Excitement building in Rahugh/Kilbeggan area ahead of U20 rugby world final

By Shane King

Excitement is building in the Rahugh/Kilbeggan area ahead of this evening's World Rugby U20 Championship final in which Ireland take on France in Cape Town.

Rahugh's Ronan Foxe, who also has strong links to the Rosemount area, has been named in the front row alongside Paddy McCarthy and captain Gus McCarthy as Richie Murphy's young men bid to become the first Irish team to win the U20 world championship.

Among those who have extended their best wishes to Ronan are local politicians Senator Paul Daly and Councillor Liam McDaniel.

Cllr McDaniel, the new cathaoirleach of Westmeath County Council, said that the community is very proud of what Ronan and his team have achieved so far and hopes they will claim victory this weekend.

“To have someone from our own county in Westmeath representing Ireland in a world cup final, it’s a great occasion and we wish Ronan and his teammates the very best of luck,” said Liam.

Ronan put in another solid performance for the U20s in their 31-12 victory over South Africa in their semi-final on Sunday and has secured his position in the front row for today's final.

The excitement is building in Ronan’s local community ahead of the big game with flags of green, white and gold flying high and signs erected wishing him well.

Kick-off is at 6pm Irish time and the match will be shown live on Virgin Media Two. The game is also being streamed live on the Virgin Media Player and on World Rugby's YouTube channel.

Ireland team (World Rugby U20 Championship final):

15. Henry McErlean (Terenure/Leinster)

14. Andrew Osborne (Naas/Leinster)

13. Hugh Gavin (Galwegians RFC/Connacht)

12. John Devine (Corinthians/Connacht)

11. James Nicholson (UCD/Leinster)

10. Sam Prendergast (Lansdowne/Leinster)

9. Fintan Gunne (Terenure College RFC/Leinster)

1. Paddy McCarthy (Dublin University FC/Leinster)

2. Gus McCarthy (UCD/Leinster) captain

3. Ronan Foxe (Old Belvedere/Leinster)

4. Diarmuid Mangan (UCD/Leinster)

5. Conor O’Tighearnaigh (UCD RFC/Leinster)

6. James McNabney (Ballymena RFC/Ulster)

7. Ruadhan Quinn (Old Crescent RFC/Munster)

8. Brian Gleeson (Garryowen/Munster).

Replacements:

16. Max Clein (Garryowen/Munster)

17. George Hadden (Clontarf/Leinster)

18. Fiachna Barrett (Corinthians/Connacht)

19. Charlie Irvine (Queen’s University/Ulster)

20. Evan O’Connell (UL Bohemians/Munster)

21. Oscar Cawley (Naas/Leinster)

22. Matthew Lynch (Dublin University/Leinster)

23. Sam Berman (Dublin University/Leinster).