leinster)
Shane Daly (Cork Constitution/Munster)(2)
Cathal Forde (Corinthians/Connacht)
Hugh Gavin (Galwegians RFC/Connacht)
Fintan Gunne (Terenure College RFC/Leinster)
Ben Murphy (Clontarf/Connacht)
Ben O’Connor (UCC RFC/Munster)
Tommy O’Brien (UCD RFC/Leinster)
Andrew Osborne (Naas RFC/Leinster)
Jude Postlethwaite (City of Armagh RFC/Ulster)
Zac Ward (Ballynahinch RFC/Ulster)
Ireland ‘A’ Management:
Mike Prendergast (Head Coach/Attack Coach)
Jimmy Duffy (Forwards)
Sean O’Brien (Defence)
Mark Sexton (Backs/Assistant Attack Coach)
Colm Tucker (Scrum/Breakdown).
