Ireland Under-20 2024 Team

Shehal

That's what they can do when they dont drop the ball every attack, beautiful!

cson

Well no need to look too hard for the heir to Hugo Keenan.

What a player Ben O'Connor looks like.

theVersatile

That was serious pace to get in support from O'Connor. Still raw in places but a really high upside player.

johnh6767

Agree O’Connor has been fantastic , and O’Connell , score defies the performance

Shehal

The score is impressive considering England only won by 21.

cson

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121809935#Comment_121809935

Didn't the ABs used to do that? Play middling but still absolutely smash teams?

johnh6767

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121809939#Comment_121809939

Yes although is that a fair comparison? Not sure

Let's see how they raise their game against the English in two weeks. That will be a serious challenge.

snotboogie

20’s qualified winger Kiely having a blinder off the bench for Munster

thebaz

Better performance , without being at ther best , hopefully they up it a bit in 2 weeks, the hooker and O'Connell and Gavin were all very good.

cson

That Italy result doesn't look as bad now, they're after beating France away.

Paul Smeenus

Very exciting last 15 min. Now watching the Vancouver Sevens

Wegians89

Ben O’Connor is some athlete, great boot on him too.

Dubinusa

Bryn Ward is a proper player!

pickarooney

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121810347#Comment_121810347

The France result looks a little less impressive.

FrannoFan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121810992#Comment_121810992

France 20's changes a lot week to week depending on club commitments. Think we played a stronger 15 than what was put out against Italy.

Expect France to be very different at the world cup when the players are released

Dubinusa

France will be a factor at the world cup. I'd guess they could probably go all the way.

Buer

Better performance overall although it's somewhat hard to know where we're at given the strength of the opposition. Think it mirrored the senior game where we were comfortably the better team but made fairly heavy work of it and looked a little shapeless and wasteful for long periods with the opposition coming back into it more than they deserved to. Similarly, the bench also made a big impact with not a huge number of starters jumping out in terms of performance.

Not sure we really know what our best options are in the front row. We've struggled significantly each week in that area so far and the lineout has been far from great either at times. A couple of throws picked off in good attacking areas on Friday made things harder than they needed to be. Restarts appeared to improve overall but that's from a very low base. Still two that were screwed up including the first that was a total botch.

Haven't really changed my opinion as of yet that I'm not seeing too many guys who are going to be major players at senior level. BOC looks like he has the class to make the step up. Something of a mixed night for him but you can see his boot and size/athleticism just mark him out as being ahead of those around him.

We've a few guys like Corrigan, Usanov and Walker who will be back next year and are still 18 so they could develop significantly still.

Murphy isn't much in open play but continues to be a serious kicker. Think he's something like 15/17 for the tournament which is impressive for a 19 year old. Last one was a conversion from the wrong side that hit the post too. I wonder if he'll be given an academy deal somewhere purely on the basis of his boot. Doubt his home province has any room/interest....but if his current U20 coach is going to Belfast, I hear he's fairly tight with him.

Dubinusa

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121818261#Comment_121818261

Agree with this. I don't see any stand outs. Gleeson obviously but he's not played much. Still some good prospects that could get to a decent level. Ward has been our best overall player, imo. Murphy will be picked up. By who, is a guessing game. I think Leinster will take Coffee into the academy.

ulsteru20s

I don't know if I agree with that, Gleeson, Gavin and O Connor all look like they could be high level international starters for ireland to me. That's pretty good for any one year at u20s. Gavin and Gleeson look more developed right now than O Connor.

I'd say Ward, Edogbo, O Connell, Smyth, DeKlerk, McLaughlin, Hopes and probably more all have something as well. I wouldn't be surprised if a couple from that group end up as internationals as well. I didn't include u19s in that. Edogbo seems like highest upside from that group.

With the u19s, the front row of usanov, walker, calvey probably won't be the front row next year (i don't have a good handle who is still in school) but i thought they all looked interesting.

Buer

Ah Gleeson, sure. I was more thinking about the team from the other night. Arguably, he's already made the step up.

Gavin is definitely another that has significant potential but I'm always wary of guys who are physically superior at that level who find the transition to senior rugby more difficult. Hopefully he does make the step up as Connacht could do with a strong centre coming through at the moment with a few of their lads now starting to get a bit older.

I think a lot of the other guys have been fairly indifferent and/or hit and miss. EOC looked really good around the park the other night. Carried a huge amount but has to take his share of responsibility for a patchy lineout and has been the culprit on more than one occasion in the really sloppy restarts. I'd level the same at Hopes who was great against France but poor against Italy. I've definitely seen more impressive guys at lock in recent years

De Klerk has some nice touches and looks an interesting player but doesn't put a huge stamp on the game as of yet. I don't see anything yet that would mark him as a better prospect than guys like Liam Turner or Hugh Cooney in recent seasons.

Edogbo is clearly a specimen and has a point of difference in terms of natural physicality but needs to actually show that when he's given a chance. I thought he was very quiet the other night. He scored his try with a pick and go from 2m out early on and that was his only carry in the opening 40 minutes. His colleagues were far more involved on both sides of the ball.

Overall, I'd say the team's results have probably been better than the sum of their parts. I wouldn't be too surprised to see them being beaten with room to spare in England. Hopefully they can dig in and grind out a result similar to what we saw in France.

I think Gavin should adjust well to senior rugby. He picks great running lines, he distributes the ball well and he's quick enough. If he continues to develop all his current skills should transfer. Also, Connacht have a queue of centres in our academy so I can see us opening a path into the senior squad over the next couple of years by releasing a couple of senior centers this Summer.

ionadnapokot

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121822455#Comment_121822455

Gavin looks ready for senior rugby now! I wonder could he play 13?

He played wing last year didn't he?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121822857#Comment_121822857

He mostly played wing and outside centre. John Devine had the 12 shirt pretty much locked down for the U20s last year.

Connacht should develop him as a 12 for now. Once he adjusts to senior rugby and works a lot on his defense then maybe we can consider moving him to 13. We have a queue of players who are natural 12s so someone will need to be moved out one.

I'm looking forward to see how he defends when we're under real pressure from England in two weekends time. He made some defensive errors against Italy but that game was so messy at times that it's difficult to gauge an individual player's mistakes.

nerd69

Gavin,edogbo,ward,gleeson,boc,eoc will all play significant senior rugby usanov and sparrow may do also.as they develop. Smyth and sheehan both get picked up. I thought calvey looked fantastic for an u19 prop he and usanov could be great nect year.

Nowak and keily have looked well able for munster also in the meantime for this age group

Dubinusa

It would be interesting to see the % of u20's over the years who do make it as a professional. The caliber of the u20's competition probably fluctuates year on year. I have noticed in the past that some players take a very long time to reach their ceiling. Even when England were tearing it up, the amount of players that made it into professional rugby was not as I expected.

Dubinusa

This year's Irish edition Co tains some good prospects. I really can't see many becoming international quality, besides Gleeson. I'm not considering the u19's. Another year under their belts will give a better indication of where they are.

ulsteru20s

Its tough to compare years especially as there is overlap in u19s. The easiest way is to probably assign u19s to only their u20 year. However, then you have outliers like gleeson who was probably the best player on last year's team.

I would say that Gleeson, Gavin and O Connor all have clear international potential.

This does seem like a weak leinster year although usanov and corrigan especially could look a lot lot better next year.

edit: i think this team might be a little underrated because the front row seems raw/young as well, and the halfbacks seem kind of average. There is a lot of talent.

Dubinusa

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121824168#Comment_121824168

I suppose the goal is to get as many pro players as possible. International quality would be a bonus. None of the props look good. It's still early though.

pickarooney

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121823995#Comment_121823995

There's so many external factors in play, 10-15% is a decent return.

Edit: sorry, read that as international rather than professional.

If you go back 5 years, the 2019 u20 squad has at least 16 of the match day 23 against England who are now playing professionally and two who have, AFAIK, retired through injury. That seems like a massive conversion rate.

12 or 13 from the 2018 squad of 32 is not so shabby either, though some of them have had very much bit-part careers.

I think 13 from 2017 although a couple of them were u19 and were in that 2018 group. A good few retired after short careers.