O'Connell captains strong Munster A side to face Leinster A

Munster came from 26-0 down to draw 26-26 when the side met in the competition at Old Belvedere two months ago with the return to played on Rockwell’s 4G pitch.

Thu, 18 Dec, 2025 - 17:26

Simon Lewis

Evan O’Connell will captain a Munster A squad featuring nine senior players for their Interprovincial Series rematch with Leinster A at Rockwell College on Friday (1.30pm).

Munster came from 26-0 down to draw 26-26 when the side met in the competition at Old Belvedere two months ago with the return to played on Rockwell’s 4G pitch and streamed live to Access Munster subscribers.

O’Connell will start in the second row alongside Michael Foy, one of 12 academy players in as 25-man Munster A matchday squad which also features Garryowen pair Rory Woods and Billy Hayes, Shannon’s Alex Lautsou and Young Munster’s John Poland among the replacements.

There is an experienced back three of Shay McCarthy, Diarmuid Kilgallen and Fionn Gibbons while Sean O’Brien forms a centre partnership with academy midfielder Eoghan Smyth outside of half-backs Jake O’Riordan and senior fly-half Tony Butler.

Loosehead prop Josh Wycherley lends his experience to the front row alongside academy duo Max Clein, at hooker, and tighthead Ronan Foxe while Ruadhan Quinn starts at openside flanker six days after scoring his first European try in the Champions Cup pool win over Gloucester in Cork. Blindside flanker Seán Edogbo and No.8 Luke Murphy also start in the back row.

MUNSTER A: Shay McCarthy (Young Munster); Diarmuid Kilgallen (Garryowen), Seán O’Brien (Nenagh Ormond), Eoghan Smyth (Cork Constitution), Fionn Gibbons (Young Munster); Tony Butler (Young Munster), Jake O’Riordan (Young Munster); Josh Wycherley (Young Munster), Max Clein (Garryowen), Ronan Foxe (Garryowen); Michael Foy (Cork Constitution), Evan O’Connell (Young Munster) (C); Seán Edogbo (UCC), Ruadhán Quinn (Young Munster), Luke Murphy (Young Munster).

Replacements: Danny Sheahan (Cork Constitution), George Hadden (Garryowen), Kieran Ryan (Young Munster), Rory Woods (Garryowen), Alex Lautsou (Shannon), Billy Hayes (Garryowen), John Poland (Young Munster), Tom Wood (Garryowen), Gene O’Leary Kareem (UCC), Dylan Hicks (Cork Constitution).