Ulster Juniors are a senior men's team which is selected from the best players in Championship 1, 2, and 3, and will be hoping to build on last season's 2nd place finish in the Series.
Mike McKeever has picked his 23 man squad that will be travelling up to City of Derry on Saturday to battle it out with Connacht Juniors, the first match in the Junior Interprovincial Series.
Joel McBride, from Ballyclare RFC has been named as captain, with Aaron Playfair and Michael Orr, named as vice captains.
The Ulster Junior coaching and management team kicked off the campaign with an initial meeting late January to agree the best approach for this year’s inter pros taking on board feedback from previous years from those involved.
Initial plans included individual Championship 2 and 3 sessions with up to 3 players nominated by club coaches which was shared with clubs late January. The coaching team quickly realised that a combined session would be more beneficial due to the split of forwards and backs and a communication was reissued informing all clubs the plan had changed to a combined session at Randalstown RFC on Monday 4 March.
This session was well attended with players travelling from Monaghan, Academy, Strabane, Randalstown, Lurgan, Limavady and Larne and in total 25 players were in attendance.
The next session planned was a combined session including Championship 1 selected players and those who were invited to remain in the selection process from Championship 2 and 3. The session was held at Kingspan Stadium which was great for the players and coaches. The players wore their club shirts and socks and in total 13 clubs were represented.
The sessions returned to Portadown on Monday 8 and Wednesday 10 April in windy and wet conditions, but numbers remained strong, and the coaches maintained the high level of participation, fun and competitiveness throughout the sessions. The Wednesday session included a live game refereed by Ross Whitfield.
Other coaches were invited to training sessions as a ‘second set of eyes’ not only to provide feedback on players but also on the session and how the coaches interacted with the players. This was invaluable for the coaches and provided an insight that they could work on to improve the following sessions.
The next phase saw a reduction in player numbers to a squad size of 33 following a session at Kingspan Stadium on Monday 15 April.
Player engagement, communication and feedback has been positive with injured players still attending sessions to ensure they are picking up on what the coaches are looking for and being part of the squad.
Management would like to extend their thank you to all the clubs for their hospitality in hosting training sessions and interpros, your support has been invaluable.
The first match this Saturday will be taking place at City of Derry rugby club, as part of their 30 years of Judge's Road celebrations. Kick-off is 2.30pm and all visitors are welcome to come and cheer on our Ulstermen! Admission is £5, and there will be hot food stalls and bouncy castles for kids available.
### Ulster Juniors v Connacht Juniors
1\. Adam Hanna (Dromore RFC)
2\. Matthew Coulter (Ballyclare RFC)
3\. Matthew Graham (Enniskillen RFC)
4\. David Gillespie (Ballyclare RFC)
5\. James Wright (Portadown RFC)
6\. Aaron Playfair (Ballyclare RFC)
7\. Curtis Pollock (Ballymoney RFC)
8\. Jack Gamble (Ballyclare RFC)
9\. Ryan Flavelle (Cooke RFC)
10\. Eddie Keys (Enniskillen RFC)
11\. Mark Jackson (Ballyclare RFC)
12\. Dean Dillon (Dromore RFC)
13\. Joel McBride (Ballyclare RFC)
14\. Killéne Thornton (City of Derry RFC)
15\. Michael Orr (Portadown RFC)
16\. Niall Keenan (Enniskillen RFC)
17\. Dean Jones (Ballyclare RFC)
18\. Scott Gamble (Ballymoney RFC)
19\. David Brown (Ballymoney RFC)
20\. Stephen Corr (City of Derry RFC)
21\. Ryan Mcilwaine (Ballyclare RFC)
22\. Marty Irwin (Ballymoney RFC)
23\. Davy Graham (City of Derry RFC)
### Junior Interprovincial Series Fixtures
Ulster Juniors v Connacht Juniors - Saturday 27 April, City of Derry RFC
Munster Juniors v Ulster Juniors - Saturday 4 May, Ennis RFC
Ulster Juniors v Leinster Juniors - Saturday 11 May, Randalstown RFC