The next fortnight will be an exciting time for Irish Rugby, as both the Men’s and Women’s Under-20 teams take to the international stage—and Navan RFC will be proudly represented in both squads.

The Ireland U20 Men’s side will open their World Rugby U20 Championship campaign this Sunday, 30th June, with a Pool C clash against Georgia at 5:00 PM (Irish time).

Included in the squad is Sam Wisniewski, a former Navan RFC Minis player who began his rugby journey at Balreask Old, playing up to Under-12 level before attending Castleknock College. Though based in Dublin for school and later club rugby, Sam always maintained his ties to Navan whenever possible.

Wisniewski represented Ireland at U19 level in 2024 and started for Ireland in the first two rounds of this year’s U20 Six Nations, against England and Scotland. This past season, he played club rugby with Old Belvedere RFC.

Ireland’s full Pool C fixtures:

📺 All matches will be streamed live on RugbyPass.tv

On Saturday, 5th July, the Ireland U20 Women’s team will kick off their Six Nations U20 Summer Series in Wales, facing the host nation at 3:30 PM.

Navan RFC will be represented in this historic series by three players with deep roots at Balreask Old:

All three first played rugby as part of Navan’s Minis programme, beginning their journeys within two years of each other.
Success on the pitch followed early on, with Gaffney & Searle being part of the Navan Under 14 Girls team that won the Leinster Premier League in 2017/2018 and Brogan the Leinster Premier Cup in 2019 at the same age grade.

Rosie Searle has enjoyed a standout year, making her Senior Interprovincial debut for Connacht and captaining Navan’s first-ever Women’s U20 team to an unbeaten season in the inaugural Leinster Women’s U20 Series. She’s also been instrumental in Navan Women’s back-to-back promotions over the past two seasons.

Both Gaffney and Brogan earned representative honours at Under-18 level for Leinster and Ireland, with Brogan also earning international Sevens caps. Gaffney made her Leinster senior debut last year and has been part of the Ireland Wolfhounds, helping them to consecutive Celtic Challenge titles.

Most recently, Searle, Gaffney, Brogan, along with other current and former players, Alex Connor and Cara Martin were all named in an extended 65-player training squad ahead of the Vodafone Women’s Interprovincial Championships this August.

Ireland’s Women’s U20 Fixtures:

📺 Watch live on the official U20 Six Nations YouTube channel