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