Billy Scannell

Billy Scannell (born 16 September 1999) is an Irish rugby union player. He plays as a hooker.

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. 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. 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.

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.

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. Scannell joined Fédérale 1 club Stade Lagonnais on loan for the 2021–22 season.

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. Ireland went on to win a grand slam in that year's tournament.