Healy and Gleeson shine on international stage
By Shane Brophy
There was immense pride locally at the weekend as two rising rugby stars continued their development on the international stage.
After his high-profile decision to declare for Scotland through the grandparent rule, Ben Healy made his senior debut with his adopted country in their Six Nations Championship win over Italy at Murrayfield on Saturday.
The Kilruane native benefited from injury to first-choice out-half Finn Russell to take his place on the bench for the first time and was introduced in the 67th minute of the game and he looked assured in possession, despite Italy producing a strong final quarter to put themselves within inches of a shock upset before Blair Kinghorn completed an outstanding move to secure a 26-14 win for the Scots and a third place finish in the championship.
Ben returns to Munster this week for the conclusion of the Champions Cup and URC campaigns before he moves to Edinburgh in the summer as he aims to be in the Scotland squad for the World Cup next autumn.
Another Tipperary man making waves is Loughmore’s Brian Gleeson who produced a man of the match performance for the Ireland U20’s as they secured a second consecutive Grand Slam with a 36-24 win over England at Musgrave Park in Cork on Sunday.
The Rockwell College student has starred at number eight throughout the campaign, and remains eligible for next years Six Nations, along with Killaloe’s Ruadhan Quinn who will add greatly to Munster’s options into the future.
Next on the agenda for Gleeson and Co will be the World Under 20 Championships which take place in South Africa this summer.