Ireland u20 6 Nations & World Cup 2012

easy peasy

i see no mention of Stephen macauley. scored 2 tries in the 2010 schools cup final for cwc and was very young at the time. i heard he was in the leicester tigers academy. any word on him?

murmo

I think people underestimate Coghlans ability as a number 8. He has both the skill set and the massive size to make it in my opinion. People say he only got the academy this year because leinster didn't want him playing cricket which is absolute nonsense. If there was a better player than him they would obviously have given it to them and let coghlan play cricket?

ormond lad

easy peasy wrote: »

i see no mention of Stephen macauley. scored 2 tries in the 2010 schools cup final for cwc and was very young at the time. i heard he was in the leicester tigers academy. any word on him?

still is in tigers academy. playing wing/fullback for their academy team most recently on sunday on the wing against the english u18 side
dont think he was ever in contention unless ruddock and the coaches brought him to any of the 20s training camps

ormond lad

http://www.irishrugby.ie/news/25488.php
Ireland U-20 Team To Play Wales

31 January 2012, 12:41 pm
By Editor



The Ireland Under-20 team (Sponsored by PwC) has been named today by Head Coach Mike Ruddock for this Friday's opening game in the Under-20 RBS Six Nations Championship against Wales, in Dubarry Park, Athlone.



Ruddock has named an experienced side with seven players from last year's squad included in the starting XV to play Wales.Buccaneers own Daniel Qualter will partner up with Iain Henderson in the second row while fellow Connacht native Aaron Conneely is named in the back row.
Centre JJ Hanarahan makes a return to the side from last year along with Sam Coghlan-Murray who has been named on the wing.
Kieran Marmion will take up the scrum half position and will partner Paddy Jackson who has been named at outhalf. Jackson will also captain this year's side.
Speaking ahead of the opening game Ruddock said "We are all looking forward to the start of the 6 Nations. It is always a tough test against Wales but preparations have been first class and we are confident we have prepared as best as we can and are now looking forward to transferring that training onto the pitch itself."
Ireland U-20 v Wales U-20 (Dubarry Park, Athlone - Friday 3rd February 2012, Kick-off 7.05pm)

15 - Shane Layden (Buccaneers - Connacht)
14 - Barry Daly (UCD - Leinster)
13 - Foster Horan (Lansdowne - Leinster)
12 - JJ Hanrahan (UL Bohemians - Munster)
11 - Sam Coghlan-Murray (UCD - Leinster)
10 - Patrick Jackson (Dungannon - Ulster) Captain
9 - Kieran Marmion (Corinthians - Connacht)
1 - Kyle McCall (Ballynahinch - Ulster)
2 - Niall Scannell (Dolphin - Munster)
3 - Peter Reilly (Lansdowne - Leinster)
4 - Iain Henderson (QUB - Ulster)
5 - Daniel Qualter (Buccaneers - Connacht)
6 - Conor Gilsenan (UCD - Leinster)
7 - Aaron Conneely (Corinthians - Connacht)
8 - Jack Conan (Old Belvedere - Leinster)
Replacements:
16 - Des Merrey (Clontarf - Leinster)
17 - James Rael (Garryowen - Munster)
18 - Jake Cawley (XXX - Leinster)
19 - Tadgh Beirne (Lansdowne - Leinster)
20 - Jordan Coghlan (UCD - Leinster)
21 - Luke McGrath (UCD - Leinster)
22 - Cathal Marsh (Dublin University - Leinster)
23 - Christopher Farrell (Dungannon - Ulster)

Different season same problems for munster. small representation for munster
Considering connacht won the interpros thought theyd have more in the squad
over half the squad from leinster. fairly good going

irishbucsfan

Foster Horan?

Coneely is a smashing player.

porterbelly

Surprised there isn't more Connacht players seeing as they won the grand slam

Still though I suppose 4 + 1 isn't bad

Luckycharm

So are our pack going to be big enough this year to compete with England/France? Who are the new players to watch out for?

bamboozle

Michael Sherlock & Tadhg Furlong both of whom played last season are out injured

Furlong will be a big loss

Hype710

Great to see Sam Coughlan Murray starting. It was this time last year that he was due to start before his untimely illness. Extremely talented player.

irishbucsfan

Hype710 wrote: »

Great to see Sam Coughlan Murray starting. It was this time last year that he was due to start before his untimely illness. Extremely talented player.

It was a massive setback but I've heard he has looked great for UCD this year. Fair play to him.

Redsock

Backs look good. But as usual with Ireland underage sides it will depend on them getting good ball. If they do I think we will see them shine.

profitius

3 Munster players and 2 of those are hookers, the position Munster are most well off in.

Interesting that Shane Buckley is not there. He was starting last year and been with the Munster academy this year.

d-gal

The 4 connacht lads are quality players. Layden is the most exciting, get the ball to him and there will be scores. Qualter is a big lad as is the 7.

easy peasy

tough on connacht after their great showing in the interpro's, thought finn would have started on a wing to be honest(is he injured?). I reckon Coghlan should have got the start at 8 myself, classy player and more talented than conan in my opinion.

some decent options on the bench tho, so should be another decent campaign

siltirocker

I'd reckon Finn, Boland & Leader must be gutted

cityman 18

How did a Connacht team that won the Inter Pro grand slam only manage to get 4 players on the team (injury crisis?). Extremely strange imo...

shuffol

Cracking 2nd row combo, keeping those 2 fit will be key to the sides chances, backrow looks fairly mobile. Backline lacks the big names of last years(Gilroy, TOH, Macken, Conway) but maybe not such a bad thing as only Jackson is likely to be in provincial squads, lots of chopping and changing last year.

Looking forward to this.

murmo

Why isnt luke mcgrath starting????

the perfect ten

It might be because his passing needs to improve - especially at this level.

Horan started this season with Lansdowne U21 but was moved up to the Senior team by Mike Ruddock and by all accounts has been playing very well. It'll be interesting to see how he goes. It's also time for Paddy Jackson to show what he is capable of.

boynesider

Backline and back row look very strong to me.

Never even heard of the 13 horan but he must be quality to keep big chris Farrell out of the team.

Jackson is also lucky to get the nod over Marsh IMO.

JB1988

there wont be a backrow who will compete with us in this six nations, gilly and conny on the flanks its gonna be devastation on the field 2 big fellas that love the physical element of it especially gilly, looking forward to friday night!!! bring on a full weekend of wins over the welsh

hype101

F horan is supposed to be the business.. playing for lansdowne AIL straight outta school.. a mate playing for em said he made b macken look like a chum recently when they hammered blackrock.

Does anyway know when furlong is due back from injury? big loss, especially away to fra n eng

easyeas

Interesting front row without merry starting and furlong still injured. Furlongs first game I hear will be at the start of march so he won't be back for 6N but will be available for JWC

boynesider

JB1988 wrote: »

there wont be a backrow who will compete with us in this six nations, gilly and conny on the flanks its gonna be devastation on the field 2 big fellas that love the physical element of it especially gilly, looking forward to friday night!!! bring on a full weekend of wins over the welsh

I hope you're right but realistically none of us have a clue about how strong the other teams will be.(although I bet England will be a gang of monsters )

profitius

England will be all fully developed in terms of size. The Irish pack will be up against it. The French will too although the English are usually a bit bigger.

The Welsh teams are usually bigger than the Irish too. They have a different academy system where they start younger so they would be ahead of Ireland in the development stakes too.

Actually Italy might also, not sure about them. The Scots are usually about the same as Ireland in terms of size.

The props and Paddy Jackson are key men for Ireland. I think Jackson will be better than last season. He has some experience now.

Leinster7

profitius wrote: »

England will be all fully developed in terms of size. The Irish pack will be up against it. The French will too although the English are usually a bit bigger.

The Welsh teams are usually bigger than the Irish too. They have a different academy system where they start younger so they would be ahead of Ireland in the development stakes too.

Actually Italy might also, not sure about them. The Scots are usually about the same as Ireland in terms of size.

The props and Paddy Jackson are key men for Ireland. I think Jackson will be better than last season. He has some experience now.

Skill, not size wins Rugby matches

liam12989

Whats peoples opinion of Marmion too? i believe he is orginally welsh and moved to connacht academy last year?

shuffol

liam12989 wrote: »

Whats peoples opinion of Marmion too? i believe he is orginally welsh and moved to connacht academy last year?

Wasnt very impressive last season but here's a clip from a warmup game against Leinster A's in December.

http://youtu.be/mjISrkj_Cb4

thebaz

Seams a very Strong Irish team, with a lot back this year - should we win the6 N ?

bamboozle

it this match on tv?

shuffol

7.05, live on RTE 2

bamboozle

shuffol wrote: »

7.05, live on RTE 2

nice, thanks

porterbelly

liam12989 wrote: »

Whats peoples opinion of Marmion too? i believe he is orginally welsh and moved to connacht academy last year?

He was with the Connacht academy for awhile last season as well

hype101

Any word on yerman Ian Prendeville.. clongowes TH from a year or 2 ago.. A 20 stone powerhouse who caused havoc at scrumtime and in the loose.. Never seen him in any underage squad.

Also Quirke, the OH, was sensational.. I know there is an abundance of quality in jackson/marsh/hanrahan and more but looked like he could play pretty much anywhere in the backs with his speed and skills.. Forgive the Clongowes bias but they were two players instrumental to Clongowes recent schools domination and no sign in any underage team the whole way up.. Maybe they didn't fancy the pro game?.. any word?

JB1988

hype101 wrote: »

Any word on yerman Ian Prendeville.. clongowes TH from a year or 2 ago.. A 20 stone powerhouse who caused havoc at scrumtime and in the loose.. Never seen him in any underage squad.

Also Quirke, the OH, was sensational.. I know there is an abundance of quality in jackson/marsh/hanrahan and more but looked like he could play pretty much anywhere in the backs with his speed and skills.. Forgive the Clongowes bias but they were two players instrumental to Clongowes recent schools domination and no sign in any underage team the whole way up.. Maybe they didn't fancy the pro game?.. any word?

quirke did his ligaments in his knee is the u19 leinster squad, conor gilsenan tackled or something like that so he will be out until next season, might get a academy contract then along with nick mccarthy, the no6 last year who i felt was one of the best players in the senior cup last year

peterako

Got my tickets.
Bringing the six year old and his friend.

Looking forward to this more than Saturday's

Come on Ireland!!!!

easyeas

JB1988 wrote: »

quirke did his ligaments in his knee is the u19 leinster squad, conor gilsenan tackled or something like that so he will be out until next season, might get a academy contract then along with nick mccarthy, the no6 last year who i felt was one of the best players in the senior cup last year

Prendeville didn't make it in Leinster 20s last year didnt make it behind furlong and moore and seems to be playing with lansdowne under 21s. Quirke was involved with Leinster 20s this season in the summer and wasn't involved in any of the interpros so presume he's gone? Thinks he's playing with ucd 21s.

JB1988

easyeas wrote: »

Prendeville didn't make it in Leinster 20s last year didnt make it behind furlong and moore and seems to be playing with lansdowne under 21s. Quirke was involved with Leinster 20s this season in the summer and wasn't involved in any of the interpros so presume he's gone? Thinks he's playing with ucd 21s.

as i said he did his ligaments he is not playing at all at the moment

easyeas

JB1988 wrote: »

easyeas wrote: »

Prendeville didn't make it in Leinster 20s last year didnt make it behind furlong and moore and seems to be playing with lansdowne under 21s. Quirke was involved with Leinster 20s this season in the summer and wasn't involved in any of the interpros so presume he's gone? Thinks he's playing with ucd 21s.

as i said he did his ligaments he is not playing at all at the moment

From what I've seen he's playing every week for ucd 21s

profitius

siltirocker wrote: »

I'd reckon Finn, Boland & Leader must be gutted

Its interesting that Connacht won the interpros and have 4 players to Leinsters 12.

porterbelly

profitius wrote: »

Its interesting that Connacht won the interpros and have 4 players to Leinsters 12.

That it is

GerM

profitius wrote: »

Its interesting that Connacht won the interpros and have 4 players to Leinsters 12.

I wouldn't read too much into it. These teams change significantly through the course of the tournament. The Connacht representation is surprisingly low but I expect them to have one or two more regulars in a few weeks as the fat is trimmed.

easyeas

GerM wrote: »

profitius wrote: »

Its interesting that Connacht won the interpros and have 4 players to Leinsters 12.

I wouldn't read too much into it. These teams change significantly through the course of the tournament. The Connacht representation is surprisingly low but I expect them to have one or two more regulars in a few weeks as the fat is trimmed.

To be honest I dunno if any of the other Connacht players are good enough to be in the squad apart from Finn and Carty

cork exile in london

just incase it not already posted this game will be on bbc red button tomorrow.

just seen the wales props stats. jeez der big lumps. anyone know what our props are like or should i dare ask.

Hype710

Wales Under 20s
15 Ross Jones
14 Iolo Evans
13 Nathan Edwards
12 Cory Allen
11 Luke Morgan
10 Sam Davies
9 Jonathan Evans
1 Rob Evans
2 Kirby Myhill
3 WillGriff John
4 Matthew Screech
5 Rhodri Hughes
6 Ellis Jenkins
7 Daniel Thomas
8 Reuben Thomas

Substitutes
16 Jamie Sollis
17 Thomas Davies
18 Dan Suter
19 Dan Crimmins
20 Ieuan Jones
21 Joshua Davies
22 Lewis Williams
23 Luke Williams

Interestingly, Wales full back Ross Jones went to Castleknock College after growing up in Wales. Was offered a sub-academy deal by Leinster or a three year development contract with the Ospreys so no surprise that he choice to return to his homeland. I believe he was in the same year in school as Ireland tighthead Peter Reilly.

boynesider

Looking forward to seeing Qualter and Henderson. They were both very decent last year and hopefully they will have improved a good bit. We can never have enough 2nd rows.

A few of the Connacht lads such as Finn, Leader, Carty and Kindregan are certainly hard done by but I would still expect to see them involved in some of the games.

irishbucsfan

A welsh guy at work is saying Dan Thomas is one of the best Welsh back row prospects in a looong time.

shuffol

irishbucsfan wrote: »

A welsh guy at work is saying Dan Thomas is one of the best Welsh back row prospects in a looong time.

Eh? another top Welsh 7, do they mine them over there or what? One thing about this years crop is that it contains good quality in positions we're not overly stocked with. There's 2 very promising 2nd rows(although that crisis has abated somewhat), a couple of highly rated no.7s, lots of 12s available(Hanrahan, Farrell, Leader) and a fair few fullbacks too(Leyden, Nelson, Sherlock).

irishbucsfan

shuffol wrote: »

irishbucsfan wrote: »

A welsh guy at work is saying Dan Thomas is one of the best Welsh back row prospects in a looong time.

Eh? another top Welsh 7, do they mine them over there or what? One thing about this years crop is that it contains good quality in positions we're not overly stocked with. There's 2 very promising 2nd rows(although that crisis has abated somewhat), a couple of highly rated no.7s, lots of 12s available(Hanrahan, Farrell, Leader) and a fair few fullbacks too(Leyden, Nelson, Sherlock).

Ive also heard that Thomas has been approached by Irish teams (Leinster academy) but I'm not sure if he can be elligible for the national team so the move could be blocked... Not sure what the deal is with Wales u20 and international elligibiliy any more.

JustinDee

cork exile in london wrote: »

just incase it not already posted this game will be on bbc red button tomorrow

And 19.00 on RTE Two.