Irish Under-20's 2023

I'd say the Ulster lock and O'Tiagernaigh are both ahead of O'Connell

Its hard to judge the order here. O'Tighearnaigh has 2 starts, O'Connell has 2 starts and a bench appearance and Irvine has 1 start and 2 bench appearances. Hopes has 1 start and one bench.

I think O'Connell seems to be the coaches favorite but there has been a lot of rotation. Hard to know how much is deliberate and how much is pushed by fixture congestion and tiredness.

Theres also the possibility that Mangan would shift back into the second row at some stage.

I'd be surprised if they didn't change both locks. The team for Fiji was very much selected to rotate front liners and rest the pack with Gleeson the only one who started (and he hadn't started against England due to fitness issues).

Mangan is probably going to feature due to McNabney being suspended but, after that, I think they only question is who starts at prop alongside McCarthy with Foxe having looked quite good at tighthead which allowed McCarthy a really destructive stint at loosehead.

I think the front five that started against Fiji is unlikely to feature again with EOC the only potential option given he started against England. As a unit, they were poor and individually, they were equally error prone. I don't think I can recall a match in recent times where a team were so bloody bad on restarts. Did they secure one? Lifting pods were terrible and even when the jumper managed to position himself under the ball, he fluffed the catch and allowed it straight through his hands. It wasn't much different at line out where we had a fairly horrendous day (and it didn't really improve with the arrival of subs ether).

It def won’t be the team that started against Fiji. I’d expect as close as possible to team against Australia plus gleeson. EOC or Irvine is a toss up.

https://www.irishrugby.ie/2023/07/07/ireland-team-named-for-world-rugby-u20-championship-semi-final/

Feel bad for Hadden as he has been really good in the scrum but McCarthy at loosehead has absolutely elite potential. The battle between him, Boyle and Milne should be interesting in years to come.

Foxe getting the start is pretty big for a guy currently without an academy shot.

And… Quinn being back for this one is game changing.

Big to get Quinn back for this

Osbourne has defending on optional mode, decent in attack but those saffa wingers are fast and strong, winger looks to be our biggest weakness atm

Seems strange to be saying that we can take on a South African team up front but I've seen enough from this Irish team to know that we can maul them into submission. Just need Gunne to lead them as a little general and take control instead of allowing prendergast to do it.

Where can we watch this one?

Prendergast when he came on v Fiji really changed the dynamics of the back line for the better, he’s a very strategic rugby player and seems to be able to find gaps where most can’t. The partnership with Gunne brings out the best in both of them and they run the game very well together. Lynch had huge energy and is a very talented player for sure but Prendergast has the X factor always seems to have lots of time on the ball and gives channels for the rest of the back line to play into with line break opportunities, and those guys can run - Gavin / Devine / McErlean / Osborne / Nicholson- every one of them has speed & power .

Lynch will reappear with Connacht, imo. He's a talented player and I think could be good enough to make the academy.

Live on World rugby's youtube channel if you don't have Virgin:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9ZlNbMcDUk

With Prendegast, i’d say two things are true. He hasn’t actually been amazing in the world cup (that could change obv). Also, you can see the traits that could make him a really good player in the future. In this actual tournament though, there have been a number of guys with better performances … so far.

Italy battered us up front a bit also in fairness