Carty and Finn called up to Ireland U20 World Cup squad

BUCCANEERS duo Jack Carty and Conor Finn have travelled to South Africa as part of the Ireland U-20 squad for the Junior Rugby World Cup. Carty, from Barrymore, Athlone, is an extremely talented out-half, and was at the top of the Buccaneers scoring chart during last season's Ulster Bank All-Ireland Division 1B League. Carty, who has also represented Ireland in soccer at U-15 level, and was a member of the Roscommon minor football team in 2009, departed for South Africa with the rest of the squad earlier this week. Aughrim native Finn replaces Buccaneers team-mate Shane Layden whose injury, unfortunately, did not recover in time to enable the exciting full-back/wing to travel. Connacht Academy player Carty has yet to be capped in a competitive U-20 fixture, but the 19-year-old will be looking to break into the side during the World Cup. Ireland's tricky Group B campaign begins on June 4 against the home nation in Stellenbosch. Current Six Nations holders England and Italy make up the rest of a tough-looking Group B. Carty's two younger brothers, Ben and Luke, are also highly promising rugby players, with Ben playing a key role in the Marist College's Connacht Senior Schools win earlier this year. His father, Ted, is also the outgoing President of Buccaneers RFC. Surprisingly, fellow Athlone native Daniel Qualter has not been included in the squad. Qualter has been an almost ever-present in the U-20 set-up over the past number of years, and played a part in every Six Nations game this year. Qualter was also part of the last Irish squad to attend the Junior World Cup, in Italy last year, when they finished ninth out of 12 teams. The previous year (2009), Ireland finished the Tokyo edition of the tournament in eighth place. Qualter, an imposing second row, has had a long, hard season, playing with Buccaneers, Connacht and, of course, the Ireland U-20 team, but he'll no doubt force his way back into the international reckoning before too long. UCD top the list of players in the squad with seven players, while Connacht (who won the interprovincial U-20 championship) have, somewhat surprisingly, just three players included.