Cream of young Irish talent urged to grasp chance in South Africa
Evan O’Connell (centre) during an Emerging Ireland training session at the IRFU High Performance Centre on the Sports Ireland Campus in Dublin on Thursday. Photo: Seb Daly/Sportsfile
We are becoming increasingly familiar with the various rugby hotspots of South Africa and for a generation of players the place is becoming a sort of second home.
Today, 33 players aged between 20 and 26 touch down in the Rainbow Nation. Two were here last summer with the senior national team, a contingent played in Cape Town for the U-20s in 2024 and 2023 and most of the rest have been here with their provinces.
