Five young players from County Wexford will take the field to represent Ireland next weekend in the 2025 Atlantic Youth Touch Cup…
This competition will be the largest international Touch Rugby tournament ever to take place in Ireland with 45 teams from 12 countries descending on the University of Limerick from August 1st to August 3rd.
Adam Deacon from Gorey and Heath Hulin from Castletown have been selected for the Ireland Boys under 15 squad which is a great achievement for both of them as they only began playing the game this year. Adam plays rugby with Gorey RFC and Touch with DSC Lansdowne in Dublin, while Heath plays rugby for Arklow RFC and Touch with DSC Wanderers in Merrion Road, Dublin.
It will be a real family affair for the Hulins as Heath’s sister Kai has also been selected for the Ireland Mixed under 15s team while mum Nelia is the Team Manager. Like the two boys, Kai will be making her international debut in Limerick as she also only began playing Touch this year.
The two other Wexford players are Finn Standing from Inch and Isaac Young from Gorey who will play with the Ireland Mixed under 18 team. Both play rugby with Gorey RFC and Touch with DSC Wanderers in Dublin. Both lads have previous international experience having played for Ireland in last year’s European Junior Touch Championships in Vichy. In fact Isaac will be playing in his fourth international tournament having played for Ireland underage Touch teams since 2022.
Best wishes to Adam, Heath, Kai, Finn and Isaac who will no doubt all represent their county as well as their country with distinction.
Touch Rugby, or Touch as it is usually called, is a fast and exciting non-contact version of rugby. It originated in Australia where it is now the number one participation sport. Although it is mainly played as a mixed and social sport, there is a competitive side to it also with over 40 countries competing in European Championships and World Cups.
In Australia and New Zealand, the benefits of Touch for developing rugby player’s skills, fitness and game awareness have long been recognised. Players such as Leinster’s recent recruit Rieko Ioane and Charlotte Caslick would have a strong background in the game.
The Atlantic Cup action can be followed on the Federation of International Touch website at https://www.internationaltouch.org/events/atlantic-youth-touch-cup/2025/.
There are fixtures, results and team line-ups here as well as links to livestreams of many of the games on the Federation of International Touch (FIT) YouTube channel at https://youtube.com/@internationaltouch?si=t1QXiNq83DiOpvzP
Wexford Weekly
This article was published by a member of the Wexford Weekly team.
Read also:
Remember to submit your news to Wexford Weekly! To advertise on our socials or website, email our team at info@wexfordweekly.com