U-20 Men’s Six Nations – Ireland v France
Connor Fahy has support from Daniel Green during the Ireland Under-20s' encounter with England at Virgin Media Park last month ©INPHO/Ben Brady
A swift return to winning ways is the aim for the Ireland Under-20 Men’s team tonight (sponsored by PwC), as they prepare to host second-placed France at Virgin Media Park on Friday (kick-off 8pm – live on RTÉ 2/RTÉ Player/BBC iPlayer). Stats Perform preview the game with their Opta Facts.
– Ireland are on a three-match winning streak against France in the Under-20 Men’s Six Nations. Only once before had they won consecutive games against les Bleuets (2012-13). These three wins have come by margins of just one, two, and six points respectively
– Ireland have won six of their seven home clashes with France in the U-20 Men’s Six Nations (L1), winning their last five such fixtures in a row, including the two most recent ones at Virgin Media Park
– England’s victory over Ireland in round 1 ended a 13-match winning run at home for Ireland in the U-20 Men’s Six Nations
– That was their first U-20 Men’s Six Nations loss since 2018, and the first time they had failed to score a try in a home fixture since a 16-0 loss to Wales in 2014
– Ireland have lost two games already in the 2025 Championship, having gone 15 matches unbeaten (W14, D1) in U-20 Six Nations action heading into this year. The last time they lost three matches in an edition of the tournament was back in 2018
– France have alternated between victory and defeat across their last nine outings in the U-20 Men’s Six Nations. They won their last match against Italy (58-5), which was their biggest win in the Championship since a 78-12 defeat of their Italian counterparts in 2018
– France have the highest tackle success rate of any team in the 2025 tournament (89.4%), while Ireland have the lowest (81.4%)
– Les Bleuets also have the highest dominant tackle rate (11.3%) in the Championship this year
– Ireland have retained possession from 98% of their rucks in the 2025 U-20 Men’s Six Nations, the highest rate of any team
– Neil Doak’s charges also have the fastest average attacking ruck speed of any nation (3.04s), in addition to being the only side with a defensive ruck speed above four seconds this year (4.04s)
– France have gained the most metres from carries of any team in this year’s U-20 Men’s Six Nations (1492), while Ireland have made more metres from open-play kicks than any other nation in the Championship (2775)
– Ireland duo Éanna McCarthy (38) and Billy Corrigan (35) have made more carries than any other players in the 2025 U-20 Men’s Six Nations, while their team-mate, Connor Fahy, ranks first for metres in contact this year (82)
– France duo Simeli Daunivucu and Oliver Cowie have each completed six offloads in this year’s U-20 Men’s Six Nations, twice as many as any other players in the competition
– France’s Diego Jurd and Jacques Nguimbous are two of three players to have assisted a try via an offload this year (also Scotland’s Jack Brown)