International cap for Hurley

FORMER Navan under-age player Denis Hurley received his first full cap at international level when he came on as a replacement for Ulster"s Darren Cave in Ireland"s match against the USA at Santa Clara University, California on Sunday. Hurley came on as blood replacement initially before appearing on a permanent basis after 68 minutes and played his part as Ireland defeated the US Eagles 27-10. Also on the Irish team was Laytown"s Niall Ronan who played the full game just as he did against Canada the previous week. Ronan was involved in creating a try for Ian Keatley. He delivered what was described as a 'clever' grubber kick that was latched onto by Keatley who went over for the touchdown. Last year Hurley made his Heineken Cup debut for Munster in a victory over Gloucester before going on to retain his place on the team for a victory over Toulouse at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. He was also selected on the Irish squad for a series of games in the Churchill Cup at the end of last season. Since the arrival of Australian coach Tony McGahan, Hurley has had to battle for a place on the starting 15. He did feature in a number of Magners League games and came on as a late replacement in Munster"s defeat by Leinster in the Heineken Cup semi-final. Highly regarded by Declan Kidney, Hurley was included in the Irish squad a few weeks ago for the trip to the United States and Canada. His father Jerry Hurley, lives in Kells and is one of the driving forces behind the recently established North Meath RFC. Jerry Hurley also played for Munster in the 1970s. He was a replacement on the Munster bench when the province shocked the rugby world in 1978 when they defeated New Zealand at Thomond Park. Ronan played under-age rugby with Delvin before that club amalgamated with Drogheda to form Boyne. A former minor footballer with Meath, Ronan was the Leinster 'young player-of-the-year" in 2005 before moving to Munster who he has represented in Magners League and Heineken Cup games.