Munster forced to blood young guns

Munster take a step into the unknown at the U21 interpros at Lisnagarvey this weekend as they cope with a lack of talent depth in the men’s game at this age grade. Whereas Ulster were able to whittle down their squad from 75 triallists, Munster coach Neil Welch brings three players who were involved with the province’s U18s in November up a level, including Bandon’s talented 16-year-old defender Colin Kingston.

Such early exposure will nonetheless stand Kingston, Midleton goalkeeper Dan Moore and C of I’s David Whitaker in good stead, though Munster will miss the talents of former Ireland U18s Richard Lynch and Gary Wilkinson, who along with fellow Ashton School man Richard Sweetnam have opted to concentrate on their Leaving Certificate preparations. Munster will also come face to face with two of their own, as C of I pair Alex Burns and Simon Wolfe will line out for Ireland U18s, who are again added to make the tournament quadrangular and offer the national side important gametime ahead of this summer’s European championships. Peter Catchpole will bring his experience of captaining UCC to the fore as he skippers a side that will look to UCD pair Nick Burns and Ben Dobson, who are in flying form with the Belfielders this year, to lead their charge. Malcolm Coombes’ all-round hockey expertise will be on display as the 21-year-old takes charge of the Munster U21 women. An umpire of interpro standard, Coombes will patrol the sideline with the coach’s clipboard this time out having earned valuable experience as an assistant with the Munster U16 girls. His panel is largely dominated by UCC players — 11 in total — but Cork Harlequins’ defensive totem Yvonne O’Byrne will captain the side with Ireland senior international Naomi Carroll (Catholic Institute) and former Youth Olympian Amy-Kate Trevor (UCC) her deputies. That provides a significantly experienced leadership group while the familiarity of the UCC players with each other’s games should also prove to be a boon, with Institute’s Katie Campbell adding firepower and experience up front Leinster are defending champions in both competitions, with the blues’ hopes boosted by the release of Irish senior Shane O’Donoghue by national coach Andrew Meredith for the tournament.

Having not competed a year ago, the South East are back in the women’s mix and there’s a couple of Munster connections, with UL pair Jean Devoy and Margaret Byrne in their panel alongside UCC’s Irish Junior Cup captain Catherine Murphy. U21 Interprovincials, Lisnagarvey, Co Down MUNSTER U21 Men’s Squad: Wesley Brownlow (UCC), Nick Burns (UCD), Sam Butler (UCD), Peter Catchpole (UCC), Greg Chambers (UCC), Jack Cherry (UCC), Andy Colton (UCC), Ben Dobson (UCD), Trevor Gray (UL), Colin Kingston (Bandon), Dan Moore (GK, Midleton), James Philips (GK, Cork C of I), Shrew Power (UCC), John Sweetnam (Cork Harlequins), Sam Thompson (Cork Harlequins), David Treacy (Cork C of I), David Whitaker (Cork C of I), David Wolfe (Cork C of I). Coach: Neil Welch. Manager: Steve Barber. Schedule: Today: Ireland U18 v Ulster, 7pm; Munster v Leinster, 8pm; Tomorrow: Ireland U18 v Leinster, 3.30pm; Munster v Ulster, 4pm; Sunday: Ireland U18 Boys v Munster, 3pm; Leinster v Ulster, 3.30pm. MUNSTER U21 WOMEN’S squad: Niamh Stockil (GK, Ashton); Sarah Wrixon (GK, UCC), Sarah Browner (UCC), Vicky Burns (Bandon), Katie Campbell (Catholic Institute), Naomi Carroll (Catholic Institute, vice-captain), Kate Humphreys (UCC), Nicola Kerr (UCC), Antonia McGrath (UCC), Rachelle Nyhan (UL), Yvonne O’Byrne (Cork Harlequins, captain), Rachel O’Hanlon (UCC), Aisling O’Leary (UCC), Emily O’Leary (UCC), Stephanie Peters (UL), Emily Reidy (UCC), Sarah Sullivan (UCC), Amy-Kate Trevor (UCC, vice-captain). Coach: Malcolm Coombes. Assistant Coach: Stuart Greene. Manager: Ruth Wolfe. Schedule: Tomorrow: South East v Munster, 9.30am; Leinster v Connacht, 10.30am; Ulster v Munster, 1.30pm; Leinster v South East, 2pm; Ulster v Connacht, 5.30pm. Sunday: Leinster v Munster, 9am; South East v Connacht, 10am; Ulster v South East, 1pm; Munster v Connacht, 1.30pm; Ulster v Leinster, 5pm.