Irish stars’ return gives C of I boost

CORK Church of Ireland coach Denis Pritchard welcomes four internationals back for Saturday’s Irish Senior Cup fourth round tie away to Belfast Harlequins.

John Jermyn, Mark Ruddle, David Hobbs and Karl Burns, will be available to Pritchard after returning from a successful Irish tour to South Africa.

Pritchard, who was also in South Africa, as assistant coach to Dave Passmore, is expecting a tough game. “Obviously the international players are a little tired after their exertions in South Africa, but they’ll be ready and hopefully their presence will give us more scoring opportunities while denying Belfast Harlequins too many at the other end,” he said.