Murphy Names Ireland U-20 Team For England Encounter
Head coach Richie Murphy has named the Ireland Under-20 team, sponsored by PwC, for Saturday’s U-20 Six Nations encounter with England at StoneX Stadium (kick-off 7.15pm, live on RTÉ Player/RTÉ News Channel/BBC iPlayer).
Murphy has made two personnel changes to the side that beat Italy in round 3 at Musgrave Park, with Ben Carson coming into the Ireland back-line and Lorcan McLoughlin promoted to the back row.
Carson featured for the Ireland Under-20s during last year’s Six Nations in Cardiff and joins Jude Postlethwaite in midfield for the showdown with England in Barnet, after Ben Brownlee was ruled out through injury.
Murphy has selected an unchanged back-three with Patrick Campbell, Chay Mullins and Fionn Gibbons retained, while Charlie Tector and Matthew Devine continue their half-back partnership.
Ulster’s Reuben Crothers once again captains Murphy’s youngsters from the back row, where McLoughlin comes in at blindside and James Culhane continues at number 8.
Commenting ahead of the game, Murphy said: “We’ve had another good window of preparation for this game, including last week’s session against the senior team at the Aviva Stadium.
“We identified areas where we needed to improve on from Italy and recognise the requirement to hit another level of performance on Saturday night.”
Saturday’s fourth round fixture is live on the RTÉ Player, the RTÉ News channel, and the BBC iPlayer.
IRELAND UNDER-20 Team & Replacements (v England Under-20s, 2022 U-20 Six Nations Championship, StoneX Stadium, Barnet, Saturday, March 12, kick-off 7.15pm):
15. Patrick Campbell (Young Munster RFC/Munster)
14. Chay Mullins (Bristol Bears/IQ Rugby)
13. Jude Postlethwaite (Banbridge RFC/Ulster)
12. Ben Carson (Banbridge RFC/Ulster)
11. Fionn Gibbons (UCD RFC/Leinster)
10. Charlie Tector (Lansdowne FC/Leinster)
9. Matthew Devine (Galway Corinthians RFC/Connacht)
1. Jack Boyle (UCD RFC/Leinster)
2. James McCormick (Ballymena RFC/Ulster)
3. Rory McGuire (UCD RFC/Leinster)
4. Conor O’Tighearnaigh (UCD RFC/Leinster)
5. Mark Morrissey (UCD RFC/Leinster)
6. Lorcan McLoughlin (Queen’s University Belfast RFC/Ulster)
7. Reuben Crothers (Ballynahinch RFC/Ulster) (capt)
8. James Culhane (UCD RFC/Leinster)
Replacements:
16. Josh Hanlon (Ballynahinch RFC/Ulster)
17. Oisin Michel (Lansdowne FC/Leinster)
18. Scott Wilson (Queen’s University Belfast RFC/Ulster)
19. James McNabney (Ballymena RFC/Ulster)
20. Diarmuid Mangan (UCD RFC/Leinster)
21. Ethan Coughlan (Shannon RFC/Munster)
22. Tony Butler (Garryowen FC/Munster)
23. Aitzol King (Clontarf FC/Leinster)