Ireland u20 2013 6 nations and junior world cup

Minderbinder

Full Time... SA 26 - 19 France

connachta

France with BP, so which country for Ireland in the 5-8 classification matches?

Buer

connachta wrote: »

France with BP, so which country for Ireland in the 5-8 classification matches?

5. Ireland
6. Argentina
7. Australia
8. France

I think.

Hagz

connachta wrote: »

France with BP, so which country for Ireland in the 5-8 classification matches?

France

andrewdcs

Such a shame. Really hope to see many of the players in the Rabo etc. next year, really great rugby. Gutted for the effort, bonus point for trys system is a problem in some cases. Fine over a full, 20+ game season, agressively reductive in a cup / round robin / 5 game comp. Obv. means it pushes teams to go for touch downs, but when the standards invariably vary dramatically from year to year and you cant seed effectively, it becomes a lottery.

Beery Eyed

Now that the dust has settled a bit on the days action, I must say that it was a really impressive performance all round by the team & they were desperately unlucky not to make the semi finals. There are some excellent players throughout the squad and hopefully they can go on to challenge for 5th. It certainly won't be easy though, since they'll have to face a French team, who showed what they are capable of against SA today, and then possibly a rematch with an Australian looking for some revenge.

It has been alluded to by a few people already, but the number of quality young players coming through the system, combined with the limited number of academy places available, means that a lot of the guys coming through the system might not get the high level game exposure needed to keep progressing in the coming years.

The addition of the British & Irish Cup has certainly been very positive for expanding the pool of young players who get exposure to the professional/semi-professional setup. I'm still not sure that it's the ideal format for the level below the full professional game, but it's certainly a move in the right direction.

The problem in my mind is that the AIL is an excellent and very competitive competition in its own right, so the scope to focus on player development is limited. Instead, coaches & clubs must focus more on a "one game at a time" mentality, or else they could face relegation. The standard of the league is continuously improving due to the players coming through over the last number of years, but I'm still not sure that it will ever be the ideal setup for developing young players for the professional game.

At the moment, if a guy comes out of U20's level he is more likely to be playing at AIL level, if at all, on a consistent basis than he will be playing B&I Cup or Rabo. Some might make a couple of appearances at B&I/Rabo level, whereas some of the guys might not even make the first team of their AIL club if there is a key/experienced player already in their position.

It's a tricky one to get right, but for my money I would love to be seeing these guys all in action in a competition during the year which is focused solely on developing them for the top level of the game. Leave the AIL & Cups as its own predominantly amateur focused setup, and separate the guys who are aiming at the pro level to play each other & battle it out for a call up to Rabo/HC level.

Ah well, might be unlikely, but I'd like to see it anyway!

aramush

Just after catching up on it now, if these Irish guys are the future of Irish rugby then its in safe hands. Great effort from all concerned!

wp_rathead

ormond lad wrote: »

19s played 2 games, v England and France. Lost both, losing to England 16-15 and France 20-14.
19s game v England was a good one. Sean O Brien was 2nd row and very very impressive with Jack O Donoghue at 8 very good also. 19s lost to a much bigger English pack

18s youths played series of friendlies(though were due to be in FIRA) against Scotland, Italy, France and England.
18s schools won quarter final of FIRA narrowly to Georgia but lost out in semis to France

I absolutely love reading your posts
Pure encyclopedia of Irish youth rugby

Mreat

Biggest disappointment today was Adam Byrne. Time to reverse the hype on him.

Wexfordboy89

Mreat wrote: »

Biggest disappointment today was Adam Byrne. Time to reverse the hype on him.

he went off injured early i think ?

FrannoFan

Mreat wrote: »

Biggest disappointment today was Adam Byrne. Time to reverse the hype on him.

shepherds crook at 33mins, not great for the confidence. guy opposite him was savage,better than a lot of rabo wingers i reckon!!

Mreat

Wexfordboy89 wrote: »

he went off injured early i think ?

not injured.

FrannoFan wrote: »

shepherds crook at 33mins, not great for the confidence. guy opposite him was savage,better than a lot of rabo wingers i reckon!!

true but considering the hype behind him(youngest player to play for Leinster in the pro era), he fell flat on his face.

went from being a possible factor for Leinster next season, to playing u20 interpro, B&I cup and AIL.

Which is fine, just disappointing considering the hype there.

Stanza2

Mreat wrote: »

Biggest disappointment today was Adam Byrne. Time to reverse the hype on him.

Have to say that I agree, but he has potential and will go forward with his time in the academy in Leinster. He looked bad defensively today, seemed to freeze. Hopefully there are better days ahead for him.

I was like everyone very proud of all the lads, just amazing performance and England got through due to having the USA in their group, ah well luck of the draw I suppose.

The thing that would not leave my head afterwards was..... Olding and Henshaw.
I could take Tom Daly's injury as that happens during a tournament, but surely as a nation we should have our best U20 players togging out in that JWC. Those two would have made a significant contribution and for me I would have had them there instead of playing Canada this weekend.

Onwards and upwards. Well done to all involved today.

Mreat

People forget about the excellent Chris Farrell aswell, shame we lost out on him due to injury.


Also considering how little Olding and Henshaw are playing on this silly tour in the states, i'd have preferred to see them partake with the lads at u20 level.

FrannoFan

Stanza2 wrote: »

Have to say that I agree, but he has potential and will go forward with his time in the academy in Leinster. He looked bad defensively today, seemed to freeze. Hopefully there are better days ahead for him.

I was like everyone very proud of all the lads, just amazing performance and England got through due to having the USA in their group, ah well luck of the draw I suppose.

The thing that would not leave my head afterwards was..... Olding and Henshaw.
I could take Tom Daly's injury as that happens during a tournament, but surely as a nation we should have our best U20 players togging out in that JWC. Those two would have made a significant contribution and for me I would have had them there instead of playing Canada this weekend.

Onwards and upwards. Well done to all involved today.

neither of them in the squad to play canada either(though that might be illness enforced)
all for them going with national side to be honest but only if they are to be involved.

Hagz

Wexfordboy89 wrote: »

he went off injured early i think ?

No, taken off because he was off-the boil defensively. He was burnt on the outside for one break, went in to a ruck at the touch-line to leave a wide gap for another break, and for NZ's first try he committed too soon.

Hopefully he shows us what he's capable of in the next two games.

Mreat

Early peek ahead next season a team like this maybe?

1. Peter Dooley(Leinster)
2. Shane Delahunt(Leinster)
3. Rory Burke(Munster)
4. Sean O'Brien(Connacht)
5. John Madigan(Munster)
6. Peadar Timmins(Leinster)
7. Dan Leavy(Leinster) captain
8. Jack O'Donoghue(Munster)
9. Jack Cullen(Munster)
10. Conor McKeon(Leinster)
11. Ross Adair(Ulster)
12. Peter Robb(Leinster)
13. Rory O'Loughlin(Leinster)
14. Adam Byrne(Leinster)
15. Billy Dardis(Leinster)
16. Max Abbott(Munster)
17. Ross Kane(Ulster)
18. Saba Meunargia(Connacht)
19. Russell Blair(Ulster)
20. Ben Alexander(Ulster)
21. Caolin Blade(Connacht)
22. Rory Parata(Connacht)
23. David Johnston(Munster)

padser

Mreat wrote: »

Early peek ahead next season a team like this maybe?

4. Sean O'Brien(Connacht)

)

Is there no end to what to what this man can do? When not being asked to play 12 and hooker we want him to also make up numbers at Connacht and next yrs JWC???

Hagz

Mreat wrote: »

Early peek ahead next season a team like this maybe?

Very hard to predict the team. If I had predicted this team at the beginning of this season I would have got it very wrong. Nevertheless, this is my guess.

1. Peter Dooley
2. Shane Delahunt
3. Saba Meunargia
4. Peadar Timmins
5. Sean O'Brien
6. Rory Moloney
7. Dan Leavy (c)
8. Jack O'Donoghue
9. (very difficult to say. Next years u19s will have good competition in McCarthy, Rock and Fullerton so maybe one of them will skip a year)
10. Conor McKeon
11. Alex Wootton
12. Peter Robb
13. Rory O'Loughlin
14. Adam Byrne
15. Billy Dardis

decisions

The Irish team is going to get very confusing for fair weather fans in the near future. 2 SOBs who are both excellent back rowers.

Mreat

decisions wrote: »

The Irish team is going to get very confusing for fair weather fans in the near future. 2 SOBs who are both excellent back rowers.

hold your horses on the other SOB, not really sure where he fits at the next level probably in the blindside mold as he is 6'4 and half, pushing 6'5.

very good player and really physically developed in comparison to other guys his age/size in Ireland.

ormond lad

Mreat wrote: »

Early peek ahead next season a team like this maybe?

1. Peter Dooley(Leinster)
2. Shane Delahunt(Leinster)
3. Rory Burke(Munster)
4. Sean O'Brien(Connacht)
5. John Madigan(Munster)
6. Peadar Timmins(Leinster)
7. Dan Leavy(Leinster) captain
8. Jack O'Donoghue(Munster)
9. Jack Cullen(Munster)
10. Conor McKeon(Leinster)
11. Ross Adair(Ulster)
12. Peter Robb(Leinster)
13. Rory O'Loughlin(Leinster)
14. Adam Byrne(Leinster)
15. Billy Dardis(Leinster)

Rory Parata maybe in centre, Russell Blair in 2nd row. Maybe Greg O Shea on the wing
Saba Meunargia at Tighthead
Caolin Blade at scrum half maybe and poss Dan Goggin in the centre

Mreat

ormond lad wrote: »

Rory Parata maybe in centre, Russell Blair in 2nd row. Maybe Greg O Shea on the wing
Saba Meunargia at Tighthead
Caolin Blade at scrum half maybe and poss Dan Goggin in the centre

Parata possibly in centre, agreed. Lot of competition for that inside centre spot, O'Loughlin has 13 right now. Goggin, Robb, Parata, Brewer all could be in abouts the 12 spot.

Blair could go second row alright, huge potential there. Like all four of SOB, Blair, Molony and Madigan.

O'Shea might be involved alright, lots of wing competition.

Blade has been unimpressive for me, 9 is probably the biggest question mark.

its_phil

Mreat wrote: »

hold your horses on the other SOB, not really sure where he fits at the next level probably in the blindside mold as he is 6'4 and half, pushing 6'5.

very good player and really physically developed in comparison to other guys his age/size in Ireland.

SOB will be a second row IMO. Fantastic lineout operator.

Mreat

its_phil wrote: »

SOB will be a second row IMO. Fantastic lineout operator.

Probably, shame he isn't a bit taller though.

Jedwardian

Does anybody know who the scrum coach for the under 20s is? Looking at just the last two years, he's done a superb job. This year's group have improved no end since the under 20 6 Nations

Wexfordboy89

Hagz wrote: »

No, taken off because he was off-the boil defensively. He was burnt on the outside for one break, went in to a ruck at the touch-line to leave a wide gap for another break, and for NZ's first try he committed too soon.

Hopefully he shows us what he's capable of in the next two games.

ah right sorry thought he went off injured

Fireball07

Think Sweetnam might start in the next game, looked very lively.

shuffol

Its worth noting that Byrne has come out of nowhere in the past year, he's obviously still very raw and learning the ropes in the technical aspects of the game, very impressive physically though, he's a big quick lad with a frame that looks like he could hold a lot of weight quite naturally, still very young too. For Leinster fans its a bit of a shame though seeing as many were hoping he could help fill the void in the back 3.

lurtz

Mreat wrote: »

Early peek ahead next season a team like this maybe?

1. Peter Dooley(Leinster)
2. Shane Delahunt(Leinster)
3. Rory Burke(Munster)
4. Sean O'Brien(Connacht)
5. John Madigan(Munster)
6. Peadar Timmins(Leinster)
7. Dan Leavy(Leinster) captain
8. Jack O'Donoghue(Munster)
9. Jack Cullen(Munster)
10. Conor McKeon(Leinster)
11. Ross Adair(Ulster)
12. Peter Robb(Leinster)
13. Rory O'Loughlin(Leinster)
14. Adam Byrne(Leinster)
15. Billy Dardis(Leinster)
16. Max Abbott(Munster)
17. Ross Kane(Ulster)
18. Saba Meunargia(Connacht)
19. Russell Blair(Ulster)
20. Ben Alexander(Ulster)
21. Caolin Blade(Connacht)
22. Rory Parata(Connacht)
23. David Johnston(Munster)

all these teams leave out Ross Moloney who many consider is the future of the 2nd row talent in the country,many of the locks there wouldnt be as good as him

very hard to predict the team,you dont know the exile involvement for one.
I wouldnt have seen lads like timmins and dooley getting the call but theyve done very well considering theyre a year young.
Id never heard of McGuigan or Wooton connected with Ireland but more exiles choose the green when the jwc rolls around

Jedwardian wrote: »

Does anybody know who the scrum coach for the under 20s is? Looking at just the last two years, he's done a superb job. This year's group have improved no end since the under 20 6 Nations

not sure if they have one,Feek might give a hand,ruddock would have a good rep for strong scrummaging sides