Boyle shines for Ireland
PAUL BOYLE recently started at No.7 for Ireland against Scotland in the Under-20s Six Nations Championship.
As if this was not enough, he brought great honour to both his family and club by scoring the winning try to leave Ireland with a one point win.
He again started at No.7 against Italy and that night Ireland also won by a point. We wish him and the squad the very best of luck in their remaining matches, the next of which is against France in Donnybrook on Friday, February 24.
Paul played for Gorey R.F.C. from Under-8s to Under-18s and loved representing his club. He also played for Gorey Community School where he was consistently recognised as rugby player of the year.
He developed great friendships in both club and school, and his continuing support of his club and former team-mates in Gorey was evidenced by his attendance at a club social event just 24 hours after playing in Scotland.
During his time with Gorey, the team won South East titles all the way through under-age and narrowly lost a few Leinster finals in those years. While with Gorey, he made South East selection and played in the Shane Horgan Cup. This then led on to Leinster Youths selection where he and his team-mates won the inter-provincial championship by remaining unbeaten.
He was then picked for the Ireland Clubs Under-18 team and lost narrowly to England in the final. The following year, when both the clubs and schools teams were amalgamated, he again was selected for Leinster Under-19s and was honoured to also captain the side that year.
In his final year with Gorey, he led both the Under-18 and the Under-19 teams to great success again as captain of both, and that year Gorey won both the Under-18 Leinster Cup and Under-19 South East Cup.
Paul joined Lansdowne R.F.C. when he moved to Dublin where he is in his second year studying law in D.C.U. With Lansdowne, he won the Under-20 McCorry Cup in his first season and that same year he was selected for Ireland Under-19s and played France twice, winning one and losing one.
This year he also gained valuable A.I.L. experience when playing for Lansdowne who are topping the league table.
He then got the news of his honour of being selected for the Ireland Under-20s Six Nations squad. This was the culmination of many years of hard work, dedication and discipline and the achievement of his personal goal.
Paul has had great support from his parents and in particular his dad, Pablo, who coached for many years in Gorey R.F.C. His younger brother, Mark, and his younger sister, Susan, are also successful in their sports, with Mark playing for Gorey Under-17s, Leinster Under-17s and with the Wexford Under-16 county footballers.
Susan plays camogie and ladies’ football for Castletown and also for the Under-16 county Wexford teams.