Ulster have wasted no time in signing up Aaron Sexton, who makes a full-time switch from athletics to rugby for the 2019/20 season.
18-year-old Sexton recently broke the Irish Schools records for both the 100 and 200 metres.
He also featured for Ulster A last term, becoming the Celtic Cup top try scorer along the way with seven tries in only six games.
As well as that he was crowned Ulster Schools’ Player of the Year in 2017 and made an appearance during Ulster’s pre-season friendly against Gloucester last year.
Sexton is one of five new players to be signed up to the academy and manager Kieran Campbell is delighted by the recruitment of the province at the younger level.
“Last year was a really successful season in terms of the contribution academy players made at senior level, which is ultimately what we are here to do – develop players of the requisite quality to represent Ulster and Ireland. We still believe there is significant opportunity to grow again this year and we are excited about the new batch of players joining our programme. Each year we are driving increased standards so I congratulate those who have been awarded a place in the academy and look forward to seeing how they develop into the future,� he said.
Along with Sexton the likes of highly rated trio Conor Rankin, Tom Stuart and Hayden Hyde have all been brought in, with the future looking bright for the northern province.
