Irish Under-20's 2023

There was no alternative but to using the full choice selection, and it'll be the same this Thursday against Australia.

Richie Murphy doesn't control the scheduling - and that was a good English side on Saturday. If he'd rotated heavily enough for it, then we lose the game and likely don't progress. We've left ourselves in a scenario where two wins give us a good chance to progress.

He definitely isn't using the bench or the wider squad much this year - in both the 6N and the game on Saturday - but it speaks to him not having confidence in those players. In other years he has gone deeper into the squad.

Yeah, I don't disagree around using the bench. I thought Paddy & Gus McCarthy were largely excellent on Saturday - but Paddy McCarthy's performance dipped after he got that bang on the top of the head, and Gus McCarthy looked completely spent with 15 to go, and it showed in a few loose line out throws (which had been on point) up to that point.

But there are definite indications he doesn't have huge faith in the wider squad.

I imagine guys will get more of a chance against Fiji possibly, or if we're eliminated from the main competition in the 5-8th playoffs etc, as they've done in previous years, but he's trying to win the thing, which I understand.

No, disagree. He's the guy who gets to decide who best serves his team. It's not just about development at this level, it's about success too. We have rarely enough at this level had one without the other - the best teams contain the best prospects who have the most success, and produce the most pro players.

He's the arbiter at this point though as to who he gives minutes to. If he doesn't think Harry West or Matthew Lynch are going to improve the team's chances of winning, then he's not going to use them.

Plenty of guys have made academies and got U20 caps and gone no further, and there have been plenty of JWCs where we've used full squads and had dismal finishes.

The manager makes a call - his judgment is he had more faith in Gus McCarthy to close that game out than Max Clein. That's his decision and he's better placed than you or I to make that call.

He's won back to back Grand Slams as Irish U20s coach too, and those teams have produced a number of clear pro prospects, so I think it's fair to say he's doing a decent job at it.

In your opinion.

Yeah, that's fine, give your opinion all day. But my point is, he's the guy who knows more about these players, he's the guy who's watched them train, and has actual data as to their level of condition / tiredness etc, rather than Joe Public thinking a guy looks a bit tired on tv.

He's going to make the calls he thinks are in the best interest of helping the team win, and he's generally done a very good job of that.

No, I wouldn't. If we can't beat these countries consistently at U20, then we won't beat them at senior level. I think Nigel Carolan is the first guy I've heard who said that.

We've had plenty of teams that chopped and changed throughout 6N championships and JWCs, and that suffered plenty of terrible defeats and produced little enough players.

Success at this level is important too IMO, it's too close now in the modern game to senior team.

Yeah, I'm not disagreeing. I'm just saying, it's a lot closer to the actual senior team than it is to a regional U15 side, and it's not about participation medals at this level. It's a serious competition and one we'd love to win. Just like at every other level, international caps have to be earned, and at this level, Richie Murphy is the guy who gets to decide whether they have been or not.