Ireland u20 2013 6 nations and junior world cup

P.Walnuts

Squad announced

Ireland U-20 squad: John Andrew, Jake Caulfield, John Creighton, Steve Crosbie, Thomas Daly, John Donnan, Peter Dooley, Conor Joyce, Sean McCarthy, Luke McGratham, George McGuigan, Ryan Murphy, Stuart Olding, Alexander O'Meara, David Panther, Rory Scannell, Rory Scholes, Brian Scott, Darren Sweetnam, Christopher Taylor, Gavin Thornbury, Peadar Timmins, Josh Van Der Flier

Any noticeable absentees? I'm not too well informed, but I would of thought Dan Leavy might have made it.

Hype710

A lot of names I'm unfamiliar with there. No Jerry Sexton and/or Ultan Dillane is a surprise considering they would have had caps at various other levels. I think I read Leavy is injured. Haugh at Munster and O'Loughlin at Leinster are notable absentees I'd have thought.

.ak

I'm terrible at keeping up with DOBs so I have to say I don't know too many on there. Thornbury and Van Der Flier are two guys I think could excel at this level. Looking forward to seeing Daly too.

bilston

P.Walnuts wrote: »

Squad announced

Ireland U-20 squad: John Andrew, Jake Caulfield, John Creighton, Steve Crosbie, Thomas Daly, John Donnan, Peter Dooley, Conor Joyce, Sean McCarthy, Luke McGratham, George McGuigan, Ryan Murphy, Stuart Olding, Alexander O'Meara, David Panther, Rory Scannell, Rory Scholes, Brian Scott, Darren Sweetnam, Christopher Taylor, Gavin Thornbury, Peadar Timmins, Josh Van Der Flier

Any noticeable absentees? I'm not too well informed, but I would of thought Dan Leavy might have made it.

Anyone know anything about David Panther? Long lost distant relative of Mike Catt?....ahem...anyway...

Tox56

The Byrne brothers aren't there either

Hype710

Oh and Brian Byrne. Ed Byrne had a shoulder op AFAIK but I hadn't heard of any injury to Brian.

Hagz

I can only assume that there must be an array of injuries.

No Ed Byrne - must be due to the injury being talked about, Peter Dooley steps in. Youths player from Birr RFC who has another year at this level. I was expecting to see him next year, but I guess with Ed out he's stepping up. Very talented and held in the same regard as Ed. Still a terrible shame that Ed isn't playing.

No Bryan Byrne - ??
No Dan Leavy - ?? At least he has another year at this level
No Max McFarland - ?

Honestly, that looks like one of the weakest squads I've ever seen.
The three best players I see on that squad list are Stuart Olding, Luke McGrath and Peter Dooley...

EDIT: Phew, McGrath is there....

.ak

McGrath being left out is an odd one allright.

bilston

.ak wrote: »

McGrath being left out is an odd one allright.

I assume Luke McGrathAM is a typo and it's meant to be Luke McGrath.

peterdonald90

McGrath is in the squad.

I've heard leavy was injured so is ed byrne and adam byrne afaik

.ak

Yep Adam Byrne has a broken ankle. Pity, he's 20 isn't he?

Hype710

McFarland is very small in fairness, not overly surprised he didn't make it.

GerM

Only 3 returning players makes for one of the weakest looking sides in a few years. We'll have to see how it plays out. Great to see a stronger representation from Munster. Can only bode well for the future if all the provinces are producing.

GerM

.ak wrote: »

Yep Adam Byrne has a broken ankle. Pity, he's 20 isn't he?

19 at most and, if he is, he only turned 19 in the last few weeks. He should have another year.

Hagz

Squad breakdown - might need correcting.

HK: John Andrew, George McGuigan
LH: Peter Dooley, Brian Scott
TH: Jake Caulfield, Chris Taylor
LK: John Donnan , Sean McCarthy, Gavin Thornbury
BR: Conor Joyce, Ryan Murphy, Peadar Timmins, Josh Van der Flier
SH: John Creighton, Luke McGrath
OH: Steve Crosbie, Stuart Olding
CT: Thomas Daly, Darren Sweetnam, Rory Scannell
B3: Alex O'Meara, Rory Scholes,David Panther, Darren Sweetnam

Hype710

Rory Scannell is a 12. Panter and Sweetnam are FBs.

Tox56

Doesn't look like a huge amount to get excited about from a Leinster perspective

Hagz

Hype710 wrote: »

McFarland is very small in fairness, not overly surprised he didn't make it.

He's done a fair amount of bulking up though, and based on the back three talent listed, I think he would have been good to have.

Hagz

My stab at the starting XV

1. Peter Dooley
2. George McGuigan
3. Jake Caulfield
4. Sean McCarthy
5. Gavin Thornbury
6. Conor Joyce
7. Josh Van der Flier
8. Ryan Murphy
9. Luke McGrath
10. Stuart Olding
11. Alex O'Meara
12. Thomas Daly
13. Rory Scannell
14. Darren Sweetnam
15. Rory Scholes

Hagz

.ak wrote: »

Yep Adam Byrne has a broken ankle. Pity, he's 20 isn't he?

No he's younger than that, I think he might actually be 18. He's definitely got another year anyway.

Hype710

Hopefully we see Luke McGrath fulfill some of his potential, he'll be one of the leaders in the team. Interested to watch Tom Daly for the first time.

Hagz

So disappointed that we won't see the Byrne twins. That was what I was looking forward to the most..

When you look at the quality of the players excluded through injury, it's understandable why this team looks a bit weak.
Dan Leavy, Ed Byrne, Bryan Byrne, Chris Farrell, Adam Byrne etc.
And Henshaw due to his rise.

What about Brian Haugh? Isn't he supposed to be a very promising scrum-half?

Hype710

Hagz, just looked at Alex O'Meara there. He's the same size as McFarland, so while it isn't necessarily a size thing against McFarland, they must have felt they couldn't have included both!

GerM

Leavy should be involved later in the tournament. Recovering from an ankle knock according to Hugo over on LF.

bah06

what happened to tom farrell (leinster) and harry mcnulty (munster) both good 13s in interpros

Hype710

Tom Farrell is injured for the duration of the Six Nations.

bah06

another good player lost to injury

bah06

no 13 in the squad?

Hype710

Should have plenty of kicking options in the team - McGrath, Olding, Daly and Scannell are all possibilities. You'd imagine Daly has a fairly big boot considering the size of him.

bah06

daly is a very good kicker. Kicks for leinster 20s and lansdowne 1sts