Irish Under-20's 2023

ulsteru20s

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120769924#Comment_120769924

Murphy’s kid will be ten next year i think and maybe hicks playing a year up.

phog

The U20s is a development tour, always was always should be. The fact a teams wins a few games is a bonus but the concept of it being a development tour shouldn't be lost on the coaches not the fans. Every player doesn't necessarily need to the same game time but we really shouldn't be having a run of games with unused subs.

Back5

Totally agree on development point and ensuring bench get meaningful game time.

This may well be the pinnacle of many players career and to limit players involvement fails on a number of levels. Tournament rugby demands you spread the load across the squad. So pick the squad accordingly.

Its also worth remembering historically a number of u20 "squad" players have developed into full Irish caps so all rather randon at this stage. Give boys a chance to perform.

Also not a huge fan of playing guys a year early unless there is a major chasm in the depth chart. Especially so in recent yrs given that covid may have limited exposure and playing chances.

johnh6767

Agreed, if he didn’t use his best players , we wouldn’t be in with a shout, we wouldn’t have won the 6N, and building track record and confidence is as much as part of the development as anything else, perhaps the most important part of development coming from an international squad which only recently has the ability to go up against any team in the world and feel confident

johnh6767

Hear hear - they’re a great coaching team passionate about what they do with a fantastic track record, I would back them against any one on this group in knowing what is the right course of action , seems pretty obvious

johnh6767

Team is out

FrannoFan

Anyone know much about Foxe in at tight head?

Shehal

Interestingly they went to Foxe and didnt start Barrett despite the latter being on the bench last week.

realhorrorshow

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120771709#Comment_120771709

Yeah it is interesting, considering Barrett usually gets decent minutes and started against Italy in the 6N. Thought the centres would be the opposite way around considering Devine is probably a better decision maker in defence, but looking forward to seeing how they get on.

ulsteru20s

Paddy McCarthy makes infinitely more sense at LHP. Be interesting to see him there.

Let’s hope Gus McCarthy can survive this whole experience uninjured. I could easily see him go another full 80 here.

Dubinusa

Surprised to see Barrett still on the bench. Obviously Hadden is injured. Anyone know the details of his injury?

Dubinusa

Anyone know anything about Foxe?

Back5

I think adding Irvine makes the pack look more robust. Not sure of player stats but he looks a heavier / taller unit than EOC.

ulsteru20s

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120773632#Comment_120773632

He’s supposedly 6’8 but honestly he looks taller. EOC is 6’7.

Blackheath

I see Australia have made 10 changes for this game, so they should be fairly fresh for this game.

Blackheath

Is there a rule that all members of the squad have to play some part in at least 1 game. I thought I remembered that from the previous U20 world cups or am I mistaken

Lost Ormond

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120774530#Comment_120774530

It comes up every year in this thread. it isnt the case but there generally is a lot of rotation with it being an age grade/development competition and the relatively short time between games

Back5

From what I can see the Australian 15 v Ireland contains 14 of the starters from the first pre-competition warm up game when the beat NZ.

Dubinusa

Oz should have beaten N.Z in the match that I saw. Dominant pack, controlled possession and that scrum was lethal. Unless the kiwis are scrubs?

On a different topic, England's props last weekend were 18 years old!

ulsteru20s

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120777504#Comment_120777504

The THP was the highest potential player on the pitch for me. Massive, moves well and seems like a good scrummager/good instincts. The fact that he is 18 is insane.

London Irish are a loss for england just for their development of players.

irelandrover

Decent game so far in awful conditions

Buer

Who made the monster carry up to the line before the try?

Weather does not help our game at all. Attack is far less fluid than normal due to inability to zip the ball as much as usual or offload at all. Australia defending well but we're not able to test them nearly as much as we would normally.

Frustrating 10 points to concede in a few minutes. Very soft try to turnover in their half and then miss a tackle or two on a breakaway.

11-10 at halftime doesn't reflect the possession/territory at all.

SophieLockhart

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120781219#Comment_120781219

Paddy McCarthy with the carry.

All_in_Flynn

Gleeson looks the part.

Locke_Lamora

Surprised at how decent the play has been given how much muck is over everyone, can't be easy to handle the ball in these conditions. One thing I've noticed is that our backline seems uncommonly slow this year, I know we never really produce 'speedsters' but this year stands out.

Gleeson has been excellent, obviously he's still u19 so won't see any senior game time next year bar maybe a preseason game or two, but munster fans must be very excited about him.

Gunne has been good as well I think, starting to really show why people rated him so highly.

If rumours on UAFC are to be believed then it looks like Irvine won't pick up an academy place for Ulster which I think is disappointing. Might not be the most exciting player but he's more than holding his own against a good Australia pack and second row prospects have been extremely scarce since Henderson.

sydthebeat

We actually need to up our kicking game

Buer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120781268#Comment_120781268

Hopefully we will now. Weather is only getting worse and they'll need to chase the game after that try.

Gunne's kicking as been brilliant.

Locke_Lamora

Scrums have really gone our way since that Australian prop went off.

sydthebeat

aussie line outs are killing them.

we need to be finding the touch line with our clearances

sydthebeat

thats some scrum

if im correct that u20s scrum is heavier than our starting senior pack

sydthebeat

that should be game

Stephen_Maturin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120781375#Comment_120781375

What?!

Surely not!!

Jump_In_Jack

Very impressive work by the whole team, conditions mean they have to adapt to a short carrying and kicking game plan, the centres and pack are doing a great job with their physical presence, Australia probably a little less cohesive and Ireland are playing like a well-oiled unit.

Locke_Lamora

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120781375#Comment_120781375

I can't see it, height and weight statistics always seem a little skewed at this level. They may make up a bit of weight in the backrow but props and second row should heavily favour the seniors.

sydthebeat

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120781456#Comment_120781456

I was told that the starting pack was 918kgs, but don't quote me on it.

I didn't check

All_in_Flynn

Such a likeable group. They just keep going.

AbusesToilets

Great win in some shite conditions.

typhoony

Team is much improved with Gleeson In it, carrying the ball into contact it looks like he's been stopped but somehow nearly always finds a way to gain extra yards on second momemtum, Really is a great time for Irish Rugby

Buer

That win is huge. Really ramps up the pressure on England who play Fiji this evening.

Hopefully we're able to rotate after today for Fiji but we'll have a better idea of what threat Fiji pose later on. Another fairly short turnaround before the next game on Tuesday so a few days extra of recovery would be good for some guys particularly those in the pack who emptied the tank today.

Gleeson, Paddy McCarthy and Gunne were all excellent. Gunne's kicking game has gone to another level this tournament. He tortured Australia with his box kicking and has a nice variation to it also when we saw a little chip over a ruck in his own half perfectly kicked for an onrushing Gleeson to make a big carry. Gleeson himself just keeps putting his hand up to carry and be involved. He's a very solid player. I don't think I've seen less than a 7/10 performance from him.

I thought Paddy McCarthy was brilliant. Absolutely minced his opposition tighthead and won multiple penalties there. Huge carry in the build up to our opening try which was important to turn the tide and won at least one breakdown steal.

As it stands, it's ourselves, England, France, NZ, Argentina and SA in the mix for the 4 semi final spots. France have been the most impressive team so far but I don't think there's anything to feat from any of those sides. Depth and power could tell as the tournament goes on but we should be able to give any of those teams real problems.

pickarooney

How does this tournament actually work with 3 pools of 4? Are there QFs with 2 3rd place runners up or SFs with 2 2nd place?

typhoony

Prendergast had a ok game, he made a few mistakes again, kicking out on the full once and his passing sometimes let's him down. But a very physical presence in his position

Buer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120781744#Comment_120781744

Three pool winners and the best runner up go through to the semi final. After our BP draw, we were always going to be in with a very good shout of at least being the best runner up if we won today. But the fact that we won by 20 points with a BP, means we're in a great position to top the pool.

As of right now, France are looking comfortable against NZ which makes them hot favourites to be top seed. That would mean (assuming we seal top spot with a little help from Australia/Fiji) we would face South Africa or Argentina in the semi final.

Buer

21-0 now to France against NZ. They have to be hot favourites for the tournament right now.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120781744#Comment_120781744

Sfs with 1 second place

OneLungDavy

I felt a bit for the sub Ozzy tight-head, their scrum simply collapsed when he came on. Young Foxe looks a powerful player and Barret is an absolute unit.

AbusesToilets

Thought Aus looked better with the ball in hand. We looked laboured and ineffective moving the ball across the backline. The strong, direct carries by the forwards won that for us.

AbusesToilets

reddest of red cards for Wales vs Japan only a yellow, not a good look for me

Le Bruise

Only dipping in and out of the France v NZ game in work here....are France really that good or is this a very poor All Black team (or a little of column A and a little of column B)?

AbusesToilets

Japan really play a lovely style of rugby, fantastic quality of passing there, especially with the rain

Dubinusa

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120781845#Comment_120781845

Yep. France are great. The kiwis look poor and soft.