The Irish age Grade interpro series are a great watermark of top level talent in their respective ages and development structures, ultimately this system feeds into the provinces academies and Ireland international systems.
It may be useful to start with a quick overview of the playing populations of each province
Province——- No. of Schools——- No. of Clubs—— No. of Academy Players
Connacht —— 33—————– 28——————– 19 as of the 2014/15 season / previously up to 2013/14 it was 17)
Ulster ———— 96—————- 57——————– 18 as of the 2014/15 season / previously it was up to 2013/14 12)
Munster ———— 61 —————- 67——————– 20
Leinster ——— 50 —————- 50+—————— 23
(we have yet to find online any definitive guide to these numbers but have studied various resources online to at least begin to build a picture, it may have up to a 10% +/- variance, what we do believe to be reliable is the number of Academy players.)
There are 4 competitions that we will consider here. 1) U20S, 2) U19S, 3) Schools U18S, 4) Clubs U18S
U20S)
Date 6th Sept Ulster 27 v Connacht 7 Munster 20 v Leinster 32
Date 13th Sept Ulster 15 v Leinster 10 Connacht 13 v Munster 10
Date 16th Sept Ulster 17 v Munster 12 Leinster 61 v Connacht 34
Ulster 3 wins from 3
Leinster 2 wins from 3
Connacht 1 win from 2
Munster 0 wins from 3
U19S
6th Sept Connacht 17 v Ulster 24 Leinster 19 v Munster 10
13th Sept Leinster 40 v Ulster 13 Munster 30 v Connacht 10
20th Sept Ulster 5 v Munster 3 Leinster 38 v Connacht 7
Leinster 3 wins from 3
Ulster 2 wins from 3
Munster 1 win from 3
Connacht 0 wins from 3
U18 Schools
6th Sept Ulster 53 v Connacht 0
13th Sept Ulster 17 v Leinster 17 Munster 24 v Connacht 3
Leinster v Connacht Postponed and Munster v Leinster yet to be played.
20th Sept Ulster 7 v Munster 22
A number of these games have yet to take place, we will bring you more info on this as soon as we can.
Ulster 1 win 1 draw from 3
Munster 2 wins from 3
Leinster 1 draw from 1 game
U18 Clubs
13th Sept Munster 23 v Connacht 17 Ulster 3 – Leinster 60
20th Sept Ulster 6 v Munster 34 Leinster 38 v Connacht 7
Leinster & Munster 2 wins from 2
Connacht 2 losses from 2
Ulster 2 losses from 2
So far Ulster U20S are tournament champions & Leinster U19S are tournament champions.
With the Schools and Clubs competitions still to be decided. Leinster and Munster are on 2 wins each in the clubs comp and in the schools competition Munster are ahead of the pack with 2 wins from 2 games!
The most exciting of competitions that provides Ireland and Lions level talent each year.
Its not over yet but looking forward to the final games!
