Billy Scannell
Irish rugby union player
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Billy Scannell (born 16 September 1999) is an Irish rugby union player. He plays as a hooker.
| Born | 16 September 1999 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Height | 1.81 m (5 ft 11+1⁄2 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 96 kg (212 lb; 15 st 2 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | Presentation Brothers College | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Notable relative(s) | Niall Scannell (brother) Rory Scannell (brother) Jack O'Sullivan (cousin) Donal O'Sullivan (grandfather) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Early life
Born in Cork, Scannell is the younger brother of Munster players Niall and Rory and a cousin of Jack O'Sullivan. His grandfather is Donal O'Sullivan, who captained Cork to the 1956 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final.[1] Scannell first began playing rugby for Douglas RFC, but switched to Cork Constitution at under-12 level, where his older brothers were already on the books. He attended Presentation Brothers College, Cork and won a Munster Schools Rugby Senior Cup in 2017, in a side that was captained by his cousin Jack.[2] Scannell also captained the school's senior side, and started for Ireland under-18s in all three of their tests against Italy, England and Wales.[3]
Club career
After finishing school in 2018, Scannell entered Munster's sub-academy and began playing in the amateur All-Ireland League with Limerick club Young Munster.[4]
Scannell was overlooked for promotion to Munster's academy, so instead, at the age of 19, he signed a two-year academy contract with French club Biarritz ahead of the 2019–20 season. The deal meant that Scannell would train full-time with the club's senior squad, whilst initially playing matches for the espoirs, or under-23s, side.[4] He made his senior competitive debut for the club in their 2019–20 Pro D2 round 20 fixture away to Vannes on 14 February 2020.[5] Scannell joined Fédérale 1 club Stade Lagonnais on loan for the 2021–22 season.[6]
International career
Having previously represented Ireland at under-18 and under-19 level, Scannell made his debut for Ireland under-20s in their 34–14 win against Italy on 22 February 2019 during the 2019 Six Nations Under 20s Championship.[7] Ireland went on to win a grand slam in that year's tournament.[4]
