Thursday, June 4: Eire Males’s head coach Mark Tumilty has introduced his 20-player squad for the 2026 FIH Hockey Nations Cup, going down in Cape City, South Africa this June 11 – 20.
Luke Roleston and James Milliken get the nod in nets for Eire following unimaginable home campaigns for each shot stoppers with their respective golf equipment, Banbridge and Lisnagarvey. Jaime Carr misses out via an damage that he sustained throughout membership duties with Belgian facet, Gantoise.
The acquainted pairing of captain Kyle Marshall and Peter McKibbin will characteristic within the centre of Eire’s defence, flanked by the skilled Lee Cole and Fergus Gibson. Greg Williams maintains his spot having impressed throughout Eire’s FIH Hockey World Cup Qualification marketing campaign, scoring 3 times, and is joined by younger Three Rock Rovers defender Ben Ryder.
Sam Hyland additionally returns, with Nick Web page making his first look in an Eire shirt since June 2025 after sustaining a calf damage that sidelined him for 9 months.
In midfield, Daragh Walsh makes his return having missed the facet’s marketing campaign in Santiago via damage. The Braxgata midfielder will likely be eager to make an influence this marketing campaign forward of August’s World Cup. Banbridge duo Peter Brown and Adam MacAllister will marshal Eire’s midfield, whereas Evan Jennings joins the squad to make his first look at a significant match and is predicted to make his senior worldwide debut.
Upfront, the ever-present figures of Matthew Nelson, Ben Walker, Jeremy Duncan and Ali Empey line out. They’re joined by the returning Ben Nelson and Ben Johnson, each of whom make their first Eire appearances since 2025 after very good seasons within the EY Hockey League and AIG Irish Senior Cups.
Following the announcement, Head Coach Mark Tumilty stated:
“I sit up for the FIH Hockey Nations Cup as it’s our sole preparation for the World Cup. Now we have made quite a few squad modifications from Chile as a result of damage and participant availability. It’s useful to present different gamers publicity to video games at this stage. I count on it to be a extremely aggressive match which is crucial as we put together for our first World Cup match.”
Tumilty’s facet have been drawn in Pool B of the competitors alongside hosts South Africa (#13), latest rivals France (#10), and match debutants USA (#26).
Eire enter the competitors as the highest ranked facet, sitting ninth on the earth after their sensational unbeaten marketing campaign in Santiago’s FIH Hockey World Cup Qualifiers in March the place they topped their pool earlier than dispatching Wales to safe qualification, and got here from behind to beat France within the ultimate.
The facet start the marketing campaign towards USA on Thursday, June 11 adopted by a grudge match towards France 48 hours later, on Saturday, June 13. They shut out their pool stage towards South Africa, with a high 2 end sufficient to see the facet progress to the Semi-Finals on Friday, June 19.
Luke Roleston
James Milliken
Fergus Gibson
Ben Ryder
Lee Cole
Greg Williams
Kyle Marshall
Peter McKibbin
Sam Hyland
Nick Web page
Peter Brown
Adam McAllister
Daragh Walsh
Evan Jennings
Ali Empey
Ben Nelson
Matty Nelson
Jeremy Duncan
Ben Johnson
Ben Walker
June 11 – 15:45 Irish Time – Eire vs United States of America
June 13 – 13:45 Irish Time – Eire vs France
June 16 – 18:00 Irish Time – Eire vs South Africa
June 19 & 20 – Crossover Matches
Hockey Eire
