Ireland U-20 Team Shows Three Changes
The Ireland Under-20 team, sponsored by PricewaterhouseCoopers, to face England in their second Pool B match of the IRB Junior World Championship in Argentina has been named.
Ireland U-20 coach Allen Clarke has made three changes to the side that suffered a late 25-22 defeat to France in their opening game last Saturday.
Noel Reid, who sparked the attack which led to Ireland’s only try against the French, comes in at full-back as an indirect replacement for Darren Hudson, with Andrew Conway moving to the right wing.
The strong-running Brendan Macken has been preferred to Eoin Griffin at outside centre, and Ben Marshall has made way in the second row for Brian Hayes who was used as a late replacement in the tournament opener.
Conway touched down twice when Ireland scored a famous 25-10 win over their English counterparts at Kingsholm during the recent U-20 Six Nations.
Clarke’s youngsters will need a similar type of performance if they are to chalk up their Pool B win against an England side that beat hosts Argentina 48-22 in their opener.
The English currently top the pool with five points, France are second on four and Ireland are third courtesy of their losing bonus point.
Wednesday’s match will be broadcast live on Setanta Sports Ireland and Sky Sports 2. There will also be a live stream of the game on the tournament website.
IRELAND UNDER-20 Team & Replacements (v England U-20s, IRB Junior World Championship, Estadio El Coloso del Parque, Rosario, Wednesday, June 9, kick-off 2.10pm local time/6.10pm Irish time):
15 – Noel Reid (UCD/Leinster)
14 – Andrew Conway (Blackrock College/Leinster)
13 – Brendan Macken (Blackrock College/Leinster)
12 – Nevin Spence (Ballynahinch/Ulster)
11 – Simon Zebo (Cork Constitution/Munster)
10 – James McKinney (Queen’s University/Ulster)
9 – John Cooney (UCD/Leinster)
1 – Jack O’Connell (Lansdowne/Leinster)
2 – Niall Annett (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster)
3 – Stewart Maguire (Old Belvedere/Leinster)
4 – David O’Callaghan (UCC/Munster)
5 – Brian Hayes (Cork Constitution/Munster)
6 – Rhys Ruddock (UCD/Leinster) (capt)
7 – Dominic Ryan (Lansdowne/Leinster)
8 – Patrick Butler (Shannon/Munster)
Replacements:
16 – David Doyle (UCD/Leinster)
17 – Bryan Cagney (UCC/Munster)
18 – Ben Marshall (UCD/Leinster)
19 – Brian O’Hara (UL Bohemians/Munster)
20 – Michael Heaney (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster)
21 – David McSharry (UCD/Leinster)
22 – Eoin Griffin (Corinthians/Connacht)
IRELAND’S POOL B RESULTS/FIXTURES:
Saturday, June 5: Ireland 22 France 25, Estadio El Coloso del Parque, Rosario
Wednesday, June 9: Ireland v England, Estadio El Coloso del Parque, Rosario, 2.10pm local time (6.10pm Irish time)
Sunday, June 13: Argentina v Ireland, Estadio El Coloso del Parque, Rosario, 4.10pm local time (8.10pm Irish time)