PÁDRAIG HARRINGTON IS five shots off the lead after the opening round of the Ras Al Khaimah Championship on the DP World Tour in UAE.
Harrington carded a four-under 68 which included five birdies and one bogey to keep him in touch with leader Marcus Armitage who is one nine-under after a round of 63.
Conor Purcell is also in action in what is his first tournament of the 2025 season, sitting on even par after scoring 72 with two birdies and two bogeys.
Tom McKibbin is further back on four-over after a difficult round which featured a double bogey on the third. His round was also hampered by a bogey on the seventh followed by three more dropped shots on the 13th, 15th and 16th holes.
McKibbin impressed at the Dubai Desert Classic last weekend, earning a share of sixth place with a brilliant 11-under performance.
20 leinster
8 ulster
5 munster
4 connacht
The lads must not get petrol money to travel outside dublin to go watch the other 3 provinces,just goes to show where the development of the game going.
@Teadore Hungwell: or Leinster are at a much higher level on developing youth talent.
@Teadore Hungwell: @Teadore Hungwell: you think the best U20’s haven’t been picked ? Is 20/37 that odd given the rugby population of the Leinster province (and the actual population of 2.6m)
@BMJF: agreed, can not be good for the overall game of rugby provincially though ,bit like where Dublin are now last few years with GAA
@BMJF: Ulster’s population is comparable to Leinsters, Munster has half the population of Leinster. Proportionate to population Munster are maybe 1 or 2 light and Connacht are doing better than would be expected. But Ulster should have more.
@Darren Byrne: but only recently are you getting catholics playing rugby in ulster, so while the population is not far behind, the rugby playing pop is (but that seems to be changing)
@Teadore Hungwell: I don’t understand this mentality. Leinster have an exceptional system, from the age of 8 a sizable portion of the population are playing rugby at a club or in their school. Leinster have invested heavily in schools, developing coaching, refereeing, providing technical expertise, investing in facilities, not least the superb facility at Donnybrook, there’s also the schools cup, one of the oldest rugby competitions in the world, the culture of the cup is to a schools player / supporter what European cup is at provincial level, the standard is better than anywhere in the world outside New Zealand. Then you have an academy system that is modeled on that of Man City including incorporating sports science. Leinster is an anomaly that elevates Irish rugby. Hardly a bad thing.
@Teadore Hungwell: Seems to be a good few non Dublin Leinster players. Also, the coaches are mostly Connacht with Colm Tucker being Limerick. Stranger than the huge Leinster contingent is the zero Limerick players. Either a sign of limited population choosing hurling or poor development of youth in rugby.
Sean,
Any chance the42 would break it down by position?
Thomas Ahearn is Dungarvan not waterpark. Played with dungarvan up until under 18s.
@Ormond: nice to see 2 Waterford lads in the squad. Good for Munster in the long term if the county is involved. Well done to all their former clubs & coaches
@kieran horgan: Been a promising development-growth for Munster in what some might call non-traditional rugby counties such as Waterford and Tipperary recently which is good to see.
Keep an eye out for Andrew Smith, plays 15 or wing, has scored some spectacular tries throughout age grade. Here’s a sample of his finishing:
https://twitter.com/leinsterrugby/status/1170756649855979520?s=21
Soroka is Belvedere not Blackrock
Does anyone why John McKee went from Campbell to Leinster – just curious..
@nolamentor: Ulster viewed him as a prop but he wanted to play hooker. So he moved to Leinster.
@TREVOR JOHNSTON: I think Stewart is the better prospect anyway
@TREVOR JOHNSTON: That is very telling of where Ulster academy are in terms of developing players.
@nolamentor: Tom Stewart was coming through behind McKee. Stewart is heir apparent. Very grounded fella, should go far with his ability.
Actually 4 lads from the Exiles programme in the squad Josh Dunne (Connacht), Oran McNulty (Connacht), Hayden Hyde (Ulster) & Dan Kelly(Loughborough)
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