The title dream may be over for the Ireland and Georgia Under-20s after back-to-back defeats, but they still have plenty to play for with a number of sides scrapping to avoid being ranked ninth to 12th at the end of the World Rugby U-20 Championship’s pool stages.
2018 WORLD RUGBY UNDER-20 CHAMPIONSHIP – POOL C: Thursday, June 7
IRELAND UNDER-20s (3rd) v GEORGIA UNDER-20s (4th), Stade d’Honneur du Parc des Sports et de l’Amitie, Narbonne, 6.30pm local time/5.30pm Irish time (live eir Sport 2/www.rugby.ge/World Rugby live streaming in certain countries)
Team News: There are six changes to the Ireland Under-20 team that lost 30-17 to their South African counterparts at the same venue on Sunday. With their semi-final hopes now extinguished, the Ireland U-20s (sponsored by PwC) are focused on posting their first win of the tournament and gaining as many points as possible heading into the play-offs.
Jordan Duggan, Diarmuid Barron and Jack Aunger will start together in the front row for the third successive game, while Ulster Academy member Matthew Dalton returns in the second row alongside Jack Dunne, reuniting the lock partnership from the narrow loss to tournament hosts France.
Ever-present captain Caelan Doris, who scored one of the tries of the second round, continues at number 8 and is joined in the back row by Ballynahinch’s Aaron Hall, who makes his first start of the tournament, and openside Jack Daly, an Ireland Under-20 debutant and the second Garryowen player in the starting pack.
Hugh O’Sullivan swaps back in at scrum half to form an all-Leinster half-back combination with Conor Dean, while Tommy O’Brien and James Hume are retained for their second outing together in the centre, and the final two changes see UCC’s Peter Sylvester stationed at full-back and Peter Sullivan from Lansdowne – a call-up to replace the injured Dan Hurley in the Irish squad – gets the nod on the right wing.
The replacements bench includes another potential debutant in promising Sligo prop Jakub Wojtkowicz, alongside UCC loosehead Bryan O’Connor who won his first cap as a 68th minute replacement for Duggan against the Junior ‘Boks.
The Ireland U-20s lie third in Pool C on a single point, the same tally as Georgia. Head coach Noel McNamara said: “We have two tough games under our belt and are disappointed with the results so far. We have another tough game ahead of us tomorrow against Georgia. We’re all looking forward to the game and hopefully we can perform to our potential.”
When the Ireland U-20s met Georgia in a 9th-10th place play-off in Tbilisi twelve months ago, out-half Dean’s 73rd-minute penalty got them over the line in a hard-fought 24-18 victory. Dean finished with nine points, while Doris was one of the three try scorers, and prop Duggan, scrum half Jonny Stewart and full-back Michael Silvester were also involved.
Today’s third round tie will be broadcast live on eir Sport 2 in the Republic of Ireland and online in non-geo blocked locations via World Rugby’s Facebook page and www.worldrugby.org. For more information on the tournament, click here.
Meanwhile, following their 24-12 defeat to hosts France, Georgia have restored the vast majority of the side that started against South Africa in the opening round. Lelo Saracens lock Beka Saghinadze returns as captain in a pack that sees only back rowers Sandro Mamamtavrishvili and Tornike Jalagonia retained.
The Junior Lelos have been fielding a settled back-line which is led by talented half-backs, Tedo Abzhandadze, who played with the Terenure College Under-20s this season, and Montpellier starlet Gela Aprasidze. Sandro Svanidze fills the gap created by Deme Tapladze’s move from outside centre to the right wing.
Talismanic Jiki Gori number 8 Jalagonia, who captained Georgia the last day, lit up last weekend’s clash with France, topping the Junior Lelos’ carrying statistics and making more tackles than any other player on the day with 18.
Tickets for the World Rugby Under-20 Championship, which showcases the future stars of world rugby, are on sale via www.ffr.fr, www.ticketmaster.fr and www.francebillet.com with prices reflecting the FFR’s ambition to attract new fans to the sport. Tickets for the pool stages and the first positional play-off round range from €;5 to €;25, while tickets for the finals day range from €;15 to €;35.
World Rugby U-20 Championship Results/Fixtures
World Rugby U-20 Championship Broadcast Information
IRELAND U-20: Peter Sylvester (UCC/Munster); Peter Sullivan (Lansdowne/Leinster), Tommy O’Brien (UCD/Leinster), James Hume (Banbridge/Ulster), Sean O’Brien (Clontarf/Leinster); Conor Dean (St. Mary’s College/Leinster), Hugh O’Sullivan (Clontarf/Leinster); Jordan Duggan (Naas/Leinster), Diarmuid Barron (Garryowen/Munster), Jack Aungier (St. Mary’s College/Leinster), Matthew Dalton (Malone/Ulster), Jack Dunne (Dublin University/Leinster), Aaron Hall (Ballynahinch/Ulster), Jack Daly (Garryowen/Munster), Caelan Doris (St. Mary’s College/Leinster) (capt).
Replacements: Dan Sheehan (Dublin University/Leinster), Bryan O’Connor (UCC/Munster), Jakub Wojtkowicz (Sligo/Connacht), Cormac Daly (Clontarf/Leinster), Matthew Agnew (Ballymena/Ulster), Jonny Stewart (Queen’s University/Ulster), Harry Byrne (UCD/Leinster), James McCarthy (UL Bohemians/Munster).
GEORGIA U-20: Beka Mamukashvili (Lelo Saracens); Deme Tapladze (Lelo Saracens), Sandro Svanidze (Armazi Marneuli), Giorgi Tsiklauri (Jiki Gori), Otar Dzagnidze (Aia Kutaisi); Tedo Abzhandadze (Aia Kutaisi), Gela Aprasidze (Montpellier); Guram Gogichasvili (Racing 92), Levan Papidze (Lelo Saracens), Luka Japaridze (Lelo Saracens), Beka Saghinadze (Lelo Saracens) (capt), Arsen Machaladze (Aia Kutaisi), Sandro Mamamtavrishvili (Lelo Saracens), Archil Abesadze (Lelo Saracens), Tornike Jalagonia (Jiki Gori).
Replacements: Tengiz Zamtaradze (Lelo Saracens), Giorgi Nutsubidze (Jiki Gori), Gia Kharaishvili (Armazi Marneuli), Lasha Jaiani (Exeter Chiefs), Tengiz Gigolashvili (Armazi Marneuli), Luka Dvalishvili (Armazi Marneuli), Lasha Lomidze (Aia Kutaisi), Kote Marjanishvili (Locomotive Tbilisi).
Referee: Jamie Nutbrown (New Zealand)
Assistant Referees: Pali Deluca (Argentina), Flavien Hourquet (France)
Television Match Official: Shane McDermott (New Zealand)
Match Odds (Paddy Power): Ireland U-20s to win: 1/4; Draw: 22/1; Georgia U-20s to win: 3/1
Pre-Match Quotes – Caelan Doris (Ireland U-20s): “The nature of the tournament is that the main focus is on getting our bodies in the best possible place for another game in a few days. All three teams we play in this pool have extremely big packs, bigger than us, and that’s the challenge again on Thursday against Georgia.
“The aim at the start of the tournament was to get to the top four, the semi-finals, but we knew it was going to be incredibly tough but now we are definitely looking to come in that next four.
“It is a superb tournament. It’s class getting to play against the best players in the world in your age group. And guys like Jordan Larmour, James Ryan, Garry Ringrose, just to mention a few, have shown how it is a pathway to senior rugby as well.”
Pre-Match Links –
World Rugby U-20 Championship: Pool C Preview
Semi-Final Places Up For Grabs In France
Stat Attack: Captain Caelan Doris led by example in Ireland’s 30-17 second round loss to South Africa. He made 15 carries and combined that with more tackles than any of his team-mates (10), not to mention scoring a try and then setting up full-back Michael Silvester’s score early in the second half.
Previous Meetings –
2016: World Rugby Under-20 Championship – Pool A: Ireland U-20s 35 Georgia U-20s 7, Academy Stadium, Manchester
2017: World Rugby Under-20 Championship – 9th-10th Place Play-Off: Georgia U-20s 18 Ireland U-20s 24, Mikheil Meskhi Stadium, Tbilisi
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