Buoyed by their midweek win over Samoa, the Ireland Under-20s will look to finish an injury-hit campaign on a high when they take on World Rugby U-20 Championship hosts Georgia in Tbilisi.
2017 WORLD RUGBY UNDER-20 CHAMPIONSHIP – 9TH-10TH PLACE PLAY-OFF: Sunday, June 18
GEORGIA UNDER-20s v IRELAND UNDER-20s, Mikheil Meskhi Stadium, Tbilisi, 1pm local time/10am Irish time (live eir Sport 2/World Rugby live streaming in certain countries)
Team News: The Ireland Under-20 team (sponsored by PwC) to face World Rugby U-20 Championship hosts Georgia in Sunday’s 9th-10th place play-off has been named by head coach Peter Malone.
There are three changes for the Ireland U-20s’ final match of the tournament, with Garryowen centre David McCarthy, who was an influential replacement against Samoa the last day, the only new inclusion in the back-line.
Dublin University’s Charlie Connolly returns at tighthead prop for his tenth Ireland U-20 cap, while John Foley of Shannon gets the nod at blindside flanker. Gavin Coombes reverts to a bench which includes Instonians flyer Mark Keane who made his U-20 debut on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Georgia U-20 boss Ilia Maisuradze has made three personnel changes and a positional switch to the side that edged out Argentina 26-25 to end the Junior Lelos’ losing run.
Beka Saghinadze, the scorer of an early try against Argentina, moves from the second row to blindside flanker, with Lasha Jaiani and Guram Papidze added to the pack and Saba Svimonshvili selected on the right wing.
Svimonishvili, who is part of the Sharks Academy in South Africa, is one of the foreign-based players in the Georgian selection along with Exeter University lock Jaiani and Lyons prop Papidze. There are five Lelo Saracens players in the starting line-up, including centres Bezhan Gavashelishvili and Giorgi Kveseladze.
Playing behind a typically powerful Lelos pack, Gela Aprasidze is a highly-rated scrum half appearing at his second U-20 Championship and he could feature at a third as he does not turn 20 until January. He won his first two senior caps in this year’s Rugby Europe Championship and was part of the Georgian U-18 side that beat the Ireland U-18 Schools in a penalty shootout in 2015.
Notably, an audio description will be provided to visually-impaired people attending the match for the first time in the country. A detailed narrative will be provided with visually-impaired fans able to access the frequency using just their mobile phones and earphones wherever they are in the stadium.
World Rugby U-20 Championship – Ticket Information
World Rugby U-20 Championship Results/Fixtures
GEORGIA U-20: Mirian Modebadze (AIA); Saba Svimonishvili (Sharks Academy), Bezhan Gavashelishvili (Lelo Saracens), Giorgi Kveseladze (Lelo Saracens), Davit Meskhi (RC Armia); Tedo Abzhandadze (AIA), Gela Aprasidze (Lelo Saracens); Guram Gogichashvili (Locomotive), Levan Papidze (Lelo Saracens), Guram Papidze (Lyon), Lasha Jaiani (Exeter University), Koba Jimsheleishvili (Armazi), Beka Saghinadze (Lelo Saracens), Ilia Spanderashvili (RC Armia) (capt), Arsen Machaladze (AIA).
Replacements: Levan Tchavtchavadze (RC Armia), Ushangi Tcheishvili (Montpellier), Lasha Tabidze (Bordeaux-Begles), Tornike Jalagonia (RC Jiki), Sandro Mamamtavrishvili (RC TBS University), Luka Dvalishvili (RC Armazi), Giorgi Tsiklauri (RC Jiki), Beka Mamukashvili (Lelo Saracens).
IRELAND U-20: Alan Tynan (Young Munster/Munster); Michael Silvester (Dublin University/Leinster), Gavin Mullin (UCD/Leinster), David McCarthy (Garryowen/Munster), Calvin Nash (Young Munster/Munster); Conor Dean (St. Mary’s College/Leinster), Jack Stafford (Shannon/Munster); Jordan Duggan (Naas/Leinster), Ronan Kelleher (UCD/Leinster), Charlie Connolly (Dublin University/Leinster), Fineen Wycherley (Young Munster/Munster), Oisin Dowling (Lansdowne/Leinster), John Foley (Shannon/Munster), Paul Boyle (Lansdowne/Leinster) (capt), Caelan Doris (St. Mary’s College/Leinster).
Replacements: Adam Moloney (Shannon/Munster), Joey Conway (UL Bohemians/Munster), Greg McGrath (Lansdowne/Leinster), Jack Regan (UCD/Leinster), Gavin Coombes (Young Munster/Munster), Jonny Stewart (Queen’s University/Ulster), Ciaran Frawley (UCD/Leinster), Mark Keane (Instonians/Ulster).
Referee: Pali de Luca (Argentina)
Assistant Referees: Dan Jones (Wales), Andrea Piardi (Italy)
Television Match Official: Jon Mason (Wales)
Match Odds (Paddy Power): Georgia U-20s to win: 15/8; Draw: 22/1; Ireland U-20s to win: 2/5
Pre-Match Quotes – Peter Malone (Ireland U-20s): “It’s been a tough tournament for us with injuries taking their toll, but the players have all rallied together and it was a good result last time out against Samoa, so we’ll look to carry the positives from that game into the match tomorrow.
“The Georgians are going to be big and powerful, so the players know that they’re going to have to front up and be ready for that battle.
“There’s set to be a good crowd at the stadium, and Georgian fans are a passionate bunch, so it should make for a great atmosphere and hopefully a great match.”
Pre-Match Links –
Ireland U-20s Visit ‘First Step Georgia’ In Tbilisi
World Rugby U-20 Championship – Final Play-Offs Preview
Five Things We Learnt From Day Four In Georgia
Law Trials To Be Rolled Out At U-20 Championship
Previous Meeting –
2016: World Rugby Under-20 Championship – Pool A: Ireland U-20s 35 Georgia U-20s 7, Academy Stadium, Manchester
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