Clondalkin’s ‘Magnificent Eight’ selected for prestigious Leinster Development Panel

EIGHT players from Clondalkin RFC’s Under-16 boys squad have been selected for the prestigious Leinster North Midlands development panel.

The Clondalkin club fielded nine players in the trials for the most promising talent in the region in recent weeks and recently received word that eight of them would progress through to the development squad.

Indeeed Conor Langabeer, Josh Dominican, Josh Apps, Daniel Steed, Cillian Walsh Philips, Thomas Carter, Oran Murphy and Elliot Walsh all proved successful.

“Eight of the Under-16 are after making the Leinster North Midlands selection, which is basically a feeder for the Leinster team,” Under-16 manager Greg Phillips told The Echo.

“Normally only one or two players per club would go forward and get picked for the development panel.

“So to have eight lads picked for the squad is a huge achievement for not only the players themselves, but for the club as well.”

Their selection represents the largest contingent of players picked for the development panel from the 10 clubs in the North Midlands region.

The Leinster North Midlands team compete in the Shane Horgan Cup, which is one of the pathways to the Leinster youth set-up and is a key part of the process in identifying talent.

This pathway has helped the likes of Tadgh Furlong, Sean O’Brien, Joey Carbery and Shane Horgan progress through the ranks.

The Shane Horgan Cup takes place each season between teams from the five different areas of Leinster – North-East, North Midlands, Midlands, South-East and Metropolitan.

The lads enter into the system and will play one game a month between now and April, when the Shane Horgan Cup final will be played.

With just the one match a month however, it allows them to stay with their clubs and continue their development at a local level.