Talented young Mayo player named in Connacht squad for Sale friendly

Connacht Rugby head coach Pete Wilkins has included talented young Mayo player Fiachna Barrett in his 30-man squad for the pre-season friendly against Sale Sharks.

The game takes place at Dexcom Stadium in Galway tomorrow (Saturday) at 1.30 p.m.

Barrett, who has represented Ireland at Under 20 level, was recently included in the Connacht Rugby Academy squad for the 2024/25 season alongside fellow Mayo native Harry West.

Tomorrow's starting XV will be captained by Joe Joyce and includes new signing Piers O'Conor at full-back, the returning Josh Murphy in the back row, and Matthew Devine and Hugh Gavin at scrum-half and the wing respectively after moving up to professional contracts this summer.

A further 15 players are named on the bench and are all expected to see game time. They include new signings Temi Lasisi, Adam McBurney, David O'Connor and Ben Murphy, as well as Barrett and fellow Academy players John Devine and Daniel Hawkshaw.

The game will be streamed live on connachtrugby.ie with commentary from Rob Murphy and William Davies.

The Connacht starting XV in full is as follows: Piers O'Conor, Shayne Bolton, Byron Ralston, Cathal Forde, Hugh Gavin, Jack Carty, Matthew Devine; Peter Dooley, Dyan Tierney-Martin, Sam Illo, Joe Joyce, Darragh Murray, Josh Murphy, Conor Oliver, Sean Jansen.

The replacements' bench features: Denis Buckley, Temi Lasisi, Adam McBurney, Jack Aungier, Fiachna Barrett, Niall Murray, Oisin Dowling, David O'Connor, Oisin McCormack, Paul Boyle, Ben Murphy, Colm Reilly, John Devine, David Hawkshaw, Daniel Hawkshaw.