O'Halloran to make Connacht bow in Challenge Cup

Clifden's Tiernan O’Halloran, 18, will make his competitive debut for Connacht against Olympus Rugby Madrid in the Challenge Cup tomorrow at the Sportsground.

It is only six short months ago that O'Halloran, who attended Cistercian College Roscrea, was playing for the Ireland Schools.

Connacht coach Michael Bradley said: “Tiernan O’Halloran and Eoin Griffin have made the step up to the senior squad this season and it is encouraging and hopefully it will go well for Tiernan against Olympus Madrid”.

CONNACHT (v Olympus, Madrid):

15: Gavin Duffy (captain)

14: Tiernan O’Halloran

13: Niva Ta’auso

12: Aidan Wynne

11: Fionn Carr

10: Miah Nikora

9: Conor O’Loughlin

1: Bret Wilkinson

2: Adrian Flavin

3: Jamie Hagan

4: Michael Swift

5: Bernie Upton

6: Andrew Browne

7: Johnny O’Connor

8: Mike McCarthy

Replacements:

16: Sean Cronin

17: Ronan Loughney

18: Conor Higgins

19: John Muldoon

20: Dermot Murphy

21: Frank Murphy

22: Ian Keatley

23: Troy Nathan