Seven Laois Rugby players named on Leinster Rugby U17 Midlands Squad

Jake Darcy in action for the North Midlands on Thursday.

placeholder image — Jake Darcy in action for the North Midlands on Thursday.

Seven up and coming Rugby stars have been named on the u17 North Midlands squad for Leinster Rugby's Shane Horgan Cup.

There are a whopping six players from Portlaoise included in the squad and one from Portarlington with six of those starting in their opening round defeat to the Midlands side on Thursday.

Jake Andrews, Sean Peters, PJ Larkin, Jake Darcy, Jamie Baldwin and Conor Ragget from Portlaoise all saw action in the first round defeat while Portarlington's Killian McHugh started the game in the front row.

The Shane Horgan Cup is a key part of the men’s Player Pathway in Leinster Rugby and is a club competition for Under 16 and Under 18 players that takes place each season between teams from the five different areas of Leinster (North-East, North Midlands, Midlands, South-East and Metropolitan).

Players are selected for trials based on performances for their clubs and players are then selected to represent their Areas.

Due to Covid-19, it was not possible to play the Shane Horgan Cup at Under 16 level last season and instead the games have been rolled forward to now.

Last season Greg McGrath, Martin Moloney, Tim Corkery, Marcus Hanan and Jamie Osborne made their debuts for Leinster Rugby in the Guinness PRO14 having come through the Shane Horgan Cup pathway.

North Midlands Area Squad v Midlands

1 .Jake Andrews, Portlaoise

2. David Moore, North Kildare

3. Killian McHugh, Portarlington

4. Nathan Yap, Clane

5. Sean Peters, Portlaoise

6. Padraic Cullen, Naas

7. Ruari Scully, Athy

8. James Walsh, Athy

9. Max Gaynor, Newbridge

10. James Harris, Athy

11. Ola McCullough, Cill Dara