
Football
Share
Published 16:58 6 Oct 2018 BST
In total, 30 of the 92 players involved at the four provinces this weekend will have come through either the Leinster sub-academy or academy system.
Players like Ulster's Alan O'Connor will have started at the club's sub-academy before leaving for Ulster's academy, Connacht's Paul Boyle moved on from their academy before leaving for Connacht while the likes of Joey Carbery and Andrew Conway will have played for the club's senior team before moving on to other provinces.
https://twitter.com/jackjotoole/status/1048587493787021313
Leinster are by far the best represented province with Munster producing 17 players, Ulster producing 16 of their own while Connacht have produced just 10 players within the matchday squads.
There are 19 overseas players in the matchday squads with New Zealand best represented with seven players (Jamison Gibson-Park, James Lowe, Michael Bent, Bundee Aki, Tom McCartney, Alby Mathewson & Sean Reidy), South Africa have five players (Jean Kleyn, CJ Stander, Marcell Coetzee, Quinn Roux & Chris Cloete), England have four players (Billy Burns, Kieran Treadwell, Johnny McPhillips and Ciaran Parker) while there are three Australians (Jarrad Butler, Kyle Godwin and Colby Fainga'a).
There are some qualifying factors. For instance, Munster centre Sam Arnold attended school in England but chose to play for the Ulster academy and then ultimately moved to Munster, and therefore, in this instance, has been counted as a product of the Ulster system.
Similarly, Connacht prop Finlay Bealham would have attended school in Australia but moved to Galway and played club rugby in both Belfast and Galway before graduating through the Connacht system.
Meanwhile players like Matt Healy would have played club rugby in Leinster before ultimately signing for Connacht.
Live sport on TV in Ireland this weekend – Football, GAA, Rugby – April 24th to 26th
Some huge clashes! The ultimate TV guide for live weekend sport in Ireland is back! It’s another huge week in the Premier League with Arsenal hosting Newcastle, there are a host of massive inter-county championship matches in both hurling and Gaelic football, and there is an intriguing Irish derby in the URC to look forward […]
Football
3 days ago
Huge changes in store as Lions launch bid to tour new countries
This could be massive! The Lions could soon be adding a new country to their list of touring destinations, according to an exclusive report from The Telegraph. The iconic representative team – which combines the best players from Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales – currently tour South Africa, Australia and New Zealand on a rotating […]
Football
4 days ago
Football
Munster statement defends new coach over historical rape accusations
Football