Ireland U-20 Team Named For Donnybrook Date With Italy
The Ireland Under-20 team (sponsored by PwC) to play Italy Under-20s at Donnybrook on Friday night (kick-off 7.35pm) has been confirmed.
Head coach Nigel Carolan has named the same starting pack from the 26-20 win over England in Newcastle last time out, but there are some changes to the back-line due to a couple of injuries.
Brett Connon will make his first start of the Under-20 RBS 6 Nations as he steps up from the bench to take up the full-back position which has been vacated by the injured Jack Power (hamstring).
Conor O’Brien moves from the left wing to replace the injured Jimmy O’Brien (stress fracture) at inside centre. Jacob Stockdale, who has been involved with Ulster in the GUINNESS PRO12 in recent weeks, will win his seventh Ireland Under-20 cap as he makes his first appearance in this campaign.
In the replacements, Hugo Kean (St. Mary’s College), Ben Betts (Young Munster) and Paul Kiernan (UCC) will be hoping to win their first Ireland U-20 caps on Friday. They are joined on the bench by James Bollard, Sean O’Connor, Max Deegan, who has returned from injury, John Poland and Terry Kennedy.
The side will again be led by Lansdowne and Leinster ‘A’ lock James Ryan, who has scored three tries in as many U-20 Six Nations game.
Speaking ahead of the round 4 fixture, Carolan said: “We knew that this group of players were very capable of playing winning rugby, but errors had cost us in previous games. While it was satisfying to get the victory over England in Newcastle, the important thing now is that we park that win and continue to build and develop as a team.
“There are a couple of enforced changes to the backs and some new faces amongst the substitutes, so it changes things up a bit as we come to the latter stages of the competition.
“Italy travel to Donnybrook having made England and Scotland work very hard to secure their wins, so I’ve no doubt they’ll be looking to push us hard on Friday night. If we replicate our last performance, I am confident that we can come away with a successful outcome.”
Friday’s match, which is sponsored by Electric Ireland, kicks off at 7.35pm – click here for tickets. There will also be live TV coverage on RTE Two from 7.30pm.
IRELAND UNDER-20 Team & Replacements (v Italy Under-20s, Under-20 RBS 6 Nations Championship, Donnybrook, Friday, March 11, kick-off 7.35pm):
15. Brett Connon (Newcastle Falcons)
14. Hugo Keenan (UCD/Leinster)
13. Shane Daly (Cork Constitution/Munster)
12. Conor O’Brien (Clontarf/Leinster)
11. Jacob Stockdale (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster)
10. Johnny McPhillips (Queen’s University/Ulster)
9. Stephen Kerins (Sligo/Connacht)
1. Andrew Porter (UCD/Leinster)
2. Adam McBurney (Ballymena/Ulster)
3. Conan O’Donnell (Sligo/Connacht)
4. Peter Claffey (Galwegians/Connacht)
5. James Ryan (Lansdowne/Leinster) (capt)
6. Cillian Gallagher (Sligo/Connacht)
7. Will Connors (UCD/Leinster)
8. Greg Jones (UCD/Leinster)
Replacements:
16. Hugo Kean (St. Mary’s College/Leinster) *
17. James Bollard (Dublin University/Leinster)
18. Ben Betts (Young Munster/Munster) *
19. Sean O’Connor (Cashel/Munster)
20. Max Deegan (Lansdowne/Leinster)
21. John Poland (Cork Constitution/Munster)
22. Paul Kiernan (UCC/Munster) *
23. Terry Kennedy (St. Mary’s College/Leinster)
* Denotes uncapped at this level
Not considered: Conor Kenny (Buccaneers/Connacht) – injured; Jimmy O’Brien (UCD/Leinster) – injured; Jack Power (UCD/Leinster) – injured; Dan Walsh (Cork Constitution/Munster) – injured.