Ireland U20 2015 6 nations and junior world cup

hype101

Pretty much bang on I'd say.. Thought Frank Bradshaw Ryan would make it though.. Always room for a big man in the squad in my view.. Haven't seen that much of him admittedly.. All in all though, you couldn't complain.. Don't know much about Carbery.. Must be handy enough if he's keeping Sean O'Hagan of the squad.

case885

I see the U20s will play in Donnybrook for the first time in 10 years. I hope they play a game in musgrave park next year, would love to see them.

typhoony

case885 wrote: »

I see the U20s will play in Donnybrook for the first time in 10 years. I hope they play a game in musgrave park next year, would love to see them.

I would have thought this would attract a healthy crowd, 2 time JWC champions up against arguably the best backline Ireland have ever produced at this level.

typhoony

case885 wrote: »

I see the U20s will play in Donnybrook for the first time in 10 years. I hope they play a game in musgrave park next year, would love to see them.

I would have thought this will attract a healthy crowd, 2 time JWC champions up against arguably the best backline Ireland have ever produced at this level.

rugby addict

Is Jack Power eligible again next year? he's not the biggest but very skillful player.

The Lost Sheep

rugby addict wrote: »

Is Jack Power eligible again next year? he's not the biggest but very skillful player.

Yes he is underage next year

Stainalert

typhoony wrote: »

I would have thought this would attract a healthy crowd, 2 time JWC champions up against arguably the best backline Ireland have ever produced at this level.

Whoa !! Lets see how the backline play first before we start handing out the accolades

The Lost Sheep

case885 wrote: »

I see the U20s will play in Donnybrook for the first time in 10 years. I hope they play a game in musgrave park next year, would love to see them.

Hopefully they do spread some games around. Keep at least one home game a year in Athlone but look depending on opposition, ground availability to play a game In Limerick, Cork, Galway...

typhoony wrote: »

I would have thought this will attract a healthy crowd, 2 time JWC champions up against arguably the best backline Ireland have ever produced at this level.

Bit early to say that. This side hasn't played an international yet

I know most/all guys playing at this level don't play 20s club rugby too much but 20s leagues have some good games coming up this week and coming weeks. Terenure and Trinity face off Sunday in Leinster - 2 excellent sides. Munster-Connacht league about to enter 2nd phase where best from the north and south sections face off...

bilston

I suppose it's hard to know how good any U20 side is until they actually play matches. They may look great playing Schools, U20 Inter Pros and AIL etc but we need to compare them against the best U20s players from other countries first before we start throwing around accolades.

Obri1

Only 4 props is suprising they surely have others to come in if needed.

Does anyone know who they are ?

Jp Phelan was very impressive at Tight and Andrew Porter played well at loose for the Leinster Development side against the Irish 20's in the warm up game in Donnybrook that i saw.

There also seems to be alot of players who are natural full backs rather than specialist wings but that me just nit picking.

Apart from that looks a strong squad that should go well although its hard to know what the other sides are going to bring especially the English.

wise7

Stainalert wrote: »

Whoa !! Lets see how the backline play first before we start handing out the accolades

So many of the backs have played last year in 6N and acquitted themselves very well in the JWC too. As always its going to hugely depend on the platform the forwards can provide. At this age level we will always be challenged by England and France especially in terms of relative size and power and so the lineouts will have to be our key weapon for quick ball. We have good lineout operators in this squad. The scrum is going to be a worry.

ArmchairQB

Obri1 wrote: »

Only 4 props is suprising they surely have others to come in if needed.

Does anyone know who they are ?

Jp Phelan was very impressive at Tight and Andrew Porter played well at loose for the Leinster Development side against the Irish 20's in the warm up game in Donnybrook that i saw.

There also seems to be alot of players who are natural full backs rather than specialist wings but that me just nit picking.

Apart from that looks a strong squad that should go well although its hard to know what the other sides are going to bring especially the English.

Phelan was a good schools player with great potential but has been a victim of the logjam in UCD at tight head where he plays second fiddle to Loughman and doesn't get enough game time. Same with the rock lads who went to Mary's and didn't make the ail team, as their 20s are not at a high standard.
Porter is still pretty young and will be around next year would expect him to get a shot both though are probably involved in the larger training squad and would come in if there are any injuries as only 6 front rows named in squad and Sod's law would say at least 2 more will be required during the tournament

RobbieRuns

wise7 wrote: »

So many of the backs have played last year in 6N and acquitted themselves very well in the JWC too. As always its going to hugely depend on the platform the forwards can provide. At this age level we will always be challenged by England and France especially in terms of relative size and power and so the lineouts will have to be our key weapon for quick ball. We have good lineout operators in this squad. The scrum is going to be a worry.

Getting in early to blame the forwards there wise one, in case it goes wrong, won't be down to the backs eh?

typhoony

I think if we can maintain parity at the scrum we'll be fine, behind the front 3 theirs a bit of weight.

just looking at 2 of the likely starters in the front row Loughman has played mostly at LH but can play TH but he must be big enough to play in both positions, Heffernan at TH is listed as 107kg, by todays standards that's not super heavy, england will have a couple of big lumps in their front row. I think we'll do ok

Also I read that the U20's will be training with the senior squad in preperation for the first game, good to see.

typhoony

an article on balls.ie looking at some of the key players for the U20's team..

balls.ie/rugby/ireland-u20-squad-breakdown/

wise7

RobbieRuns wrote: »

Getting in early to blame the forwards there wise one, in case it goes wrong, won't be down to the backs eh?

Ha Ha, Robbie I wish I was that clever! No not rushing to heap responsibility for things not working out on the poor forwards but just recognising the reality that we will be always at a disadvantage at this age grade in the size department. Last year the pack did really well especially in the JWC but yet we were out on our feet going into the English match due to too much game time. The strength of the English squad meant they had rested 11 players ahead of their semi-final with us. I am hopeful we will use a 'hit and run' style of play to avoid getting too sucked in to an arm wrestle with the bigger packs. Also I think we have huge mobility and ball skills in our forwards which is going to count a whole lot.

Stainalert

typhoony wrote: »

I think if we can maintain parity at the scrum we'll be fine, behind the front 3 theirs a bit of weight.

just looking at 2 of the likely starters in the front row Loughman has played mostly at LH but can play TH but he must be big enough to play in both positions, Heffernan at TH is listed as 107kg, by todays standards that's not super heavy, england will have a couple of big lumps in their front row. I think we'll do ok

Also I read that the U20's will be training with the senior squad in preperation for the first game, good to see.

Still remain to be convinced about Heffernan - Think he is big enough but whenever I have seen him play I haven't been convinced by his workrate and I don't think his scrimmaging is good enough either

ArmchairQB

typhoony wrote: »

I think if we can maintain parity at the scrum we'll be fine, behind the front 3 theirs a bit of weight.

just looking at 2 of the likely starters in the front row Loughman has played mostly at LH but can play TH but he must be big enough to play in both positions, Heffernan at TH is listed as 107kg, by todays standards that's not super heavy, england will have a couple of big lumps in their front row. I think we'll do ok

Also I read that the U20's will be training with the senior squad in preperation for the first game, good to see.

Leinster see Loughman as a tight head and are developing him as one but made his name as a loose head in School after being a number 8 for Athy in his youths days so LH is an option for him if they need him or want to start him there. UCD's scrum though has not been strong this year either at 20s or senior level so front rows especially against England and France will be a test for them

ArmchairQB

Stainalert wrote: »

Still remain to be convinced about Heffernan - Think he is big enough but whenever I have seen him play I haven't been convinced by his workrate and I don't think his scrimmaging is good enough either

Heffernan, always thought of him as a bit lazy, if had a choice of Loughman at tight or Heffernan at tight would go with Loughman. I thought that Phelan would have had a chance there but reasons above explain that. I remember Carolan and Co in Connacht last year being upset that Jacob Walshe Heffernan's old teammate didn't get picked as in their words he destroyed Heffernan any time they met but props develop at different rates and jury is still out on Heffernan but this years internationals will be the making or breaking of him

Tox56

bilston wrote: »

I suppose it's hard to know how good any U20 side is until they actually play matches. They may look great playing Schools, U20 Inter Pros and AIL etc but we need to compare them against the best U20s players from other countries first before we start throwing around accolades.

That is true but a lot of the backline are returning having played JWC/6N last year which has to help massively, and a lot of them are regularly playing in the top AIL division (which I don't think is that common for U20s?) so there are reasons to be optimistic

tuwiwdm

ArmchairQB wrote: »

Heffernan, always thought of him as a bit lazy, if had a choice of Loughman at tight or Heffernan at tight would go with Loughman. I thought that Phelan would have had a chance there but reasons above explain that. I remember Carolan and Co in Connacht last year being upset that Jacob Walshe Heffernan's old teammate didn't get picked as in their words he destroyed Heffernan any time they met but props develop at different rates and jury is still out on Heffernan but this years internationals will be the making or breaking of him

Walshe wasn't competing with Heffernan for a spot though, he is a LH and he was clearly behind Dooley/Coulson.

Heffernan/Loughman aren't the same level players/prospects as Furlong/Moore at the same age.. I thought generally Heffernan did okay last year for the under-20's.

Heffernan has been playing a good deal of A rugby this year and is obviously highly thought of, would be fairly surprising if both Heffernan/Loughman didn't join the Leinster academy next season. Three years in there and we will see if they are upto scratch.

Leinster don't have any other outstanding TH's at underage level(u18/u19).

ArmchairQB

tuwiwdm wrote: »

Walshe wasn't competing with Heffernan for a spot though, he is a LH and he was clearly behind Dooley/Coulson.

Heffernan/Loughman aren't the same level players/prospects as Furlong/Moore at the same age.. I thought generally Heffernan did okay last year for the under-20's.

Heffernan has been playing a good deal of A rugby this year and is obviously highly thought of, would be fairly surprising if both Heffernan/Loughman didn't join the Leinster academy next season. Three years in there and we will see if they are upto scratch.

Leinster don't have any other outstanding TH's at underage level(u18/u19).

Yeah agree, the point on Walshe was they didn't rate Heffernan due to how they matched up against each other but at the same time I am sure Connacht would take Heffernan in the morning if Leinster didn't

tuwiwdm

The following under-20 eligible players named in Munster A side today:

LH Prop: Liam O'Connor
Lock: Frank Ryan
Backrow: Ben Kilkenny
Scrumhalf: Jack Cullen
Centre: Gearoid Lyons
Wing: Greg O'Shea
Fullback: Stephen Fitzgerald

bilston

Tox56 wrote: »

That is true but a lot of the backline are returning having played JWC/6N last year which has to help massively, and a lot of them are regularly playing in the top AIL division (which I don't think is that common for U20s?) so there are reasons to be optimistic

Yeah true enough the returning players have already reached a JWC S/F so that will help. I'm looking forward to seeing more of Byrne and obviously Ringrose.

Hopefully all the games are televised or at least streamed by RTE.

Quint2010

tuwiwdm wrote: »

Walshe wasn't competing with Heffernan for a spot though, he is a LH and he was clearly behind Dooley/Coulson.

Heffernan/Loughman aren't the same level players/prospects as Furlong/Moore at the same age.. I thought generally Heffernan did okay last year for the under-20's.

Heffernan has been playing a good deal of A rugby this year and is obviously highly thought of, would be fairly surprising if both Heffernan/Loughman didn't join the Leinster academy next season. Three years in there and we will see if they are upto scratch.

Leinster don't have any other outstanding TH's at underage level(u18/u19).

Heffernan has been starting for Terenure in AIL Div 1 this year at TH.

tuwiwdm

Quint2010 wrote: »

Heffernan has been starting for Terenure in AIL Div 1 this year at TH.

I know he has, he still isn't the same level prospect as either Tadhg Furlong or Martin Moore at the same age. It will be very interesting to see how he goes over the next two months.

ArmchairQB

Quint2010 wrote: »

Heffernan has been starting for Terenure in AIL Div 1 this year at TH.

He hasn't played that many games for Terenure as has been unavailble thru injury or Leinster commitments

tuwiwdm

ArmchairQB wrote: »

He hasn't played that many games for Terenure as has been unavailble thru injury or Leinster commitments

3/4 starts I think, a couple of starts for Leinster A too.

He is a decent prospect now, let's see how he goes during the 6 nations.

The Lost Sheep

English squad named
Kieran Treadwell, Piers O Conor both former Irish exiles u18/19 players named. Northampton coach Jim Mallinders son Harry also named in the squad. He's an outhalf and underage next year as well
http://inattheside.com/callard-announces-england-u20s-six-nations-squad/]

Another former Irish exile, Callum Sheedy, is in the Welsh 20s squad
http://www.wru.co.uk/eng/news/32485.php#.VMKX4aOvncs

typhoony

quite a few of the u20's saw game time this weekend, Gary Ringrose was the star performer for Leinster 'A', Ciaran Gaffney did well for Connacht Eagles.

wp_rathead

typhoony wrote: »

quite a few of the u20's saw game time this weekend, Gary Ringrose was the star performer for Leinster 'A', Ciaran Gaffney did well for Connacht Eagles.

Gaffney did well but he more suited as a winger than a centre
Thought Romaine did very well too

Quint2010

Terenure beat Trinity 25-8 today

The Lost Sheep

Quint2010 wrote: »

Terenure beat Trinity 25-8 today

That's won nure the league and a win next week against Blackrock will give them the title

Thoughts on what team will line out Friday week against Italy?

ArmchairQB

Quint2010 wrote: »

Terenure beat Trinity 25-8 today

Big wins for Lansdowne over Clontarf and UCD over NUIM Barnhall

typhoony

no idea what the team will be but i'll take guess at the makeup from a provincial perspective

3 from Connacht
2 from Munster
7 from Leinster
3 from Ulster

Hagz

Too many Munster players.

typhoony

Hagz wrote: »

Too many Munster players.

possibly but i went with 2 not to upset munster supporters

ciarancoak92

Biggest question marks are who starts at 12 and who starts in the back 3.

RobbieRuns

Back three of Gaffney, Dardis and Owens I would guess (would put Fitzgerald in myself but that's what I think will start). 12 is tougher, I would go with Arnold but it probably will be Brewer with Cleary as back up.

The Lost Sheep

Dan Joyce(???), Dylan Horgan(Highfield + Munster youths) and Peter O Leary(Ballina-Killaloe and Nenagh, younger brother of Shane O Leary currently in Connacht squad) currently in Shawnigan Lake School for a five-day camp that will help decide the Canada u20 team that has to playoff to qualify for the Junior World Rugby Trophy 2015.

The Canadian camp will run from Jan. 28 to Feb. 1 and will culminate with an intrasquad match on Jan. 31 before the team, which will compete in a four-game series in March, is selected on Feb. 1.

Of the 43 athletes selected for this training camp, 26 players will be selected for the world championship

http://www.rugbycanada.ca/leagues/newsletter.cfm?leagueID=13999&clientID=3817&link=RugbyCanada

Tristan and Oisin Brady and Ian Kinsley - all Blackrock. Kinsley currently playing with Trinity u20s. Tristan Brady currently playing with UCD u20s
Isaiah Morris - city of Derry RFC
All 4 have been or still are in the American u20s squad for the JWT

TJ987

Dan Joyce - Trinity, St. Andrews SCT 2012/13/14 & Leinster U19 / U20 development 2013/14

specttator

I see RTE are showing Eng v Wales on Friday night next. Any idea where a guy could see the u20 match?

typhoony

specttator wrote: »

I see RTE are showing Eng v Wales on Friday night next. Any idea where a guy could see the u20 match?

it might be a RTE Player on web only match

hype101

What type of out half is Carbery?

Quint2010

Terenure won the U20 league today for the second year running. Proved themselves to be a very talented group of players.

specttator

Tell us more about them.

leinster blue boys

After our squad was announced for u 20s 6 nations,I thought I would be nosey and look at other 6 nation squads,whilst looking I came across 2 boys who have came through the Irish exiles system,in the England squad,was piers o' Connor a full back ,who I couldn't find out much about,and in wales squad was Callum sheedy,who represented Ireland u 19 7s last year ,whilst I was diggin for information ,I found he plays for Bristol,an went to the famous rugby Millfield school where he captained the 1st team,some of the write ups on him were outstanding,i have since found out he has withdrawn from the wales squad,(because 20s of wales is there 2nd team ,that would of tied him )i may be assuming wrong,but could of Callum withdrawning from wales squad,mean perhaps hes hoping Ireland 20s will give him chance in this years world cup,worth reading bout this young lad

RuPi

Excellent article giving insight to the Under 20 camp.

http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/international/six-nations-2015-in-camp-with-the-ireland-under-20s-1.2088687

Bridge93

He's overage for the team this year but I thought this might be the place to post. I've heard that Dylan Donnellan one of last years hookers has recently joined Biarritz.
Best of luck to him.

Aiden7

Kierian Tredwell is the other exile in the england squad, big second row in the quins setup