Two Wanderers products with Ireland Under-20 side
LAST FRIDAY morning the Wexford Wanderers mini section represented the club in the one hundredth outing of the Wexford St. Patrick’s Day parade.
However, the focus of the club that afternoon shifted to two former minis players who had been selected on the bench for the Ireland Under-20s team, namely Greg McGrath and Jack Stafford.
Both players commenced their rugby careers on Saturday mornings at Park Lane with the minis section before pursuing different paths through youths rugby, only to be reunited last Friday at Donnybrook, initially on the bench, before making their international debuts, in the Ireland Under-20s’ match against England.
Greg, who is an exceptional loose head prop, has been a member of the Leinster Under-20s side for a number of years. A former pupil of Bridgetown Vocational College where he came under the guidance of Leinster C.C.R.O’s Noel Ferguson and Corey Carty, Greg featured in every Wanderers youths side under a variety of coaches who assisted in his development up to Under-19s where he was a member of the combined Wexford/Enniscorthy side (known neutrally as ‘The Sharks’) which won the Vincent McGee Plate.
Greg is no stranger to the green jersey, having played for Ireland in Under-18 club internationals in the past. Greg was also a member of the Leinster Under-18 club side which won the inter-provincial series in late 2014.
Last season after moving to Dublin to study Eletronics and Engineering at D.I.T., Greg signed for Lansdowne, joining fellow ex-Wanderers players Conor Fenlon and Collie Joyce-Ahearne in their Under-20s side. Incidentally, Joyce-Ahearne was the last Wanderers player capped at Under-20s level in 2013.
After Wanderers’ minis and a few seasons with Wanderers’ youths section including winning a Leinster title at Under-12s, Jack Stafford pursued his rugby education at Glenstal Abbey School deep in the heartland of rural Munster.
Following the path forged by his older brother Tim at the renowned County Limerick school, Jack started to feature regularly in Glenstal sides at either scrum, out-half or centre.
Such was the ability he had that he was a regular in the school Senior Cup team from fourth year and had the honour of captaining the side in his final year. In a mirroring of the development of Greg at Leinster, Jack became involved with the Munster Rugby Development Academy and was a member of the Munster Under-18s schools side which won the inter-provincial title in 2014, before joining the Un- der-19s side the following season.
During his stint with the Munster Under-19s, Jack was used very efficiently as an impact substitute, to such an extent that he scored in each of his outings during the 2015 inter-provincial series, before progressing to the Under-20s side.
Jack currently studies in Limerick and plays weekly for Shannon. Last Friday he earned his first Ireland Under-20s cap in his preferred position of scrum-half.
Everyone at Wexford Wanderers is delighted at the recognition of two great players on such a special night.
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