Ireland U-20 Line-Up Revealed For Scotland Match

Head coach Peter Malone has announced the Ireland Under-20 team, sponsored by PwC, to face Scotland in the second round of the World Rugby U-20 Championship at Kutaisi Stadium (kick-off 1pm local time/10am Irish time).

Ireland’s starting line-up shows six personnel changes to the side that suffered a dramatic one-point defeat to Italy in Wednesday’s Pool B opener.

Ronan Kelleher comes in at hooker, replacing Diarmuid Barron who suffered a fractured thumb during the first half of the Italy game. Barron has since returned home to Ireland and Shannon’s Adam Moloney has been called into the squad in his place.

Alongside Kelleher in the front row, Naas’ Jordan Duggan will win his first Ireland U-20 cap at loosehead prop. He replaces Joey Conway who is unavailable due to tightness in his back. Charlie Connolly remains at tighthead.

The second row pairing of Fineen Wycherley and Oisin Dowling is unchanged, while blindside flanker Sean Masterson will make his first U-20 start having been used as a replacement against Italy. He will pack down in the back row with captain Paul Boyle and number 8 Caelan Doris, who has recovered from the injury that kept him out of the opening fixture.

Shannon clubman Jack Stafford will also make his first start at scrum half, partnering Conor Dean at half-back, and Young Munster’s Alan Tynan, who impressed as a replacement against the Italians, is rewarded with his full debut at full-back.

Tynan features in a strong back-three with Jack Kelly and Calvin Nash, who scored two tries in the first round, while UCD and Leinster duo Ciaran Frawley and Gavin Mullin will again don the number 12 and 13 jerseys respectively.

At the Captain’s Run today at Kutaisi Stadium, head coach Peter Malone said: “Italy was a tough game and everyone was really disappointed with the result, but you can’t afford to dwell on these things in this type of tournament.

“We’ve reviewed that game and looked at the key areas that went wrong for us. We’ve also had the chance to look at Scotland and we know from our meeting during the Six Nations that it’s going to be another tough game.

“The players have recovered and trained well over the last three days and now they’re just really looking forward to getting out there again tomorrow afternoon.”

The Celtic clash will be broadcast live on eir Sport 2, while it will be available to watch on www.worldrugby.org in certain countries.

IRELAND UNDER-20 Team & Replacements (v Scotland Under-20s, 2017 World Rugby U-20 Championship Pool B, Kutaisi Stadium, Kutaisi, Georgia, Sunday, June 4, kick-off 1pm local time/10am Irish time):

15. Alan Tynan (Young Munster/Munster)
14. Jack Kelly (Dublin University/Leinster)
13. Gavin Mullin (UCD/Leinster)
12. Ciaran Frawley (UCD/Leinster)
11. Calvin Nash (Young Munster/Munster)
10. Conor Dean (St. Mary’s College/Leinster)
9. Jack Stafford (Shannon/Munster)
1. Jordan Duggan (Naas/Leinster) *
2. Ronan Kelleher (UCD/Leinster)
3. Charlie Connolly (Dublin University/Leinster)
4. Fineen Wycherley (Young Munster/Munster)
5. Oisin Dowling (Lansdowne/Leinster)
6. Sean Masterson (Corinthians/Connacht)
7. Paul Boyle (Lansdowne/Leinster) (capt)
8. Caelan Doris (St. Mary’s College/Leinster)
 
Replacements:

16. Adam Moloney (Shannon/Munster)
17. Greg McGrath (Lansdowne/Leinster)
18. Peter Cooper (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster)
19. Jack Regan (UCD/Leinster)
20. Gavin Coombes (Young Munster/Munster)
21. Jonny Stewart (Queen’s University/Ulster)
22. Angus Curtis (Queen’s University/Ulster) *
23. Michael Silvester (Dublin University/Leinster) *
 
* Denotes uncapped player at U-20 level

IRELAND U-20s’ World Rugby Championship Fixtures/Results: 

Pool B –

Ireland 21 Italy 22 – Match Report
Kutaisi Stadium, Kutaisi, Wednesday, May 31

Ireland v Scotland
Kutaisi Stadium, Kutaisi, Sunday, June 4, 1pm local time/10am Irish time

Ireland v New Zealand
Kutaisi Stadium, Kutaisi, Thursday, June 8, 3.30pm local time/12.30pm Irish time

Semi-Finals –
Avchala Stadium or Mikheil Meskhi Stadium, Tbilisi, Tuesday, June 13

Play-Offs –
Avchala Stadium or Mikheil Meskhi Stadium, Tbilisi, Sunday, June 18

2017 World Rugby U-20 Championship – Full Fixtures/Pools